Atomic Cartoons
Atomic Cartoons is a Canadian animation studio founded in 1999 by Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Olaf Miller, Adam Ronald, and Rob Davies.[2][3] Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, it produces service animation for a wide variety of clients, as well as creating its own properties. Since 2015, the company has been owned by Thunderbird Entertainment.[4]
Type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Founded | 1999 |
Founder | Trevor Bentley Mauro Casalese Olaf Miller Rob Davies |
Headquarters | 123 West 7th Avenue Vancouver, British Columbia V5Y 1L8 |
Number of locations | 3 (2020) |
Key people | Jennifer McCarron (CEO) Matthew Berkowitz (CCO) |
Number of employees | >600 (2019)[1] |
Parent | Thunderbird Entertainment |
Website | http://atomiccartoons.com |
History
The studio was founded in March 1999 by Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Olaf Miller and Rob Davies.[5] Sent back to Vancouver after losing his job at Warner Bros. Animation following the cancellation of Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, Davies received a phone call from Sunwoo Entertainment's Jae Moh to help produce Milo's Bug Quest. Together with former Studio B Productions colleagues Miller and Bentley, as well as animator/character designer Casalese, the four launched Atomic Cartoons to assist in creating the series.[2]
Between 2004 and 2008, the company produced Atomic Betty for Teletoon in association with Breakthrough Entertainment and Tele Images Kids. Atomic's first fully original creation, the show's titular heroine served as the studio's mascot for a number of years.
In 2010, Miller left to launch his own studio. The following year, Jennifer McCarron was appointed head of production.[6] On July 8, 2015, Atomic Cartoons was acquired by Canadian production company Thunderbird Films.[4] The three founders remain on board. McCarron was named president and chief executive officer in 2016.[7]
In December 2018, the company opened a second animation studio in Ottawa, Ontario.[8] Its first project is the Netflix-original The Last Kids on Earth. By June 2020, the Ottawa location is expected to have 130-150 employees.[9]
In February 2020, Atomic Cartoons opened its third studio in Los Angeles, California.[10]
Productions
- Crash of the Titans (2007, intro movie only)
- World of Quest (2008–2009)
- Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns (2008)[16]
- Crash: Mind over Mutant (2008, cutscenes only)
- Babar and the Adventures of Badou (2010–2015, in association with Nelvana)
- Transformers: Rescue Bots (2012–2016, season 1 only)
- Captain Cornelius' Cartoon Lagoon (2012–2014)
- Rocket Monkeys (2013–2016)[17]
- Angry Birds Toons (2013–2016, episodes 41; 43; 45-46; storyboards for episodes 51-52)
- Ella the Elephant (2013–2014)
- Mariachi Zombie (2013, scrapped project)
- Mixels (2014–2016, season 1 & Mixel Moon Madness! only)
- Space Racers (2014–ongoing, uncredited)
- Chub City (2014, scrapped project)
- Little Charmers (2015–2017, in association with Nelvana)
- Pirate Express (2015)
- Five Alarm Funk 'Robot' (2015, music video)
- Nico Can Dance! (2015–ongoing)
- Screechers Wild (2016, Chinese co-production with Alpha Group Co., Ltd.)
- Counterfeit Cat (2016–2017)
- Beat Bugs (2016–ongoing)
- Winston Steinburger and Sir Dudley Ding Dong (2016–2017)
- Marvel Super Hero Adventures (2017–ongoing)
- Minecraft Mini Series (2017–2018)
- Legend of the Three Caballeros (2018, in association with Mercury Filmworks and 6 Point Harness)
- Cupcake & Dino: General Services (2018–2019)
- Super Dinosaur (2018–2019)[18]
- Hilda (2018–ongoing, in association with Mercury Filmworks)
- Lego Jurassic World: The Secret Exhibit (2018)
- 101 Dalmatian Street (2019–ongoing)
- Lego Spiderman: Vexed by Venom (2019)
- Lego Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar (2019)
- Molly of Denali (2019–ongoing)
- Curious George: Royal Monkey (2019)
- The Last Kids on Earth (2019–ongoing)
- Hello Ninja (2019–ongoing)
- Lego Jurassic World: Double Trouble (2020)
- Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020)[19]
- Mighty Express (2020)
- Curious George: Go West, Go Wild! (2020, in association with Universal Animation Studios)
- Lego Avengers: Climate Conundrum (2020)
- Trolls: TrollsTopia (2020 -ongoing)
- Mermicorno (TBA)[20]
- Nate Create (TBA)[21]
- Princesses Wear Pants (TBA)[22]
References
- Ross, Ailsa (June 27, 2019). "Zombies and Owls: How Atomic Cartoons Recruits Canada's Best Talent". Royal Bank of Canada. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
- Miller, Bob (2000-09-01). "The Power Behind Atomic Cartoons". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
- Goodman, Martin (2002-03-18). "Atomic Betty: Defending the Universe and Trying to Find a Home on TV". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
- Cummins, Juliana (July 8, 2015). "Thunderbird acquires Atomic Cartoons". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- Edwards, Ian (April 5, 1999). "New Vancouver studio Atomic Cartoons opens". Playback. Brunico Communications.
- Getzler, Wendy (October 19, 2011). "Atomic Cartoons names head of production". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- Pinto, Jordan (June 16, 2016). "Twiner-McCarron named president of Atomic Cartoons". Playback. Brunico Communications. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- "Animation studio drawn back to Hintonburg". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. December 16, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- Malyk, Lauren (June 20, 2019). "Atomic Cartoons moves into phase two of Ottawa expansion". Playback. Brunico Communications. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
- Milligan, Mercedes (February 5, 2020). "Thunderbird's Atomic Cartoons Opens LA Studio". Animation Magazine. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
- https://atomiccartoons.com/the-walking-dead-creator-robert-kirkman-quietly-launched-a-tv-series-in-canada/
- Edwards, Ian (1999-11-15). "Animal Planet calls on 'Wild'". Playback. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
- Godfrey, Leigh (October 25, 2001). "Timberwolf On The Web". Animation World Network. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
- Brodsky, Katherine (2012-09-05). "World's love of toons makes these nerds cool". Variety. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
- DeMott, Rick (2007-09-11). "Captain Flamingo Lands On Jetix Programming Block". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
- Mallory, Michael (2012-06-14). "The Tooning Up of 'Car Talk'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
- Wolfe, Jennifer (2014-10-15). "TELETOON Commissions Third Season of Breakthrough's 'Rocket Monkeys'". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
- Foster, Elizabeth (November 22, 2017). "Spin Master's new dino-might". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
- Zahed, Ramin (August 13, 2020). "Disney+ Gets Festive with 'LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- Milligan, Mercedes (February 4, 2019). "Tokidoki's Mermicorno Getting Animated with Atomic Cartoons". Animation Magazine. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
- Tuchow, Ryan (February 25, 2020). "How Jim Henson & Atomic are differentiating Nate Create". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- Milligan, Mercedes (September 19, 2018). "Atomic Cartoons Options Savannah Guthrie's 'Princesses Wear Pants' for Series". Animation Magazine. Retrieved February 6, 2020.