We all know well that the animation companies Walt Disney and Pixar have, in just the past decade, won hundreds of different awards, and in a sense these two can be considered the undisputed masters of the animation industry. Disney Animation Studio shone in 2019 with the film Frozen 2, and Pixar also showed its strength with Toy Story 4. In this piece we talk about other animation studios that have, through their work, impressed large audiences around the world. Without these companies, the animation industry would never have reached its current standing.
Studio Ghibli (Ghibli)
Most important works:
- Spirited Away
- My Neighbor Totoro
- Princess Mononoke
This Japanese studio has so far managed to establish itself as a prolific producer of anime in the world. The legendary director Hayao Miyazaki was the founder of this studio, and for that reason Ghibli has been able, with high narrative (storytelling) power and also captivating and outstanding animation, to enchant every generation. Some of the most astonishing worlds and characters in the world of animation belong to this group from Tokyo.
Spirited Away, the most successful animation of this Ghibli company, has won numerous awards from around the world, including the Oscar for Best Animated Feature of 2012.
DreamWorks Animation Studio (DreamWorks)
Most important works:
- Shrek
- Kung Fu Panda
- Madagascar
- How to Train Your Dragon
DreamWorks, despite being less than three decades old, has so far delivered numerous franchises that are known around the world. No less is expected from this company, with founders such as Steven Spielberg, the prominent Hollywood director, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the famous producer who was a member of Disney's board of directors at the height of that company's flourishing!
This company has produced numerous theatrical animations that had impressive box office revenue, and it will certainly continue its work with strength for many years to come.
The Kung Fu Panda series, with 1/8 billion dollars in box office revenue, is among the masterpieces of animation.
Nickelodeon Animation Studio (Nickelodeon)
Most important works:
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Doug
- !Hey Arnold
Nickelodeon Animation Studio started its work by making not-very-well-known short animations and then, in a short time, produced shows that are known to many viewers of every age group around the world. Nickelodeon has proven its ability to create memorable and often dim-witted characters and to build interesting worlds and bring them into the real world.
Of course, no animated series comes close in popularity to this company's yellow character. SpongeBob SquarePants has, on its own, brought dozens of awards and 13 billion in merchandising revenue for the Nickelodeon company and made this company known around the world. The latest animation in this series, named The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, was recently released in 2020.
SpongeBob and the Nickelodeon company. The last installment of the SpongeBob series.
Toei Animation Studio (Toei)
Most important works:
- Saint Seiya
- One Piece
- Sailor Moon
- !Yu-Gi-oh
- Dragon Ball Z
It is almost impossible that you spent your childhood in the 80s and 90s and were not influenced by the outstanding cartoons of the Toei company. This Japanese animation studio is in fact older than any human you can think of, and the date of its founding goes back to 1948. From then until now, Toei has produced more than 100 animated series for Japanese viewers and those of other countries around the world. Today, Toei uses its talented artists to take part in making many things; from films that are made entirely using CGI technology to video games.
Dragon Ball Z, this studio's most successful franchise, had such an impact on popular culture that "Goku" himself appeared in the 2018 Thanksgiving Day parade at Macy's.
Warner Bros. Animation Studio (.Warner Bros)
Most important works:
- Looney Tunes
- Batman: The Animated Series
- The Lego Movie
- The Iron Giant
The founding date of the Warner Bros. company goes back to the 30s, so when it comes to animation, this company is considered one of the oldest. Warner achieved great success by making the animation "Bugs Bunny" (Bugs Bunny) and other animations of the "Looney Tunes" (Looney tunes) series, and in recent decades it also obtained impressive viewership figures on popular children's television networks such as Fox Kids and Kids' WB with shows such as Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs, Freakazoid.
Warner Bros. Animation Studio is noted for making feature-length films such as Lego Movie films and The Iron Giant as well as more adult animations related to the DC Comics universe.
The famous childhood Bugs Bunny is from Warner Animation Studio's well-known animations.
Cartoon Network Studio (Cartoon Network)
Most important works:
- Regular Show
- Adventure Time
- Ben 10
- The Powerpuff Girls
Cartoon Network Studio started its work at the beginning of the new millennium with animations such as Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack and The Powerpuff Girls. They began the second decade of the millennium with even greater success, because the start of this decade was accompanied by the production and broadcast of animations such as Regular Show and Ben 10, which became some of the most popular television cartoons.
Adventure Time, whose 8-year broadcast recently ended in 2018, brought the studio many awards; including 8 Emmy awards, one Peabody Award and three Annie Awards.
Who is the best?
It is hard to choose one of these studios as the best. Each of these studios shines brightly at some point in time. Only the two companies Disney and Pixar, the former of which in fact owns the latter, are always the best. Other studios return to the arena of competition every few years with one eye-catching work. In the "animation industry statistics" section on Namafar you can become familiar with the figures of this major industry.
Notes:
This piece was published under the title "The Best Animation Studios in the World Outside of Disney & Pixar" on the New York Film Academy website, and Namafar translated it in Azar (November–December) 99 and published it under the title "The world's best animation studios".
Machine-translated from Persian by Namafar; the Persian original is authoritative. Read the original in Persian