Fatkat Animation was an

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animation, animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales ...

located in

Miramichi, New Brunswick Miramichi ( ) is the largest city in northern New Brunswick, Canada. It is situated at the mouth of the Miramichi River where it enters Miramichi Bay. The Miramichi Valley is the second longest valley in New Brunswick, after the Saint John River ...

History

The company was formed from animators who left Helix Animation in 1999. fatkatanimation
/ref> It was owned and operated by Gene Fowler and his employees. This company was started in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, and was taken over by Trainingscape, which saw the creation of over 40

training film A training film is a form of educational film – a short subject documentary movie, that provides an introduction to a topic. Both narrative documentary and dramatisation styles may be used, sometimes both in the same production. While most ...

s for various companies, but as of 2009, it's now known as Oasis Animation. In the winter of 2003, Trainingscape disbanded and that was when Fowler decided to move Fatkat to his hometown of

. Fatkat worked on the film ''Curious George'' (2006), television shows such as ''

Happy Tree Friends ''Happy Tree Friends'' (commonly abbreviated as ''HTF'') is an adult animated web series created by Aubrey Ankrum, Rhode Montijo, and Kenn Navarro, and developed by Montijo, Navarro, and Warren Graff for Mondo Media. Disguised as a childr ...

'', ''

Caillou ''Caillou'' ( ; , stylized in lowercase) is an animated educational children's television series that aired on Teletoon (both English and French versions) with the first episode airing on the former channel on September 15, 1997 until the fou ...

'' (Season 3 only), ''

Carl² ''Carl²'' (''Carl Squared'') is a Canadian animated sitcom which explores what would happen if a teenager had a clone. The concept of the series is a mixture of biological studies and normal teenage life. It aired for four seasons on Teletoon fr ...

'', ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'', ''

Odd Job Jack ''Odd Job Jack'' is a Canadian adult animated sitcom starring Don McKellar playing the main character of the series named Jack Ryder and his misadventures in temporary employment. Seen on and produced for The Comedy Network, a cable specialty ch ...

'', ''

Skunk Fu! ''Skunk Fu!'' is an animated action adventure fantasy comedy television series featuring the fables and adventures of anthropomorphic animals protecting their Valley using martial arts. The show chronicles the adventures of young Skunk, trainin ...

'', '' Supernormal'', ''

Chaotic Chaotic was originally a Danish trading card game. It expanded to an online game in America which then became a television program based on the game. The program aired on 4Kids TV (Fox affiliates, nationwide), Jetix, The CW4Kids, Cartoon Netwo ...

'', ''

Jimmy Two-Shoes ''Jimmy Two-Shoes'' (also known as ''JTS''; or as ''Jimmy Cool'' in most parts of Europe, Asia, and Israel) is a Canadian animated children's television series created by Edward Kay and Sean Scott. It was produced by Breakthrough Entertainment ...

'' and ''

Three Delivery ''Three Delivery'' (also known as ''Chop Suey Trio'') is an animated television series inspired by kung-fu movies. It was created by Larry Schwarz, who also created similar series, '' Kappa Mikey'' and '' Speed Racer: The Next Generation''. It ...

''. They had major clients such as

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! is a brand of margarine,Calvani Terry. ''Antitrust Law Journal'', 1989, "Advertising Regulation: The States v. FTC. "...a nationally distributed butter substitute, 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.'") produced by ...

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, and

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

Setbacks

Fatkat was, at one point, considered the largest animation studio in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (), is the list of regions of Canada, region of Eastern Canada comprising four provinces: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landma ...

and the fastest growing animation studio in Canada. However, after government funding for the studio dried up under the

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name and place names, for example: Harper Islands, Nunavut. Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut * Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name ...

government, the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

occurred and the fact that the business plan didn't actually set a goal of making money, Fatkat eventually dwindled until its closure was announced in May 2009. At the time of closure, the company was down to employing only 3 people, even though it had received $1 million in government grants since 2005 under the government.

2009–present

Fowler formed a much smaller successor studio Loogaroo in

Miramichi The name "Miramichi" was first applied to a region in the northeast of New Brunswick, Canada, and has since been applied to other places in Canada and the United States. Although other interpretations have been suggested, it is believed that "Mirami ...

, New Brunswick, despite the fact that he had declared insolvency with Fatkat Animation.article
''telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com''

References

External links

Loogaroo animation studio

Previous official site for Fatkat
Canadian animation studios Mass media in Miramichi, New Brunswick Adult animation studios Buildings and structures in Miramichi, New Brunswick Mass media companies established in 1999 Mass media companies disestablished in 2009 1999 establishments in New Brunswick {{animation-studio-stub