House of Cool
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Animation |
| Predecessor | Red Rover Studios |
| Founded | 1994[1] |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Key people | |
| Services |
|
| Parent | WildBrain (2023–present) |
| Website | www |
House of Cool Studios[2] is a boutique animation studio based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and founded as a pre-production studio in 1994 by animation veteran Ricardo Curtis and finance expert Wes Lui, specializing in designing and storyboarding of films, series and commercials.
On March 29, 2023, Canadian media company WildBrain announced its intent to acquire the company for CA$18.3 million.[3] The acquisition was completed in July 19, 2023.[4]
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1968 | FilmFair London is founded |
| 1971 | DIC Audiovisuel is founded |
| 1972 | Strawberry Shortcake brand is first developed |
| 1974 | CPLG is founded |
| 1976 | CINAR and Colossal Pictures are founded |
| 1982 | DIC Enterprises is founded |
| 1984–1985 | Ragdoll Productions is founded |
| 1986–1987 | Andy Heyward takes over DIC Enterprises and renames it DIC Animation City with help from both Bear Stearns & Co and Prudential Insurance Co Jean Chalopin retains DIC Audiovisuel and establishes Créativité et Développement |
| 1988 | Studio B Productions is founded |
| 1992 | Epitome Pictures is founded |
| 1993 | Capital Cities/ABC purchases DIC Animation City, renaming it DIC Entertainment |
| 1994 | Both Wild Brain and Red Rover Studios were founded |
| 1995 | Platinum Disc Corporation is founded |
| 1996 | The Walt Disney Company purchases Capital Cities/ABC, which included DIC Entertainment as well CINAR buys FilmFair's library |
| 1997 | Decode Entertainment is founded |
| 1999 | Wild Brain acquires Colossal Pictures' employee base |
| 2000 | Andy Heyward re-acquires DIC Entertainment from The Walt Disney Company with help this time around from both Bain Capital and Chase Capital Partners |
| 2001–2002 | Nerd Corps Entertainment and Kidrobot are founded FilmFair London closes DIC Entertainment rebrands themselves onscreen as The Incredible World of DIC |
| 2004 | Halifax Film Company is founded Michael Hirsh takes over CINAR and renames it as Cookie Jar Group |
| 2005 | Platinum Disc Corporation merge as Echo Bridge Home Entertainment |
| 2006 | Decode and Halifax Film merge as DHX Media DIC Entertainment acquires CPLG Ragdoll Productions forms a joint-venture with BBC Worldwide called Ragdoll Worldwide Wild Brain acquires stake in Kidrobot |
| 2007 | DHX Media buys Studio B Productions Wild Brain becomes Wildbrain Entertainment |
| 2008 | Cookie Jar Group purchases and folds DIC Entertainment House of Cool absorbs Red Rover Studios |
| 2010 | DHX Media buys Wildbrain Entertainment Peanuts Worldwide is founded Decode Entertainment rebrands as DHX Media Toronto Hailfax Film becomes DHX Media Hailfax |
| 2011 | DHX Media Toronto, Studio B Productions and Red Rover Studios close |
| 2012 | DHX Media buys Cookie Jar Group Wildbrain Entertainment acquires Kidrobot as a whole |
| 2013 | DHX Media acquires Ragdoll Worldwide from Ragdoll Productions and BBC Worldwide; despite that though, Ragdoll Productions themselves remain independent |
| 2014 | DHX Media buys Epitome Pictures, Nerd Corps, and Echo Bridge Home Entertainment's family content library, as well as Family, the Canadian English and French Disney Junior channels, and the Canadian version of Disney XD Cookie Jar Group shuts down National Entertainment Collectibles Association acquires Kidrobot from Wildbrain Entertainment |
| 2016 | The WildBrain multi-channel network launches Studio B and Nerd Corps merge as DHX Studios Wildbrain Entertainment closes |
| 2017 | DHX Media buys Peanuts Worldwide and Strawberry Shortcake |
| 2018 | DHX Media Hailfax becomes Island of Misfits |
| 2019 | DHX Media rebrands as WildBrain Epitome Pictures closes the WildBrain MCN becomes WildBrain Spark |
| 2020 | CPLG becomes WildBrain CPLG |
| 2021 | Echo Bridge folds into SP Distribution |
| 2023 | WildBrain acquires House of Cool |
| 2024 | WildBrain Spark merged into its parent company as WildBrain London |
| 2025 | WildBrain announces closures of its television channels WildBrain sells Peanuts Worldwide (47% stake, with 41% controlled stake at Sony Pictures) |
Red Rover Studios
Red Rover Studios was founded in London by Andy and Linzi Knight in 1994. It was a full production studio that focused on 2D and CGI animation. They later moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. However, in July 2008, Red Rover was acquired by House of Cool after Andy Knight died, three months earlier.[5][6]
Filmography
As Red Rover Studios
- All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996) (film)
- Broken Sword: Circle of Blood (1996) (video game)
- Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (1996) (video game)
- Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) (film)
- Ned's Newt (1997) (TV series)
- 1001 Nights (1998) (film)
- Bob and Margaret (1999) (TV series)
- Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) (film)
- Snickers (2000)
- The Ripping Friends (2001) (TV series)
- Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie (2001) (film, test footage)[7]
- Pig City (2002) (TV series)
- Get Ed (2005) (TV series)
- Reefer Madness: The Musical (2005) (film) ("The Brownie Song" sequence)
- Gnomeo and Juliet (2011) (film)
As House of Cool
- Horton Hears a Who! (2008) (film)
- Ollie & the Baked Halibut (2009) (short)
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) (film)
- 9 (2009) (film)
- Ninjamaica (2009) (series)
- Despicable Me (2010) (film)
- Jonah Hex (2010) (film)
- The LeBrons (2011) (series) (Season 1)
- Rio (2011) (film)
- Hugo (2011) (film)
- Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas (2011) (short)
- Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) (film)
- Gravity Falls (2012) (TV series, early development)
- Escape from Planet Earth (2013) (film)
- Epic (2013) (film)
- Free Birds (2013) (film)
- Rio 2 (2014) (film)
- The Book of Life (2014) (film)
- DreamWorks Dragons (2015) (TV series)
- The Peanuts Movie (2015) (film)
- Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade (2016) (short)
- Nova Seed (2016) (film)
- The Angry Birds Movie (2016) (film)
- Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) (film)
- TMNT Summer Shorts "Pizza Friday" (2016) (short)
- Trollhunters (2016) (series)
- Ferdinand (2017) (film)
- Next Gen (2018) (film)
- 3Below: Tales of Arcadia (2018) (series)
- The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) (film)
- Spies in Disguise (2019) (film)
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021) (series)
- Pretzel and the Puppies (2022) (series)
- Untitled CG-animated Peanuts film (TBA)
References
- ^ "Our Story". House of Cool.
- ^ "House of Cool – Toronto Animation Studio". House of Cool. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- ^ Lang, Jamie (March 29, 2023). "Wildbrain Acquires Canadian Pre-Production Studio House Of Cool". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
- ^ Ltd, WildBrain. "WILDBRAIN COMPLETES HOUSE OF COOL ACQUISITION, SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDING AND ENHANCING ITS PRE-PRODUCTION CAPABILITIES". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2023-07-20.
- ^ "Andy Knight, RIP | Cartoon Brew". Cartoon Brew. 13 April 2008. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- ^ "House Of Cool Studios Acquires Red Rover Studios". Awn.com. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
- ^ Hey Arnold Test