| Formerly | Whitney/Demos Productions (1986–88) Optomystic (1988–90) Digital Animation Laboratories (1991) USAnimation (1992–96) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Digital2D animation |
| Predecessor | Digital Productions |
| Founded | July 14, 1986; 38 years ago (1986-07-14) |
| Founder | John Whitney Jr. Gary Demos |
| Defunct | 2003; 22 years ago (2003) |
| Headquarters | Hollywood,Los Angeles,California,U.S. (1986–88, 1991–97) Culver City, California,U.S. (1988–90) North Hollywood, Los Angeles,California,U.S. (1997–2003) |
Key people | Don Spielvogel (president) |
| Subsidiaries | VirtualMagic Asia |
| Website | Official website (archived) |
VirtualMagic Animation, Inc. (previously known asUSAnimation, Inc.) was an Americantraditional animation studio and software development company based out ofLos Angeles, California. The studio produced animation fortelevision series andcommercials, and providedink and paint services to animated TV series such asThe Ren and Stimpy Show andThe Simpsons and films such asWe're Back! A Dinosaur's Story. Its software division was best known for developingUSAnimation, a high-end software package designed to facilitate the traditional animation process using digital technologies.
John Whitney Jr. and Gary Demos worked atDigital Productions, which was bought out by Omnibus Computer Graphics in June 1986. Whitney and Demos filed a complaint against Digital, Omnibus, Ramtek, and others in June, claiming that their rights as minority shareholders of DP were breached in the Omnibus sale. In July, they were locked out of their offices and founded Whitney/Demos Productions. Omnibus alleged to a court that Whitney and Demos, who were still paid under their contracts, founded a new competitor, hired at least three Omnibus employees, and used software and other property that belonged to Omnibus. The court temporarily ordered Whitney and Demos to return certain property to Omnibus.[1]
Tom McMahon from Symbolics' Graphics Division and other private investors provided funding assistance for W/D. The following year, W/D purchased theThinking MachinesConnection Machine 2, fronted by Symbolics workstations with programming done in LISP. W/D's first project had them work with Symbolics' Graphics Division to produce the short filmStanley and Stella: Breaking the Ice. Before they could collect the rest of an initial $5 million loan, much of the CG production industry collapsed because of Omnibus's failed growth plan, and investors balked. After W/D declared bankruptcy in June 1988, Demos formed his own research company, DemoGraFX, while Whitney stayed and took the company through bankruptcy proceedings. Whintey continued the company withKarl Sims as Optomystic. When another company was found to have a similar name, Optomystic's name was changed to Digital Animation Laboratories.
Whitney developed a "paperless" animation process where animation drawn on paper was scanned into a computer to be colored and composited. He founded USAnimation in early 1992 with David Lipman as vice president and executive producer after he decided to use his technology to change how animation was produced. The animation industry was immediately receptive to this concept since digital capabilities were a powerful creative tool for the animation producer to improve the look of shows and do it more efficiently. USAnimation completed episodic projects such asBeavis and Butt-Head,The Ren & Stimpy Show and the first digitally colored episodes ofThe Simpsons, as well as commercial projects ranging fromLucky Charms cereal toLevi's jeans. In 1995, USAnimation began offering its digital animation system to other customers.
In 1996, USAnimation sold its software development business toCanadian competitorToon Boom Technologies and its animation production services were renamed VirtualMagic USA.[2] Toon Boom continues development of the USAnimation software, today known as Harmony. VirtualMagic International Productions, Inc., founded in Vancouver a year prior, signed a letter of intent to acquire USAnimation's Production Services Division on August 30 and closed the deal on October 31.[3] VirtualMagic would continue to operate the company while expanding its production capacity to include CGI animation and significantly increasing employment. With resources now dedicated solely to its production expertise, VirtualMagic USA diversified itself by taking on a significant amount of interactive CD-ROM work for clients such asDisney Interactive,Broderbund, andDigital Domain.
In late-1997, the company completed changing its name to VirtualMagic Animation and moved into a new production space in the San Fernando Valley. In order to economically compete in the animated episodic series and motion picture market, VirtualMagic Animation evaluated potential affiliate foreign animation companies with digital capabilities as well as joint venture possibilities. In 1999, VirtualMagic Animation and ImagineAsia Studio formed VirtualMagic Asia, a digital ink, paint and compositing service based inManila,Philippines. In 2003, Don Spielvogel and the company's investors put up VirtualMagic Animation for sale due to the changing dynamics of the United States' animation industry and its non-animation industry investors wishing to move on.[4] VirtualMagic Animation and VirtualMagic Asia closed the same year.
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