House of Cool
House of Cool Studios[1] is a boutique animation studio based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and founded as a pre-production studio in 2004 by animation veteran Ricardo Curtis and finance expert Wes Lui, specializing in designing and storyboarding of films, series and commercials. The studio was established with support from animation studio Nelvana as both studios have collaborated to develop a pre-production platform for the former.[2] The company has a staff of over 65 artists. In 2008, they acquired a full-service animation studio named Red Rover Studios, adding it to their list of clients. House of Cool uses Toon Boom Storyboard Pro to storyboard various projects they are involved with. In addition to animated projects they worked on with professional studios, they may also collaborate with amateur animators on their projects as well.
House of Cool's pre-production expertise has helped to shape projects such as Peanuts, The Book of Life, Rio, Rio 2, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Despicable Me, Hugo, Angry Birds and Ice Age: Collision Course. Their clients' film projects have grossed over $5 billion worldwide to date.
In 2008, House of Cool acquired Red Rover Studios,[3] an accomplished full-service animation studio, to facilitate the development of their pipeline and to accommodate the growth of their commercial business. In 2014, House of Cool moved into mobile technology with the launch of Massively,[4][5] a platform that powers interactive stories on chat for millions of users.
House of Cool's film and series clients include Disney, 20th Century Fox, Blue Sky Studios, DreamWorks, Laika, Warner Bros., Nelvana, Universal Studios, Pixar, Reel FX, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, DHX Media, HIT Entertainment, Teletoon, and Nickelodeon.
Their advertising clients include Unilever, Adfarm, BBDO, Cundari, DOB NY, Devlin, Gardner Nelson & Partners, JWT, Leo Burnett, MGM Communications, Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, TBWA and Young & Rubicam.
Red Rover Studios
Red Rover Studios was founded in London by Andy and Linzi Knight in 1994. It was a full production studio that focused on 2D and CGI animation. They later moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. However, in July 2008, Red Rover was acquired by House of Cool after Andy Knight died, three months earlier.[6][7]
Filmography
As House of Cool
- Horton Hears a Who! (2008) (film)
- Ollie & the Baked Halibut (2009) (short)
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) (film)
- 9 (2009) (film)
- Ninjamaica (2009) (series)
- Despicable Me (2010) (film)
- Jonah Hex (2010) (film)
- The LeBrons (2011) (series) (Season 1)
- Rio (2011) (film)
- Hugo (2011) (film)
- Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas (2011) (short)
- Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) (film)
- Gravity Falls (2012) (TV series, early development)
- Escape from Planet Earth (2013) (film)
- Epic (2013) (film)
- Free Birds (2013) (film)
- Rio 2 (2014) (film)
- The Book of Life (2014) (film)
- DreamWorks Dragons (2015) (TV series)
- The Peanuts Movie (2015) (film)
- Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade (2016) (short)
- Nova Seed (2016) (film)
- Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) (film)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Pizza Friday! (2016) (short)
- Trollhunters (2016) (series)
- Ferdinand (2017) (film)
As Red Rover Studios
- All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996) (film)
- Broken Sword: Circle of Blood (1996) (video game)
- Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (1996) (video game)
- Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) (film)
- Ned's Newt (1997) (TV series)
- Bob and Margaret (1999) (TV series)
- Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) (film)
- Snickers (2000)
- The Ripping Friends (2001) (TV series)
- Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie (2001) (film, test footage)[8]
- Pig City (2002) (TV series)
- Get Ed (2005) (TV series)
- Reefer Madness: The Musical (2005) (film) ("The Brownie Song" sequence)
- Gnomeo and Juliet (2011) (film)
References
- "House of Cool – Toronto Animation Studio". House of Cool. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- "House of Cool sizzles on Storyboard Pro". ToonBoom.com. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
- "House Of Cool Studios Acquires Red Rover Studios". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- Hutchins, Aaron. "Russell Ward, a massive hire for House of Cool". Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- "Massively". getmassively.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- "Andy Knight, RIP | Cartoon Brew". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- "House Of Cool Studios Acquires Red Rover Studios". Awn.com. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
- Hey Arnold Test
External links
- House of Cool official website
- House of Cool at the Internet Movie Database
- Red Rover Studios at the Internet Movie Database