Fox Animation Studios

Fox Animation Studios

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Animation
Founded	August 8, 1994 (1994-08-08) in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Founder	Don Bluth, Gary Goldman
Defunct	June 26, 2000 (2000-06-26)
Fate	Ceased operations; film catalog rights transferred to Disney through 20th Century Studios
Headquarters	Phoenix , United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Stephen Brain (Senior VP and General Manager)
Products	Animated feature films, animation services
Owner	20th Century Fox (until closure)
Number of employees	Approximately 380 (before layoffs) (circa 1999)
Parent	20th Century Fox Animation

Fox Animation Studios was a U.S.-based animation company under the ownership of 20th Century Fox, located in Phoenix, Arizona. Established on August 8, 1994, by animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, it functioned as a branch of 20th Century Fox Animation until it ceased operations on June 26, 2000, shortly after the release of its last feature, Titan A.E.. The rights to the studio’s film catalog were eventually transferred to Disney through 20th Century Studios on March 20, 2019. Among its productions, Anastasia (1997) stands out as its most commercially successful and critically praised movie, holding the record as Bluth’s highest-grossing work.

Founding

After the disappointing box-office performance of Thumbelina in March 1994, animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman were invited by Bill Mechanic, then-chairman of 20th Century Fox, to create a new animation division for Fox. Stephen Brain was appointed Senior VP and General Manager by Mechanic and John Matoian, president of Fox Family Films, to lead the studio’s daily operations.

The newly formed studio sought to rival Walt Disney Feature Animation, which had dominated the animation industry in the late 1980s and early 1990s with hits such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). Bluth and Goldman brought with them significant expertise from their time at Sullivan Bluth Studios, recognized for films like The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986), and The Land Before Time (1988).

Before Bluth's involvement, Fox had distributed several animated movies produced externally during the 1990s, including titles like FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Once Upon a Forest (1993), and The Pagemaster (1994), which experienced varied commercial success and critical reception. In earlier decades, Fox also distributed films such as Hugo the Hippo (1975), Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards (1977) and Fire and Ice (1983), along with Richard Williams' works Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977) and Asterix Conquers America (1994) in select territories.

Productions

Fox Animation Studios faced challenges in replicating the box-office success of Disney’s animated features amid growing competition from Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, whose computer-animated films gained popularity while Disney Renaissance revenues declined. The studio adopted digital ink and paint methods comparable to Disney’s CAPS system, utilizing specifically the Toonz software. Its first theatrical release, Anastasia (1997), achieved both critical acclaim and financial success, marking the highest-grossing project directed by Don Bluth. However, its follow-up and final production, Titan A.E. (2000), garnered mixed critical responses and resulted in a significant financial loss of $100 million for 20th Century Fox. To streamline operations ahead of closure, Fox reduced its Phoenix workforce dramatically by laying off 300 out of approximately 380 employees nearly one year prior to shutting down the studio.

Closure and Impact

Fox Animation Studios ceased operations on June 26, 2000, after six years in business, largely due to the poor box office performance of Titan A.E.. Among its intended projects were an adaptation of Wayne Barlowe's illustrated novel Barlowe's Inferno, which was set to become Fox’s inaugural fully computer-generated feature—preceding 2002’s Ice Age—and The Little Beauty King, an adult-oriented animated satire helmed by Steve Oedekerk, planned to release before DreamWorks' Shrek (2001).

The studio also contributed to other works such as the PBS series Adventures from the Book of Virtues (1996–2000), the direct-to-video sequel Bartok the Magnificent (1999), and provided subcontracted animation services for DreamWorks’ The Prince of Egypt (1998). Notably, Bartok the Magnificent stands as the sole spin-off from Don Bluth properties directed by both Bluth and Goldman. The Phoenix facility once housing the studio remained vacant until its demolition in 2017, with a residential complex constructed on the site by 2019. Following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, most of Fox Animation Studios’ catalog now belongs to The Walt Disney Company, except for The Prince of Egypt, which is owned by Universal Pictures through DreamWorks Animation, and Adventures from the Book of Virtues, retained by PBS.

Filmography

Title	Release date	Directed by	Story by	Screenplay by	Produced by	Budget	Gross	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	Notes
Anastasia	REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting	Don Bluth and Gary Goldman	Eric Tuchman	Susan Gauthier, Bruce Graham, Bob Tzudiker, and Noni White	Don Bluth and Gary Goldman	$53 million	$140 million	Template:RT data	61	co-production with Fox Family Films
Bartok the Magnificent	Template:Date table sorting		Jay Lacopo			$24.8 million	Template:N/A	Template:N/A (3 reviews)	Template:N/A	Direct-to-video release, co-production with 20th Century Fox Animation
Titan A.E.	Template:Date table sorting		Hans Bauer and Randall McCormick	Ben Edlund, John August, and Joss Whedon	Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, and David Kirschner	$75–85 million	$36.8 million	Template:RT data	48	co-production with 20th Century Fox Animation and David Kirschner Productions

Animation Services

Title	Release date	Studio(s)	Notes
Adventures from the Book of Virtues	1996–2000	KCET Los Angeles PorchLight Entertainment	A television series broadcast on PBS
The Prince of Egypt	1998	DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Animation	Provided supplementary final line animation services

Abandoned Projects

Title	Notes
Betty of the Jungle	In 1995, animator Bill Kopp proposed an adult animated feature centered on jungle heroine Betty and her firearm-wielding poodle, with voice roles intended for Loni Anderson and Bruce Willis. Despite producing an animation test and concept artwork, Fox Animation did not greenlight the project.
Dracula	Conceived as an adult animated musical adaptation of Dracula, described as a Disney-style take on the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Barlowe's Inferno	Planned as a computer-animated film based on Wayne Barlowe’s novel, this project was intended to follow Titan A.E. as Fox Animation Studios’ first fully CG feature before the release of Ice Age.
Rhapsody	Intended adaptation of Elizabeth Haydon’s debut novel in her Rhapsody trilogy, chronicling a human girl’s epic journey alongside warriors.
The Little Beauty King	An adult-themed animated satire targeting Disney Renaissance films, directed by Steve Oedekerk, slated ahead of the release of Shrek.
Over the Hedge	Based on Michael Fry and T. Lewis’s comic strip; eventually produced by DreamWorks Animation.
Africa	An adult animated epic set on the African continent; concept art was later revealed by animator Will Makra.
Fathom	Reports from June 2000 indicated that Fox was developing an adaptation of the comic book series Fathom.
Ice Age	Originally conceived as a traditionally animated action-comedy during the Ice Age era, this project evolved into a CG-animated film after Fox acquired Blue Sky Studios under Fox Animation head Chris Meledandri and executive producer Steve Bannerman.

See also

• Don Bluth Entertainment
• 20th Century Animation
• Blue Sky Studios
• 20th Television Animation
• Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Pixar
• Disneytoon Studios
• List of 20th Century Studios theatrical animated feature films