Robert Animation Studios

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Robert Animation Studios is an American animation studio in New Haven, Connecticut. The studios is well known for it’s mix of traditional and computer animated films.

Early Years(1995-2000)
In 1994, Robert approached Walt Disney Feature Animation to put his dream project to life, but Disney refused due to their other planned projects. He was then approached by then Disney Animation employees, Michael Wolf and Isa Winslow, in 1995 who were intrigued about his idea. While they wanted to help Robert make the project, Robert was hesitant since it would take a lot of work since they were a smaller group. But they decided to form an animation studio open to anyone who wanted to bring their idea to the drawing board. The studio would become “Robert Animation Studios” and they would begin production of a short film, High School Daze. The short would center around a 16 year old girl who just entered a new school after she moved to the city. The short would star Melissa Joan Hart, David Lascher, Cheryl Chase, and Rodger Bumpass. The short would be shown off at Film Fest New Haven in 1997 and would later be shown theatrically in 1999 with the release of Arlene. The short was well-received by critics for it’s simplicity and the short would be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film of 1997, but lost to Pixar’s Geri’s Game.

After finishing High School Daze, Robert was ready to begin production on his passion project. The studios first feature film, Arlene. The film would feature Winona Ryder as the title character, as well as Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lopez, Lindsey Lohan, & John De Lancie. In 1998, Robert Nadal announced that Paramount Pictures would distribute the film and would be released in theaters worldwide on July 7, 1999. The film was praised by critics and audiences for its story, characters, relationships, and comedy and would gross around $364 million worldwide being the highest grossing non-Disney traditional animated feature of 1999 and the highest grossing non-Disney traditional animated film overall until Spirited Away surpassed it. The film would receive two Academy Award nominations including Best Original Song with “The Music Inside of You”, which lost to “You’ll Be in My Heart” by Phil Collins, and Best Original Score, which lost to The Red Violin, and win an Annie Award for Best Animated Film in 1999.

During production of Arlene in 1998, Paramount Pictures has confirmed that they would be distribute Robert Animation Studios’ future projects after the release of Arlene. Starting with the studios second feature film, The Curse of the Dark Sheet, set to be release on May 24, 2000. The film would star Jeremy Renner, Melissa Joan Hart, Julia Roberts, John Malkovich, Robin Williams, & John Cusack. The film was well-received by critics and audiences for its characters and humor, but criticized its story. The film would gross out $182 million dollars worldwide, being the 2nd highest grossing non-disney animated feature of 2000 behind Chicken Run. The film would be nominated an Annie Award for Best Animated Film in 2000, but lost to Pixar’s Toy Story 2.

The Rise of Computer-Animation(2001-2005)
As computer animation began to rise in popularity with the success of Pixar’s Toy Story duology & A Bug’s Life, Robert announced that the studio would open its door for computer animation in 1999. Following the announcement, the studio would confirm their third feature film, Banjo Kazooie, based on the N64 game by RareWare from 1998. The film would star Mark Hamill and Nika Futterman as the title roles. The film was praised by fans for its faithfulness to the original game and well-received by critics for its animation, characters, and humor. The film would gross out $227 million dollars worldwide and would become the highest rated video game adaptation on Rotten Tomatoes as of March 2022. The film was also nominated for the first Academy Award for Best Animated Film of 2001, but lost to Dreamworks Animation’s Shrek.

In 1999, Michael Wolf announced that he would be directing a film adaptation of the French fairytale, Starlight, which he originally pitched to Disney when he was an employee there in 1991 following the success of Beauty and the Beast, but was scrapped in favor of Pocahontas. The film would be their first fairytale adaptation and would star Zoe Saldana as the title character and also feature Tina Turner, John Stamos, Anne Hathaway, & Sean Connery. The film was well-received by both fans and critics alike for its characters and drama. Sadly, the film grossed only $82 million dollars worldwide and was deemed a box-office failure. Despite poor performance, Robert did announce they would still leave the doors open for traditional animated features, but they would prominently focus to more computer animated features for the oncoming years. However, the film would be nominated an Academy Award for Best Animated Film of 2002, but lost to Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away.

After Banjo Kazooie’s success, Robert Animation Studios would announced their next CGI Animated film, Purple Parrot Perils. The film would feature an all-star cast including TBA. The film was well-received by critics for its humor and animation and gained a cult following from audiences. The film would also gross out $312 million dollars worldwide and was nominated an Academy Award for Best Animated Film of 2004, but lost to Pixar’s The Incredibles.

In 2000, Michael Wolf announced a collaboration with Jerry Rees, who were good friends when they worked at Disney and was the director of The Brave Little Toaster & The Marrying Man. A year later, the studio announced a deal with Microsoft for their next feature film. And in 2002, Michael and Jerry revealed their next film, Computeropolis. The film would star Haley Joel Osment, Corey Feldman, Pierce Brosnan, & Steve Martin. The film was praised by audiences and critics alike for its world-building, characters, animation, and humor. Time Magazine called it “One of the Best COMPUTER Animated Film” and the film would gross out over $572 million dollars, not only becoming the highest grossing animated film of 2005, but also the studios highest grossing film since Arlene. The film also won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature of 2005, becoming the first and only film from the studio to succeed.

Acquisition by Viacom(2005-2008)
During CBS & Viacom’s splitting, Viacom made a deal with the studio for acquisition. Robert and the staff were hesitant at first because they thought that marketing and merchandising their products would give them a bad name, but they didn’t have any other distributors for their films. Paramount continued to distribute their films, and in 2006, Flat Stanley was released in theaters. The film was based on the 1963 children’s book of the same name by Jeff Brown and Robert stated that he read it during his childhood and wanted to adapt it into a feature film. The film would star Zach Tyler Eisen as the title character and TBA. The film received mixed reviews by critics and audiences who stated the film was a good example of a little kids film with its simple story and likable characters, but lacks any tension and effort. The film would gross out around $160 million dollars and would be nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and the first Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature, but lost both to Pixar’s Cars.

In 2007, Robert Animation Studios eventually took the deal with Viacom if they studio can keep the rights to the assets and have a limit on the marketing. Viacom agreed to this and the studio would become a part of the Viacom company. The studios next film, The Masked Skull would become their first film under the Viacom name.

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