 Final logo from August 20, 2007 to November 12, 2015. | |
| Formerly | Wild Brain (1994–2007) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Entertainment Animation |
| Predecessor | Colossal Pictures BIG Pictures |
| Founded | March 25, 1994; 31 years ago (1994-03-25) |
| Founders | John Hays Phil Robinson Jeff Fino |
| Defunct | February 24, 2016; 9 years ago (2016-02-24) |
| Fate | Folded intoDHX Media |
| Successors | |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles,California, U.S. New York City,New York, U.S. San Francisco,California, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Television series, specials, television commercials, licensed merchandise |
| Parent | DHX Media (2010–2016) |
| Divisions | Wildbrain Animation Ghostbot |
| Website | wildbrain.com |
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1968 | FilmFair London is founded |
| 1971 | DIC Audiovisuel is founded |
| 1972 | Strawberry Shortcake brand is first developed |
| 1974 | CPLG is founded |
| 1976 | CINAR andColossal Pictures are founded |
| 1982 | DIC Enterprises is founded |
| 1984–1985 | Ragdoll Productions is founded |
| 1986–1987 | Andy Heyward takes over DIC Enterprises and renames it DIC Animation City with help from bothBear Stearns & Co andPrudential Insurance Co Jean Chalopin retains DIC Audiovisuel and establishesCréativité et Développement |
| 1988 | Studio B Productions is founded |
| 1992 | Epitome Pictures is founded |
| 1993 | Capital Cities/ABC purchases DIC Animation City, renaming itDIC Entertainment |
| 1994 | BothWild Brain and Red Rover Studios were founded |
| 1995 | Platinum Disc Corporation is founded |
| 1996 | The Walt Disney Company purchases Capital Cities/ABC, which included DIC Entertainment as well CINAR buys FilmFair's library |
| 1997 | Decode Entertainment is founded |
| 1999 | Wild Brain acquires Colossal Pictures' employee base |
| 2000 | Andy Heyward re-acquires DIC Entertainment from The Walt Disney Company with help this time around from bothBain Capital andChase Capital Partners |
| 2001–2002 | Nerd Corps Entertainment and Kidrobot are founded FilmFair London closes DIC Entertainment rebrands themselves onscreen as The Incredible World of DIC |
| 2004 | Halifax Film Company is founded Michael Hirsh takes over CINAR and renames it asCookie Jar Group |
| 2005 | Platinum Disc Corporation merge asEcho Bridge Home Entertainment |
| 2006 | Decode and Halifax Film merge as DHX Media DIC Entertainment acquires CPLG Ragdoll Productions forms a joint-venture withBBC Worldwide called Ragdoll Worldwide Wild Brain acquires stake inKidrobot |
| 2007 | DHX Media buys Studio B Productions Wild Brain becomesWildbrain Entertainment |
| 2008 | Cookie Jar Group purchases and folds DIC Entertainment House of Cool absorbs Red Rover Studios |
| 2010 | DHX Media buys Wildbrain Entertainment Peanuts Worldwide is founded Decode Entertainment rebrands as DHX Media Toronto Hailfax Film becomes DHX Media Hailfax |
| 2011 | DHX Media Toronto, Studio B Productions and Red Rover Studios close |
| 2012 | DHX Media buys Cookie Jar Group Wildbrain Entertainment acquires Kidrobot as a whole |
| 2013 | DHX Media acquires Ragdoll Worldwide from Ragdoll Productions and BBC Worldwide; despite that though, Ragdoll Productions themselves remain independent |
| 2014 | DHX Media buys Epitome Pictures, Nerd Corps, and Echo Bridge Home Entertainment's family content library, as well asFamily, the CanadianEnglish andFrench Disney Junior channels, andthe Canadian version of Disney XD Cookie Jar Group shuts down National Entertainment Collectibles Association acquires Kidrobot from Wildbrain Entertainment |
| 2016 | The WildBrain multi-channel network launches Studio B and Nerd Corps merge asDHX Studios Wildbrain Entertainment closes |
| 2017 | DHX Media buysPeanuts Worldwide and Strawberry Shortcake |
| 2018 | DHX Media Hailfax becomesIsland of Misfits |
| 2019 | DHX Media rebrands asWildBrain Epitome Pictures closes the WildBrain MCN becomesWildBrain Spark |
| 2020 | CPLG becomes WildBrain CPLG |
| 2021 | Echo Bridge folds into SP Distribution |
| 2023 | WildBrain acquires House of Cool |
| 2024 | WildBrain Spark merged into its parent company asWildBrain London |
| 2025 | WildBrain announces closures of its television channels |
Wildbrain Entertainment, Inc. (commonly known asWildbrain, stylized asW!LDBRAIN, formerly known asWild Brain, and later known asDHX Media Los Angeles) was an Americanentertainment company andanimation studio that developed and produced television programming, motion pictures, commercial content, and licensed merchandise. Established in 1994, it maintained offices inLos Angeles,New York City, andSan Francisco.
Its film productions included theAnnie Award-winning computer-animated short filmHubert's Brain, while its television work included theNick Jr. seriesBubble Guppies andYo Gabba Gabba!, and theDisney Channel seriesHigglytown Heroes. Wildbrain also produced earlier animated shorts and television specials ofMonster High forMattel.
They have produced national commercials for clients such asEsurance,[1]Chiclets,Target,Nike,Honda,Kraft,The Wall Street Journal, andLamisil (featuring Digger theDermatophyte). Their ad work has wonClio Awards,ADDY Awards,BDA Awards, andAnnie Awards. A subsidiary,Kidrobot, creates limited edition toys, clothing, artwork, and books. It had stores in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, andMiami.
The studio was sold toDHX Media in 2010 for US$8 million, and was dissolved in 2012.[2] In 2016, DHX revived the Wildbrain trademark (changing it slightly to WildBrain) forits streaming video network. Following the success of the video network, DHX changed its name toWildBrain in 2019.[3]
In 1994, John Hays, Phil Robinson, and Jeff Fino founded Wild Brain in theCastro District ofSan Francisco,California. The new company bootstrapped with contract work from local game companies such asBroderbund,LucasArts, andLiving Books. In 1996, Wild Brain moved to a 17,000 square foot warehouse at the corner of 18th St. and York St. in theMission District spearheading the growth of what came to be known in San Francisco asMultimedia Gulch. In 1999,Austin, Texas-based Interfase Capital invested almost $17 million in Wild Brain.
Over the next few years, Wild Brain's staff ballooned from a staff of about 20 to about 250. It struck deals withYahoo! andCartoon Network to produce animated shorts for the web. It launched wildbrain.com, creating animated web shorts such as "Groove Monkee", "Mantelope", and numerous web series includingJoe Paradise,Glue,Graveyard, andSpace is Dum.
After legendary studioColossal Pictures closed down in 1999, and with the financial backing of the Interfase companies, Wild Brain expanded further, providing employment for former Colossal directors and staff. Around this period, they produced the seriesHigglytown Heroes andPoochini.
In 2004,Charles Rivkin, former CEO ofThe Jim Henson Company, joined Wild Brain as president and CEO. Rivkin oversaw the creation and development of the seriesYo Gabba Gabba! forNick Jr.
In 2007, former founder Jeff Fino left to start Nuvana, an educational web-based company with former Colossal Pictures producer, Joe Kwong. Wild Brain rebranded to Wildbrain Entertainment that same year.
In 2008, Rivkin left Wildbrain after being named U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco. Michael Polis, the marketing director of Wildbrain, then became the new CEO.
Around this time, John Hays left Wildbrain to work on indie featuresLa Mission andHowl, which opened the2010 Sundance Film Festival.
By 2009, the original founders of the company had all left Wildbrain. The company expanded its animation studios toSherman Oaks in March, then closed its San Francisco office in June. It had been an independent company until Canadian studio DHX Media purchased Wildbrain in 2010. That same year, Phil Robinson and Amy Capen, executive producer of Wildbrain's San Francisco studio, started an independent company called Special Agent Productions. Robinson died in 2015 after a short battle withpancreatic cancer.[4][5][6]
In 2016, DHX Media announced the formation of a newLondon-basedmulti-channel network under the name WildBrain, focusing primarily onYouTube channels aimed towards children, such as content and original series from DHX's properties, as well as other forms of educational and toy-oriented content.[7] This would cause Wildbrain Entertainment to fold into DHX Media. In September 2019, DHX Media announced that it would change its name toWildBrain outright, with the MCN unit being renamedWildBrain Spark.[3]
