Skydance Animation, LLC

Company type	Division
Industry	Animation Motion pictures Television
Founded	March 16, 2017; 8 years ago (2017-03-16)
Founder	David Ellison Javier Pérez Dolset Ignacio Pérez Dolset
Headquarters	Santa Monica, California , United States
Key people	Holly Edwards (president) John Lasseter (head of animation)
Number of employees	900[1] (2022)
Parent	Skydance Media (2017–2025) Paramount Pictures (2025–present)
Divisions	Madrid Los Angeles East Hartford, Connecticut
Website	skydance.com/animation/

Skydance Animation, LLC, is an Americananimation studio that is a division ofParamount Pictures, founded on March 16, 2017. The studio is based in Los Angeles, with offices inStamford, Connecticut, andMadrid, Spain; the Madrid branch was originallyIlion Animation Studios.

Skydance Animation's first film,Luck, was released on August 5, 2022, onApple TV+. Its most recent film isSpellbound, released on November 22, 2024, onNetflix, followed by four other film projects:Swapped;Ray Gunn (both 2026); an untitledJack and the Beanstalk project; and an untitledDon Hall project (all for Netflix).

In March 2017,Skydance Media formed an animation division and a multi-year partnership with Madrid, Spain-based animation studioIlion Animation Studios.^[2] In July, it announced its first two films,Split, for a release in 2019, andLuck.^[3] Both films would be distributed byParamount Pictures as part of their deal with Skydance Media. On October 10, 2017,Bill Damaschke was hired to head the division as president of animation and family entertainment, andLuck was given a release date of March 19, 2021.^[4] In April 2018,Paramount Animation entered into a partnership with Skydance Animation to produceLuck.^[5]

Skydance Animation signed on directorsAlessandro Carloni (Kung Fu Panda 3) to directLuck,Vicky Jenson (Shrek andShark Tale) to directSpellbound,^[6] andNathan Greno (Tangled) to write and directSwapped (formerly known asPookoo).^[7] In January 2019, Skydance Animation hired formerPixar andWalt Disney Animation Studios CCOJohn Lasseter as head of Animation, supplanting Damaschke.^[8] While some outlets reported feelings of disapproval of this decision owing to prior allegations of sexual misconduct against Lasseter,^[9] many others, particularly those at the studio, "[...] had strong feelings and felt like it was the right thing to do [...] and were excited to get to work with him" and it was "[...] definitely not a black-and-white situation" according to Damaschke.^[10] Soria announced that Paramount Animation would no longer consult with Skydance Animation, though they did not already have a formal creative partnership.^[11] Following Lasseter's hiring, the studio grew from 65 employees to nearly 900 as of July 2022.^[6] Holly Edwards, who previously served as Skydance Animation's Head of Production, was promoted to the position of president at Skydance Animation.^[12]Peggy Holmes (The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning,Secret of the Wings andThe Pirate Fairy) was later announced as new director ofLuck, replacing Carloni who left over creative differences.^[13]

Skydance formally acquired Ilion Animation Studios and rebranded it as Skydance Animation Madrid in April 2020.^[14]

In June 2020, Shane Prigmore, an animation veteran who co-createdTangled: The Series, was hired as SVP Development at Skydance Animation. He would be tasked with overseeing the creative development of all films and TV series on the studio's production slate.^[15] That is until he left forWarner Bros. Pictures Animation as Senior Creative Advisor in June 2023.^[16]

In July 2020, it was announced thatLuck andSpellbound were still going to be released by Paramount without Paramount Animation as part of their deal with Skydance Media, giving the two release dates of February 18, 2022, and November 11, 2022, respectively. Paramount's president of domestic distribution, Chris Aronson stated "These films not only continue our longstanding relationship with Skydance, but, along with Paramount Animation's own upcoming films, mean we will be releasing event-level animated films for years to come."^[17]

However, on December 16, 2020,Apple TV+ entered talks to take over the distribution rights to the filmsLuck andSpellbound.^[18][19]Apple Original Films would replace Paramount for bothLuck andSpellbound. In February 2021, Apple signed an overall deal with Skydance Animation which included animated films and television series. This includes a television adaptation of the novelThe Search for WondLa byTony DiTerlizzi. The series has been greenlit for two seasons and was announced to feature showrunnerLauren Montgomery as both writer and executive producer with DiTerlizzi and Chad Quant.^[20][19] She has since left the project and has been replaced byBobs Gannaway, another of Lasseter's Disney-era colleagues.^[6]

On October 1, 2021, Skydance Animation released its first short film inspired by a true story from Joe Mateo calledBlush. It was released on Apple TV+ as part of their multi-year deal. The ships from the short film became the mascots of the studio during the release ofLuck, and a portion ofJoy Ngiaw's score was used for the fanfare of the studio.^[21]

In February 2022, it was announced thatBrad Bird would revive his long-dormant projectRay Gunn for Skydance Animation after it was originally set up atTurner Feature Animation during the late 1990s.^[22] On March 16, 2022,Rich Moore revealed that he had entered into an exclusive, multi-year overall deal with Skydance Animation.^[23] In July 2022, Ellison and Lasseter planned for Skydance Animation to make two feature films a year, with their theatrical strategy to be determined on a film-by-film basis. The company is also building a consumer products team to capitalize on its potential successes and began to open a 5.8-acre Santa Monica campus in October, which was completed by November 2023.^[6]

In October 2023, Skydance Animation had signed a multi-year deal withNetflix to develop and produce animated films, ending the studio's partnership with Apple.^[24] Netflix would take over distribution of preexisting Skydance Animation titles from Apple TV+, includingSpellbound,Swapped, andRay Gunn. This deal however does not includeWondLa, which was created by Apple.^[25]

In May 2024, Bruce Anderson, producer ofSpellbound, was hired as head of production at Skydance Animation to oversee production planning for the studio's slate of films.^[26] The following month, longtime Disney Animation directorDon Hall was announced to have joined Skydance Animation to develop and produce an original animated film for the studio.^[27] On December 12, 2024,Cinesite became an animation partner to Skydance Animation on a new film rather than their in-house studio in Madrid.^[28] On April 10, 2025, Cinesite was revealed to be animating on Brad Bird'sRay Gunn.^[29]

Skydance Animation was included as part of themerger of Skydance andParamount Global, which was completed on August 7, 2025.^[30] Skydance planned to integrate its animation division with franchises from bothParamount Animation andNickelodeon to expand its content offerings.^[31][32] However, on the day of the merger, it was announced that Skydance Animation would continue to be operated separately and focus on its existing deal with Netflix.^[33]

With the release ofBlush in October 2021, Skydance Animation revealed their first logo. With the release ofLuck in August 2022, their full logo was released and shows the rocket and the UFO fromBlush which are now the mascots of the studio launched from their planet (also fromBlush) flying around to form the studio's logo with magic blue and pink trails, the fanfare was composed byJoy Ngiaw which was adopted from the theme ofBlush. It was animated by their Madrid branch,Skydance Animation Madrid and their head of animation,John Lasseter.^[34] The behind the music of the studio's logo was posted byJoy Ngiaw.^[35]

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