Animation Magic (russian: «Магия анимации», translit=Magiya Animatsii) was a Russian-American animation studio founded in

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Gai ...

in 1991, with offices later added in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

and a 100%-owned subsidiary in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. The company developed animations for CD-based software. It was acquired in December 1994 by Capitol Multimedia. By 1994 Animation Magic had 90 employees, including 12 software engineers and approximately 60 animators, computer graphic, background and sprite artists. Its products included '' Link: The Faces of Evil'', '' Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'', ''Mutant Rampage: Bodyslam'', ''Pyramid Adventures'', ''

I.M. Meen ''I.M. Meen'' is a 1995 fantasy educational game for DOS to teach grammar to children. It is named for its villain, Ignatius Mortimer Meen, a "diabolical librarian" who lures young readers into an enchanted labyrinth and imprisons them with monste ...

'', ''

Chill Manor ''Chill Manor'' is an educational first-person shooter for MS-DOS compatible systems. The game is designed to teach history to children. It is the sequel to '' I.M. Meen'' and shares similar gameplay. Chloe Leamon provided Ophelia Chill's voice, ...

'', ''

Hotel Mario ''Hotel Mario'' is a puzzle video game developed by Fantasy Factory and published by Philips Interactive Media for the Philips CD-i in 1994. Players control Mario, who must find Princess Toadstool by going through seven hotels in the Mushroom K ...

'', '' King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride'', '' Darby the Dragon'', and the cancelled '' Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans''.

Legacy

Circa 2006, games by Animation Magic were major source materials for YouTube Poops, specifically ''

'', '' Link: The Faces of Evil'', '' Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'', and '' I. M. Meen''. On September 6, 2020, over 200 animators collaborated to reanimate 21 minutes of cutscenes of ''The Legend of Zelda'' CDi games (1989-1996). Over 200 animators collaborated on the project. ''Nintendo Wire'' reported, "The ever-shifting mediums and the contrasting animation styles, ranging from professional and sophisticated to intentionally goofy and exaggerated, lend themselves incredibly well to cutscenes that were already chaotic and bizarre to begin with."

References

External links

Как создатели мемных спин-оффов «Зельды» изменили российскую индустрию игр и анимации
(lit. How the creators of Zelda's meme spin-offs changed the Russian gaming industry and animations) . DTF. November 25, 2021. Vivendi subsidiaries American animation studios Video game companies established in 1992 Mass media companies established in 1992 Video game companies disestablished in 2001 Mass media companies disestablished in 2001 Defunct video game companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Maryland Companies based in Gaithersburg, Maryland {{animation-studio-stub