Reel FX Animation (Reel FX), formerly known as Reel FX Creative Studios, is an American computer animation studio with studios in Dallas, Texas, Hollywood, California, and Montreal, Quebec.
The studio primarily produces animated features, short films, and television series. Among them is the studio's first original animated feature film, Free Birds, released in 2013. A year later, The Book of Life was released. The film received several nominations, including Best Animated Feature Nominations from the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, Producers Guild Awards and Annie Awards. In 2020, Reel FX Animation teamed up with Warner Animation Group on Scoob!. In addition, the studio released Rumble, a co-production with Paramount Animation and Back to the Outback with Netflix Animation, both in 2021. Most recently, Reel FX teamed up again with Netflix Animation to create The Monkey King in 2023.
The studio’s upcoming slate of films includes The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants with Paramount Animation and a film titled Diya with Good Karma Productions.
History
Reel FX Animation was founded in 1993 as Reel Magic in Fort Worth, Texas. The studio was the sixth to purchase an Autodesk Flame system. In 1995, the company moved to Dallas and changed its name to Reel FX Creative Studios. Reel FX purchased West End Post, and in 1999, moved to the White Swan building in the West End. In 2005, the studio moved their headquarters east a couple of miles to Deep Ellum. The company opened a second location in Pasadena, California, and in 2008 merged with VFX-studio Radium and opened a studio in Santa Monica.
In 2017, Reel FX opened its first studio outside the United States in Montreal Canada. The studio would eventually add artists in Toronto and Vancouver as well.
Films and releases
In 1999, the studio produced its first short film, The Man In The Moon. Based on William Joyce’s Guardians of Childhood and co-directed by Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg. The short film became the first Reel FX Original (now called Inventions), and in 2007, was optioned to Dreamworks Animation where it ultimately became Rise of the Guardians, directed by Peter Ramsey. In October 2012, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Reel FX's connection to the 2012 feature film.
In December 2010, Reel FX produced an untitled 3D film with producer Andrew Adamson and Cirque du Soleil. In January 2012, Paramount Pictures announced that it had acquired worldwide rights to the film, now titled Worlds Away directed by Adamson and executive-produced by James Cameron.
First called Turkeys, and opened in 2013 under Free Birds, the film was directed by Jimmy Hayward and starred Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, and Amy Poehler. Its release landed Reel FX’s CEO Steve O’Brien the front page of D CEO Magazine in their May-June edition of that year.
Following the release of The Book of Life, Reel FX assisted on Rock Dog (Summit Entertainment, Huayi Brothers) and UglyDolls (STX Entertainment) while developing its next feature. Released in 2021, Rumble is based on Rob Harrell’s graphic novel Monster on the Hill and adapted for the screen by Matt Lieberman and Etan Cohen. In 2022, Reel FX released the original series Super Giant Robot Brothers!, with Netflix Animation. Directed by Mark Andrews (Brave), the episodic series was created using a custom-built real-time production pipeline with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, the first animated series to be rendered entirely in a video game engine.
Filmography
Feature films
As production company
Animation services/visual effects
Television
Series
As production company
Animation services
Specials
Jonah Sing-Along Songs and More! (2002; with Big Idea Productions) Halloweentown High (2004) Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas (2011; with 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios)