SIP Animation

SIP Animation (known as Saban International Paris until 2002) was a French animation studio, and a former subsidiary of Saban Entertainment. In 2002, Saban International Paris was renamed SIP Animation. By 2009, the company had produced over 780 half-hours of animated content.[1]

SIP Animation
Formerly
Saban International Paris (1977–2002)
IndustryAnimation studio
Record label
FateClosed
SuccessorThe Walt Disney Company France
Founded1977, renamed in 2002 (1977, renamed in 2002)
FoundersHaim Saban
Jacqueline Tordjman
Defunct2009 (2009)
Headquarters
La Garenne-Colombes 
ParentSaban Entertainment (1980–2002)
Independent (2002–2009) (49% minority stake owned by The Walt Disney Company)

Despite the name, the company was not directly related to the Saban subsidiaries Saban International or Saban International Services.

History

Saban International Paris

Saban International Paris was founded in France by Haim Saban and Jacqueline Tordjman in 1977 as a record label. The company became a subsidiary of the newly-formed Saban Entertainment in 1980, and in 1989, Saban International Paris moved into the animation field, producing animated series for their parent company.[1] Saban International Paris would eventually enter a partnership with the newly formed Fox Kids Europe in the mid-90s, and so would produce many animated shows for that network in the 1990s and 2000s.

In March 1996, Créativité et Développement (C&D), a company owned by DiC Entertainment co-founder Jean Chalopin, was purchased by Fox Kids Worldwide. The library was absorbed into FKW while the company itself was absorbed into Saban International Paris.[2] With the buyout, a show under development at C&E: Diabolik was placed into the control of Saban International Paris, alongside other projects.

In August 1996, Saban and the German ARD network agreed to a three-year, $50 million co-production and library program licensing agreement. This deal included two new shows which would be produced by Saban International Paris and Canadian studio CinéGroupe: Jim Button and Night of the Wishes.[3] The former premiered in late 1999, while the latter was renamed to Wunschpunsch (or "Wounchpounch") and premiered in late 2000.

In December 2000, DIC Entertainment announced that they would be co-producing Gadget and the Gadgetinis with Saban International Paris, and that Saban International would hold international (outside of the U.S.) distribution rights to the series, which itself would premiere in 2002.[4]

SIP Animation

In 2001, Fox Family Worldwide was sold by owner News Corporation to The Walt Disney Company;[5] this also included Saban Entertainment and Saban International Paris, which were subsidiaries of Fox Family Worldwide. Saban Entertainment was renamed to BVS Entertainment, while Saban International Paris was sold off after Haim Saban departed the same year.

In April 2002, Saban International Paris confirmed that their newest show: Tofu Family, later renamed to The Tofus, was pre-sold to ITV to air on their CITV block in the United Kingdom.[6] It was also confirmed that the company were working on 3 different shows: Tinsellania for TF1 and Family in co-production with Studio B,[7] Sparkiz for France 2 and ROBO for M6. None of the 3 shows were ever completed.

In the same year, The Walt Disney Company purchased a 49% minority stake within Saban International Paris.[8] The company however could no longer use the "Saban International Paris" name[8] and on October 1, 2002, the company was renamed to SIP Animation, with a new domain name for the company website following soon after.[9][10] On the same day, SIP announced they were producing a TV series based on the Disney-published comic book series W.I.T.C.H., alongside two others they were already working on before the name change (Jason and the Heroes of Mount Olympus and Gadget & the Gadgetinis).[11][12][13][14] All the SIP shows made during this era were distributed by Buena Vista International Television, a Disney subsidiary.[8]

In March 2003, SIP confirmed that they were due to start work on The Tofus, as well as confirming that they would be co-producing the second season of CineGroupe's What's with Andy?, in association with Fox Kids France and Super RTL. On the same day SIP also confirmed that they would produce a W.I.T.C.H. pilot to attract broadcasters into airing the series, as well as confirming that 2 shows were under development for Fox Kids Europe, one being a 2D show which TF1 was looking into airing and the other a 2D/3D show.[15]

In September 2004, Jetix Europe announced that their next co-production with SIP would be an action-packed cartoon with the working title of The Insiders.[16] Hasbro signed a deal to produce toys based on the show later in the month.[17] The show's full title would eventually become A.T.O.M. - Alpha Teens on Machines, and premiered on Jetix channels all over the world in Mid-Late 2005. In October of the same year, website Kidscreen confirmed that the planned 2D show made by SIP would be titled Combo Niños and that delivery for the series would begin in early 2006. Jetix Europe and TF1 had been on-board with the series, but SIP had also been looking for other broadcasters or countries to co-produce the series.[18]

In May 2007, SIP Animation announced that the production of Combo Niños had begun.[19] The series eventually premiered on Jetix channels in Europe in mid 2008, and eventually Latin America in December.

In late 2007, it was confirmed that SIP would be co-producing a feature film with Korean distributor M-Line, titled Princess Bari, being the first ever French-Korean animated co-production. The film was rumored to have been completed, but was never released.[20][21][22]

In early 2008, SIP introduced a new website and domain name.[23] In its final year of existence, the company produced several television pilots,[1] including Astaquana,[24] Wesh Wesh Express, Ko-Bushi,[25] and The Jokers; as well as an 8-minute short film titled Inukshuk, which was completed in December 2008,[26] and premiered in May 2009.[27] (SIP had previously announced a call for short film pitches in 2006.[28])

Closure and legacy

In 2009, following Disney's full acquisition of Jetix Europe, SIP Animation silently went dormant. On May 12, 2009, the company was subject to liquidation,[29] and SIP Animation as a whole was listed as fully closed on June 11, 2012, with only around 1 or 2 employees remaining at that time.[30]

Bruno Bianchi, who had worked at the company since the 90s, went on to form his own animation company called Ginkgo Animation after SIP's shutdown, and ran it before his death on December 2, 2011.[31] One of Ginkgo's projects had been George and Me (French title Georges et Moi),[32] an adaptation of a 2006 Soleil Productions comic series that had first been picked up by SIP Animation as early as December 2007,[33] and had been planned to start production at SIP at the beginning of 2009.[34] However, by April 2011 this venture of Ginkgo's was considered unsuccessful due to changing priorities in the French animation industry,[32] according to one of the authors of the original comics.[35]

Malaysian studio Inspidea, which had previously worked as a subcontractor on Combo Niños[36] and Wesh Wesh Express, co-produced the Ko-Bushi pilot and would eventually co-produce a full series under the slightly different title Kobushi,[37] with the involvement of Zagtoon. Zagtoon itself was co-founded by SIP co-founder Jaqueline Tordjman and also employs several key people who formally worked at SIP, like composers Alain Garcia and Noam Kaniel.

Subsequent ownership

As of 2012, The Walt Disney Company France acts as a contact point for SIP and its former assets.[38] Disney owns a majority of SIP's programs that were produced when the company was part of Saban Entertainment, which remain under the ownership of the Disney subsidiary BVS Entertainment (Saban Entertainment's successor company). W.I.T.C.H. (produced during the SIP era) is however owned by Disney directly as the company was involved in the production itself (not just via Jetix Europe) and published the comic books the show was based on.[39]

The shows co-produced with CinéGroupe remain in their catalogue, and are distributed by partner company HG Distribution. Gadget & the Gadgetinis is currently owned by WildBrain, via co-producer DIC Entertainment and its ownership of the Inspector Gadget franchise. Disney licenses out the first season of Alpha Teens on Machines to independent distributor Multicom Entertainment Group,[40] including digital distribution rights.[41] The short film Inukshuk is distributed by interfilm.[42]

Shows produced

As Saban International Paris

Some of the shows featured the "Saban's" corporate bug in their title. Saban Entertainment itself is not listed.

As SIP Animation

Pilots
  • Astaquana (2007)
  • Wesh Wesh Express (2008)
  • Ko-Bushi (2008)
  • The Jokers (2008)

Short film
  • Inukshuk (2009)
gollark: The banner thing's gone too.
gollark: It seems that way.
gollark: I think it's already been *reduced*.
gollark: I don't think my profile picture is technically *either* of those.
gollark: ~~time to abuse my new powers and destroy the server~~

References
  1. "SIP Animation". 8 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-08. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  2. "Saban grows in France". Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  3. "August Issue News Section". www.awn.com. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  4. "Archive » What's developing in kids production". Kidscreen. 2000-12-01. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  5. "News Corp. and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for $5.3 Billion". saban. July 23, 2001. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  6. "UK presale for Saban's new toon | News". C21Media. 2002-04-22. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  7. "Canadian shows screen at MIPCOM » Playback". Playbackonline.ca. 2002-10-14. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  8. "Wayback Machine" (PDF). web.archive.org. 19 October 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-10-19. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  9. "Bienvenue". 14 March 2002. Archived from the original on 2002-03-14. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  10. "Bienvenue sur le site Saban International Paris. Welcome on Saban International Paris web site". 22 January 2003. Archived from the original on 2003-01-22. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  11. "SIP Animation Appoint Sylvie Barro As Head of Development". 4rfv.co.uk. January 17, 2007. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  12. Godfrey, Leigh (September 25, 2002). "Saban Becomes SIP Before Journey To Mipcom". Animation World Network. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  13. Waller, Ed (October 1, 2002). "SIP Animation adapts Italian comic books". C21 Media. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  14. DeMott, Rick (April 12, 2005). "W.I.T.C.H. Licensed on Free TV To 13 Countries Across Europe". AWN News. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  15. "Euro-Canadian toon deals for SIP | News". C21Media. 2003-03-24. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  16. 2004-09-09T08:30:00 (2004-09-09). "Jetix signs toon co-pro | News | Broadcast". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  17. "Jetix Awards Hasbro Toy License | Animation World Network". Awn.com. 2004-09-28. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  18. "Archive » Cool New Shows!". Kidscreen. 2004-10-01. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  19. Baisley, Sarah (May 10, 2007). "Jetix Europe, SIP Animation & TF1 to Co-Produce Combo Ninos". AWN News. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  20. "des NEWS de l'anim - N°13" (in French). Animation-france.fr. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  21. "[Animation] Princess Bari (France/Corée) - News". Catsuka. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  22. "Princesse Bari - Pilote (Film franco/coréen par le réal d'Oseam) - News". Catsuka. 2019-10-20. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  23. "SIP Animation". 7 April 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-04-07. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  24. "Up Next – What's Developing in Kids Production". Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  25. "mip market showcase 2008". www.animationmagazine.net. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  26. "Inukshuk (2008)". en.unifrance.org. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  27. "Inukshuk - La Pellicule Ensorcelée". www.lapelliculeensorcelee.org. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  28. "[Pro] SIP se lance dans le court-métrage - News - Catsuka". www.catsuka.com. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  29. "SIP ANIMATION (PARIS 13) Chiffre d'affaires, résultat, bilans sur SOCIETE.COM - 312161516". www.societe.com. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  30. "Etablissement SIP ANIMATION à PARIS 13 (75013) sur SOCIETE.COM (31216151600058)". www.societe.com. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  31. Zahed, Ramin (December 2, 2011). "French TV Animator Bruno Bianchi Passes Away". Animation Magazine. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  32. "Georges et moi, le projet de série télé par ginkgo-animation - Maroin Eluasti.マロワン・エリュアスティ". 1 April 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  33. "des NEWS de l'anim - N°13". www.animation-france.fr. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  34. "UpNext-What's developing in kids production". Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  35. recherche, résultats de; recherche, résultats de (17 August 2006). "Georges et moi, Tome 1 : Bubble-gum et croquettes". Soleil Productions. Retrieved 23 October 2018 – via Amazon.
  36. "Is". 7 December 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  37. "Kobushi". 16 December 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  38. "ADHÉRER AU SNEP" (PDF). SNEP. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  39. Home video releases of W.I.T.C.H. carry the Disney DVD trailers on-disc.
  40. "A.T.O.M.: Alpha Teens on Machines". multicom.tv. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  41. "Amazon.com: A.T.O.M. Alpha Teens On Machines". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  42. "Inukshuk". www.interfilm.de. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
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