 Logo used as of January 16, 2020 | |
| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Division |
| Industry | |
| Predecessors | |
| Founded | February 1994; 31 years ago (1994-02) |
| Headquarters | Century City, Los Angeles, California ,U.S. |
Key people |
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| Products | Animated films |
| Parent | 20th Century Studios |
| Footnotes / references [1][2] | |
20th Century Animation, Inc.[3] (previously known asFox Family Films,Fox Animation Studios, and20th Century Fox Animation and sometimes referred to asFox Animation) is an Americananimation studio located inCentury City, Los Angeles. Formed in 1994, it is organized as a division and label of20th Century Studios (formerly20th Century Fox), a subsidiary ofthe Walt Disney Studios, and is tasked with producing animated feature-length films.[4] At one point, 20th Century Animation had twosubsidiaries:Fox Animation Studios, which was shut down on June 26, 2000, andBlue Sky Studios (the latter became the primary unit of 20th Century Animation), which was closed on April 10, 2021.Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment distributes the films produced by 20th Century Animation in home media under the20th Century Home Entertainment banner.[5]
The studio has produced a total of 30 feature films (six films as Fox Family Films, three films from Fox Animation Studios,thirteen feature films from Blue Sky Studios, and eight original films), most of them being distributed by 20th Century Studios. Their first film wasMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and their first animated film wasAnastasia, with the most recent release beingDiary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever; its next films will bePredator: Killer of Killers slated for a June 6, 2025 release on Hulu andIce Age 6, slated for theatrical release on December 18, 2026.
Anastasia (1997–1999),Ice Age (2002–present) andRio (2011–present) are the studio's most commercially successful franchises, whileRobots (2005),The Simpsons Movie (2007),Horton Hears a Who! (2008),The Book of Life (2014),The Peanuts Movie (2015),Spies in Disguise (2019), andRon's Gone Wrong (2021) are among its most critically praised films.
Before 20th Century Fox started itsanimationdivision, Fox released its first seven animated films, such asHugo the Hippo (1975),Wizards,Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977),Fire and Ice (1983),FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)[6]Once Upon a Forest (1993) andThe Pagemaster (1994).
In May 1993, Fox agreed to a two-year first-look deal withNickelodeon for family films.[7] The deal would mostly include original material, though a Nickelodeon executive did not rule out the possibility of making films based onThe Ren & Stimpy Show,Rugrats andDoug.[8] However, no films came out of the deal due to the 1994 acquisition ofParamount Pictures by Nickelodeon's parent company,Viacom, and they would distribute the film projects instead.[9]
The division initially started in February 1994 asFox Family Films, as one of four film divisions of 20th Century Fox under executiveJohn Matoian. The division was planned to produce six feature films a year as part of a plan to produce more films per year overall.[7] Fox senior vice president of productionChris Meledandri was transferred into the unit as executive vice president in March 1994 after having been hired the previous year.[10] The week of May 6, 1994, Fox Family announced the hiring ofDon Bluth andGary Goldman for a new $100 millionanimation studio[11] which began construction that year inPhoenix, Arizona. In three years, the animation studio would produce and release its first film,Anastasia.[4] In September 1994, Matoian was promoted byRupert Murdoch to head up theFox network.[12] Meledandri was selected to head up the unit in 1994.[13]
It produced live-action films such asMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995),Dunston Checks In (1996) andHome Alone 3. By August 1997, Fox Family had decreased the number of live films.[4]R.L. Stine agreed with Fox Family Films in January 1998 for a film adaptation of theGoosebumps book franchise withTim Burton producing.[14]
In August 1997, Fox's Los Angeles-based visual effects company, VIFX, acquiredmajority interest inBlue Sky Studios to form a new visual effects and animation company, temporarily renamed "Blue Sky/VIFX".[15] Blue Sky had previously did the character animation ofMTV Films' first filmJoe's Apartment.Following the studio's expansion, Blue Sky produced character animation for the filmsAlien Resurrection,A Simple Wish,Mouse Hunt,Star Trek: Insurrection andFight Club.[16] VIFX was later sold to another VFX studioRhythm and Hues Studios in March 1999.[17] According to Blue Sky founderChris Wedge, Fox considered selling Blue Sky as well by 2000 due to financial difficulties in the visual effects industry in general.
In 1998, following the success ofAnastasia, the division was renamed toFox Animation Studios, refocusing on animated feature films, including stop-motion, mixed media and digital production. The division's live action films in development at the time includedMarvel Comics'Silver Surfer, thedisaster film spoofDisaster Area,Fantastic Voyage[4] andGoosebumps.[14] The 1998 filmEver After, a Cinderella adaptation, was the division's last live action film.[4] At this time, there were several animated films on the company's development slate:Dark Town withHenry Selick,Chris Columbus andSam Hamm,Santa Calls atBlue Sky, andMatt Groening (The Simpsons),Steve Oedekerk andJoss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) projects. The Phoenix studio at the time was producingPlanet Ice expected in 1999 and directed by Art Vitello andAnastasia producer/directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman's then soon to be announced project.[18]Chris Meledandri remained as the president of the division,[4][19] which was known by 1999 as 20th Century Fox Animation.[20] The only television series that the Phoenix studio produced wasAdventures from the Book of Virtues, which was a co-production between Fox Animation Studios andPorchLight Entertainment; that series would air onPBS between 1996 and December 2000.[21][22]
20th Century Fox Animation vice president of physical production Chuck Richardson was sent in early December 1999 to Fox subsidiary Blue Sky Studios as general manager and senior vice president. Richardson was sent to prepare Blue Sky for feature animation production.[23]
The Phoenix studio, which kept the Fox Animation Studios name, laid off 2/3 of its employee workforce in February 2000 before its closure in late June of that year, ten days afterTitan A.E. was released and six months beforeAdventures from the Book of Virtues aired its final episode. Fox Animation looked to produce films at Blue Sky and its Los Angeles headquarters.[24]
Chris Wedge, film producer Lori Forte, and Meledandri presented Fox with a script for a comedyfeature film titledIce Age.[25] Studio management pressured staff to sell their remaining shares and options to Fox on the promise of continued employment on feature-length films. The studio moved to White Plains NY and started production onIce Age. As the film wrapped, Fox, having little faith in the film, feared that it might bomb at the box office, terminated half of the production staff, and tried unsuccessfully to find a buyer for the film and the studio.[citation needed] Instead,Ice Age, Blue Sky's first feature film, was released by Fox in conjunction with 20th Century Fox Animation on March 15, 2002, with financial success and critical acclaim, receiving a nomination for anAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature at the75th Academy Awards in 2003.[26]Ice Age would subsequently spawn asuccessful franchise and launch Blue Sky into producing feature films and into becoming ahousehold name in feature animation.
In January 2007, Meledandri left forUniversal Pictures to set upIllumination there with Vanessa Morrison as his replacement while answering to newly appointed 20th Century Fox Film Group vice chairman Hutch Parker. Morrison moved from the live action division where she handled family-children fare as senior vice president of production.[27] Morrision was making deal with outside producers like she approved astop-motion adaptation ofRoald Dahl'sFantastic Mr. Fox.[28]
In September 2017,Locksmith Animation formed a multi-year production deal with20th Century Fox, who would distribute Locksmith's films, with Locksmith aiming to release a film every 12–18 months. Fox Animation was later brought on to oversee the deal, which was to bolster Blue Sky's output and replace the loss of distributingDreamWorks Animation films, which are now owned and distributed by Universal Pictures.[29]
On October 30, 2017, Morrison was named president of a newly created 20th Century Fox division,Fox Family, which has a mandate similar to Fox Animation when it was called Fox Family Films.[30] Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird were named co-president of Fox Animation the same day and would also have direct oversight of Blue Sky and oversee the Locksmith Animation deal and grow Fox Animation with other partnerships and producer deals.[31]
On October 18, 2018, it was announced that Fox Animation would be added alongside 20th Century Fox toWalt Disney Studios following theAcquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, with co-presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird retaining leadership while reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman,Alan Horn and Twentieth Century Fox vice chairman Emma Watts.[32]
On March 21, 2019, Disney announced that Fox Animation (includingBlue Sky Studios) would be integrated as new units within Walt Disney Studios, with Co-presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird continuing to lead the studio and reporting directly to Alan Horn.[33] Miloro stepped down as co-president in late July 2019.[34] In August 2019,Walt Disney Animation Studios head Andrew Millstein was named co-president of Blue Sky for day-to-day operations alongside Baird, whilePixar Animation Studios presidentJim Morris would also be taking on a supervisory role over Millstein.[2] With the Disney takeover, the Locksmith deal left 20th Century Fox forWarner Bros. in October 2019, except for the first and now only film under the deal,Ron's Gone Wrong.[35]
With the August 2019 20th Century Foxslate overhaul announcement, projects from 20th Century Fox franchises such asNight at the Museum,Diary of a Wimpy Kid, andIce Age were announced for the then-upcomingDisney+ streaming service.[36] These projects would later be announced during Disney's Investor Day in December 2020 as animated feature films for the aforementioned streaming service.[37] The first of these projects was ananimated reboot ofDiary of a Wimpy Kid, which was released on December 3, 2021, underWalt Disney Pictures.
On January 17, 2020, Disney dropped the "Fox" name from the two main film studio units acquired from 21st Century Fox—20th Century Fox andFox Searchlight Pictures.[38] Fox Animation took on its current name with its incorporation on January 28, 2020, to avoid confusion withFox Corporation.[3]
On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that it was shutting down Blue Sky Studios in April 2021, the main unit of 20th Century Animation.[5][39] It closed on April 10, 2021.
In November 8, 2024, duringD23 inBrazil, it was officially announced that the studio would return to produce theatrical films starting withIce Age 6 slated for December 18, 2026.[40][41]
In April 2025, the studio announcedPredator: Killer of Killers it's first adult animated feature film slated for a June 6, 2025 release onHulu.[42][43][44]
Unlike animation studios such asPixar orWalt Disney Animation Studios, 20th Century Animation does not have an in-house animation style, but rather acts as a division and somewhat of a distribution label for animated films that are made under or acquired by20th Century Studios. An example of this is with Fox Animation Studios and Blue Sky Studios' films; both of which were subsidiaries of the company. Another example of this isFantastic Mr. Fox.[45][46] Additionally,Ron's Gone Wrong was the first and only film made under a deal between 20th Century and Locksmith Animation.[35]
However, the animation production of 20th Century Animation's films (except for Blue Sky Studios) isoutsourced to other studios. For example,The Simpsons Movie was animated atFilm Roman alongsideAKOM andRough Draft Studios, whileRon's Gone Wrong was animated byDNEG.The Book of Life was developed outside of 20th Century Animation at Reel FX, with the studio co-producing the film later on.[47]Diary of a Wimpy Kid andThe Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild were animated byBardel Entertainment.
Fox Animation Studios (headquartered inPhoenix, Arizona) and Blue Sky Studios (headquartered inWhite Plains, New York and laterGreenwich, Connecticut) animated their respective films internally, howeverAnastasia andTitan A.E. were outsourced to multiple animation studios, including Bardel Entertainment, Reality Check Studios, and Blue Sky,[48][49] when the latter of the three was still aVFX studio.
Both Fox Animation Studios and Blue Sky had their own unique animation style, with the former having the same animation style asDon Bluth.
| Title | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie | June 30, 1995 | co-production withSaban Entertainment andToei Company |
| Dunston Checks In | January 12, 1996 | |
| Jingle All the Way | November 22, 1996 | co-production with1492 Pictures |
| Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie | March 28, 1997 | co-production withSaban Entertainment andToei Company |
| Home Alone 3 | December 12, 1997 | co-production withHughes Entertainment |
| Ever After | July 31, 1998 |
From 1994 to 2000,[50][51] Fox operated Fox Animation Studios, atraditional animation studio which was started to compete with Walt Disney Animation Studios, which was experiencing great success with films such asThe Little Mermaid,Beauty and the Beast,Aladdin andThe Lion King. The Fox studio, however, was not as successful. Their first featureAnastasia made nearly $140 million at the worldwide box office on a $53 million budget in 1997,[52] but their next feature,Titan A.E., was a large financial loss, losing $100 million for 20th Century Fox in 2000.[53] The lack of box office success, coupled with the rise ofcomputer animation, led Fox to shut down the studios.[51]
From 1997 until 2021, Fox owned Blue Sky Studios, a computer animation company known for theIce Age franchise.[54] Fox has had much more success with the studio, with the box office receipts of their films becoming competitive with the likes of Pixar and DreamWorks Animation. On March 21, 2019, Blue Sky Studios was integrated as a separate unit within Walt Disney Studios, yet they would continue to report to Fox Animation presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird.[55][56] In February 2021, Disney had announced that Blue Sky would cease all operations and close sometime within April 2021, eventually shuttering on April 10, 2021.[5][39]
Starting in 2007, 20th Century Animation occasionally produces its own films without Blue Sky Studios' involvement while also co-producing films from other studios. The company is not credited on these films like how they are with Blue Sky's films and Fox Animation Studios'Anastasia andTitan A.E. As of 2024,The Simpsons Movie remains their highest-grossing original film.
All films listed are produced and or distributed by 20th Century Studios unless noted otherwise.
| No. | Title | Release date | Director(s) | Co-production with | Distributor | Budget | Gross | RT | MC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Simpsons Movie | July 27, 2007 | David Silverman | Gracie Films | 20th Century Fox | $75 million | $536.4 million | 88% | 80 |
| 2 | The Book of Life | October 17, 2014 | Jorge R. Gutierrez | Reel FX Animation Studios Chatrone[57] Mexopolis (uncredited) | 20th Century Fox[a] | $50 million | $99.8 million | 82% | 67 |
| 3 | Ron's Gone Wrong | October 22, 2021 | Sarah Smith Jean-Philippe Vine | TSG Entertainment Locksmith Animation | 20th Century Studios[b] | — | $60.7 million | 80% | 65 |
| 4 | Ice Age 6 | December 18, 2026[40][58] | TBA | — | 20th Century Studios[c] | TBA | |||
| No. | Title | Release date | Director(s) | Co-production with | Distributor | Budget | RT | MC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid | December 3, 2021 | Swinton Scott | Walt Disney Pictures[d] | Disney+ | — | 73% | 50 |
| 2 | The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild | January 28, 2022 | John C. Donkin | 19% | 30 | |||
| 3 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules | December 2, 2022 | Luke Cormican | Walt Disney Pictures[e] | 50% | TBA | ||
| 4 | Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again | December 9, 2022 | Matt Danner | Walt Disney Pictures[59][d] 21 Laps Entertainment Alibaba Pictures | 71% | |||
| 5 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever | December 8, 2023 | Luke Cormican | Walt Disney Pictures[e][60][61] | 67% | |||
| 6 | Predator: Killer of Killers | June 6, 2025 | Dan Trachtenberg | 20th Century Studios Davis Entertainment[42][43][44] | Hulu | — | — |
S Combines live-action with animation.
| Title | Notes |
|---|---|
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw | [62][63][64] |
| UntitledFamily Guy film | co-production withFuzzy Door Productions[65] |
| UntitledThe Simpsons Movie sequel | co-production withGracie Films[66][67] |
| Untitled thirdRio film | [68] |
| UntitledFuturama film | co-production withThe Curiosity Company[69][70][71] |
S Combines live-action with animation.
| # | Title | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olive, the Other Reindeer | December 17, 1999 | co-production withThe Curiosity Company,DNA Productions,Flower Films, andFox Television Studios[6] |
| 2 | Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas | November 24, 2011 | co-production withBlue Sky Studios andReel FX Creative Studios |
| 3 | Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade | March 20, 2016 | co-production withBlue Sky Studios,20th Century Fox Television andArc Productions |
| # | Title | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gone Nutty | November 26, 2002 | co-production withBlue Sky Studios |
| 2 | Inside the CIA | April 8, 2005 | co-production withFox Television Animation andFuzzy Door Productions; released withFever Pitch |
| 3 | Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty | September 27, 2005 | co-production withBlue Sky Studios andReel FX Creative Studios |
| 4 | No Time for Nuts | November 21, 2006 | co-production withBlue Sky Studios |
| 5 | Surviving Sid | December 9, 2008 | |
| 6 | Scrat's Continental Crack-Up[72] | December 25, 2010 | |
| 7 | Scrat's Continental Crack-Up: Part 2[72] | December 16, 2011 | |
| 8 | The Longest Daycare | July 13, 2012 | co-production withGracie Films,AKOM Studios, andFilm Roman; released withIce Age: Continental Drift |
| 9 | Umbrellacorn[73][74] | July 26, 2013 | co-production withBlue Sky Studios |
| 10 | Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe[75] | November 6, 2015 | |
| 11 | Scrat: Spaced Out[76][77] | October 11, 2016 | |
| 12 | Playdate with Destiny | March 6, 2020 | co-production withGracie Films; released withOnward; first short film produced under Disney |
| 13 | Ice Age: Scrat Tales | April 13, 2022 | uncredited; co-production withBlue Sky Studios; distributed byDisney+ |
This list does not include follow-up films not produced by 20th Century Animation
| Years | Title | Films | TV seasons | Shorts | Studio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–1999 | Anastasia | 2 | 0 | 0 | Fox Animation Studios |
| 2002–present | Ice Age | 7 | 1 | 9 | Blue Sky Studios (2002–2022) |
| 2007–present | The Simpsons | 1 | 36 | 5 | Gracie Films |
| 2011–present | Rio | 2 | 0 | 1 | Blue Sky Studios (2011–2014) |
| 2021–present | Diary of a Wimpy Kid | 3 | 0 | 0 | Bardel Entertainment |
| Year | Film | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Anastasia | Best Music, Original Song | "Journey to the Past" byStephen Flaherty(music),Lynn Ahrens(lyrics) | Nominated |
| Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score | Lynn Ahrens,Stephen Flaherty, andDavid Newman | |||
| 2002 | Ice Age | Best Animated Feature | Chris Wedge | |
| 2009 | Fantastic Mr. Fox | Wes Anderson | ||
| 2011 | Rio | Best Original Song | "Real in Rio" byCarlinhos Brown &Sérgio Mendes(music);Siedah Garrett(lyrics) | |
| 2017 | Ferdinand | Best Animated Feature | Carlos Saldanha and Lori Forte |
| Year | Film | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Anastasia | Best Animated Feature | 20th Century Fox, Fox Animation Studios | Nominated |
| 2000 | Titan A.E. | 20th Century Fox Animation, Fox Animation Studios, David Kirschner Productions | ||
| 2002 | Ice Age | 20th Century Fox Animation, Blue Sky Studios | ||
| 2007 | The Simpsons Movie | 20th Century Fox Animation | ||
| 2009 | Fantastic Mr. Fox | 20th Century Fox | ||
| 2011 | Rio | Blue Sky Studios | ||
| 2014 | The Book of Life | 20th Century Fox, Reel FX Animation Studios | ||
| 2015 | The Peanuts Movie | 20th Century Fox Animation, Blue Sky Studios | ||
| 2021 | Ron's Gone Wrong | Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in a Feature Production | Julien Bizat | |
| Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Aurélien Predal,Till Nowak andNathan Crowley |
| Year | Film | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Ron's Gone Wrong | Best Long Form | Sarah Smith, Jean-Philippe Vine and Octavio E. Rodriguez | Won |
| Best Design | ||||
| Writers Award | Sarah Smith and Peter Baynham | Nominated |
| Year | Film | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | The Peanuts Movie | Best Animated Feature Film | Steve Martino | Nominated |
| 2017 | Ferdinand | Carlos Saldanha | ||
| Best Original Song | "Home" Music by:Nick Jonas,Nick Monson andJustin Tranter, Lyrics by: Jonas and Tranter |
While Meledandri might have been a late convert to the genre, his big break came in 1994, when he was tapped to head Fox's family division,...
While there, he became founding president of 20th Century Fox Animation,...
...,says Chris Meledandri, president of 20th Century Fox Animation.
Production begins with Fox Animation Studios in Phoenix.
Fox Animation (including Blue Sky Studios) will continue to be led by Co-Presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird.
And doing it on the industrial scale required for a studio motion picture—this one is being produced by Twentieth Century Fox Animation—is a gigantic undertaking.
..., as well as independent projects such as Book of Life and Fantastic Mr. Fox.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
