Sparky Animation

Last updated
Sparky Animation
IndustryAnimation
Founded2006;18 years ago (2006)
FounderDr. Kok Cheong Wong (KC)
HeadquartersSingapore
ProductsAnimated features
Number of employees
120 (2012)
Website www.sparkyanim.com

Sparky Animation is a Singapore animation company. The company produces 3D animation content for worldwide markets. It also develops original titles and merchandises them globally through international licences. Their research department also develops CGI production tools and systems. The company is also a film distributor in Asia. [1]

Contents

History

Sparky Animation commenced operations in 2006 in Singapore, where the government provided subsidies for the entertainment industry. [2] The television series Dinosaur Train was co-produced with The Jim Henson Company. [3]

In 2014, the company had about 120 employees. It had a subsidiary company in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. [4] and production facilities in India. [5]

Productions/Collaborations

Awards/Nominations

Dinosaur Train, a coproduction between The Jim Henson Company and Sparky Animation, received the highest viewership in PBS' history.[ citation needed ] It has also been selected by Hollywood's People Magazine as the Top Kids' Show.[ citation needed ] The toys developed from Dinosaur Train were nominated under the 'Toy of the Year' award category by the Toy Industry Association, in 2010. [11] At the 38th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards, Dinosaur Train was nominated for Outstanding Children's Animated Program. [12]

Jack, a co-production with Groupe PVP Canada was nominated in the Best Animated Series category at the 27th Prix Gémeaux 2012. In May 2013, Jack won the Award of Excellence for the Best Animated Television Program (Ages 6 to 8) at the Youth Media Alliance in Canada. [13]

One Stormy Night was nominated for the Best 3D Animated Programme award at the 2012 Asian Television Awards. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIT Entertainment</span> British-American entertainment company

HIT Entertainment Limited was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turner Laing. Orton alone took over the company in 1989 after learning Henson intended to sell the company to The Walt Disney Company. HIT owned and distributed children's television series such as Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Barney & Friends, and Angelina Ballerina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown Bag Films</span> Irish animation studio

Brown Bag Films (BBF) is an Irish-Canadian television and computer animation production studio owned by Canadian production studio 9 Story Media Group and based in Dublin with 2D and 3D animation facilities in Bali, Los Angeles, Toronto and formerly Manchester.

<i>Yo Gabba Gabba!</i> American-Canadian childrens musical television series

Yo Gabba Gabba! is a children's musical television series created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz and developed by Kay Wilson Stallings. The series is about five costumed toys come-to-life and their friend DJ Lance Rock. It is co-produced by the Magic Store and Wildbrain Entertainment. Its first episode premiered on Nickelodeon on August 20, 2007, as a part of its Nick Jr. block. Its original run ended on November 12, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Events Productions</span> American entertainment company

WEP LLC, doing business as World Events Productions, is an American-based animation and distribution company in St. Louis, Missouri, best known for releasing the anime titles Voltron, Defender of the Universe and Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, as well as producing the original animated series Denver, the Last Dinosaur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marvel Animation</span> Animation company

Marvel Animation Inc. is an American animation production company. It was incorporated on January 25, 2008 to direct Marvel's efforts in animation and home entertainment markets. The incorporated Marvel Animation included then ongoing animation efforts by Marvel Studios with Lionsgate and Nickelodeon. Marvel Animation operates under Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Company.

Wildbrain Entertainment, Inc. was an American entertainment company and animation studio that developed and produced television programming, motion pictures, commercial content, and licensed merchandise. Established in 1994, it maintained offices in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Splash Entertainment</span> American animation studio

Splash Entertainment, LLC. is an American animation studio that produces children's TV series. Splash also controls the streaming service Kabillion.

Bill Schultz is an animation producer. He was born in New York City and grew up in River Forest, a suburb near Chicago, Illinois, moving to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Illinois Champaign - Urbana Campus. He has worked on television shows such as Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, The Transformers, and produced others, notably The Simpsons andKing of the Hill and now the founder and CEO of Home Plate Entertainment. Schultz started Home Plate Entertainment in 2010, after stepping down from his 12-year partnership with Splash Entertainment.

<i>Dinosaur Train</i> Preschool animated television series on PBS Kids

Dinosaur Train is an animated television series aimed at preschoolers ages 3 to 6 and created by Craig Bartlett, who also created Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!. The series features a Tyrannosaurus rex named Buddy who, together with the rest of his family, who are all Pteranodons, takes the Dinosaur Train to explore his time period, and have adventures with a variety of dinosaurs. It is co-produced by The Jim Henson Company in association with the Infocomm Media Development Authority, Sparky Animation, FableVision, Snee-Oosh, Inc., Reel FX, and Sea to Sky Entertainment. As of September 2018, PBS Kids had ordered 11 more episodes, taking the total number of episodes to 100. A film based on the series from Universal Pictures and Universal 1440 Entertainment titled, Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island premiered on April 12, 2021.

<i>Dino Dan</i> Canadian TV series

Dino Dan is a Canadian television series that was created and is directed by J. J. Johnson. The series premiered on TVOKids in Canada on January 4, 2010 and on the Nick Jr. Channel in the United States on October 17 of the same year. The show is produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment, in association with TVOKids, Access, Knowledge Network, and SCN. A sequel of the series, Dino Dana, premiered on Amazon Prime on May 26, 2017. The show premiered on Universal Kids on October 6, 2018, three years after Nick Jr.'s rights to the series expired. It was reported in February 2013 that CITV had acquired and secured rights to air the programme and eventually re-air it on the channel.

The 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, June 19, 2011, at the Las Vegas Hilton, and were televised on CBS. The Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy Awards were presented two days earlier on June 17 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.

Sixteen South is a Northern Irish company that creates, produces, and distributes television for children. Founded in Belfast in 2007 by Colin Williams, Sixteen South has partnered with major names in children's entertainment, co-producing shows with Sesame Workshop, The Jim Henson Company and the BBC.

Thunderbird Entertainment Group is a Canadian film and television entertainment company, with offices in both Canada and the United States of America.

Tiny Island Productions is a CG animation production company based in Singapore. It specializes in both normal CG and stereoscopic 3D film productions. It produced the Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens CG movie which won the Best 3D Animated Program award at the Asian Television Awards 2012 as well as the Dream Defenders television series.

The Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production for Children is an Annie Award, awarded annually to the best animated television/broadcasting productions for children audiences. It was first given at the 31st Annie Awards.

Robert James Alvarez is an American animator, storyboard artist, television director, and writer. Alvarez studied at the Chouinard Art Institute, which later became the California Institute of the Arts, graduating in 1971. He began his career as an assistant animator for the 1968 film Yellow Submarine. Throughout his five decades in the animation industry, Alvarez has developed an extensive resume. He has worked on hundreds of productions, mainly for television. He is best known for his work on multiple shows at Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios, and has also worked at other animation studios, such as Disney Television Animation, Nickelodeon, Frederator Studios, and Warner Bros. Animation. His studio credits include, in chronological order, Scooby-Doo, The Smurfs, The Jetsons, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DuckTales, SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, Animaniacs, Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Ben 10, Regular Show, and Adventure Time. He has been awarded six Primetime Emmy Awards and a total of 25 Emmy nominations for his achievements.

<i>Tumble Leaf</i> Childrens animated television series

Tumble Leaf is an American animated series that premiered in 2014 on Amazon Prime Video. It is a stop motion animated series for preschool-aged children and is based on the short film Miro. Created by animator Drew Hodges and stop-motion studio Bix Pix Entertainment, Tumble Leaf features an anthropomorphic blue fox named Fig and his caterpillar friend Stick, along with other residents of the island of Tumble Leaf, helping preschoolers learn basic science lessons through playful examples. Additional regular characters include Maple, Hedge, Pine, Ginkgo, Rutabaga, Zucchini, and Butternut & Squash. Each episode consists of two 11-minute stories with Fig learning the mechanics of various items discovered in a special room on board the abandoned shipwreck where he resides.

PGS Entertainment is a French-Swiss privately owned investment family group dedicated to the financing and brand management of independent producers' children's television programming. PGS' broadcast and media partners include Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and free-to-air broadcasters such as Super RTL, RAI, ABC, Pop, and Neox.

<i>Oddbods</i> Singaporean television series

Oddbods is a Singaporean computer-animated comedy television series produced by One Animation. The series centers on eight characters—Bubbles, Pogo, Newt, Lulu, Jeff, Slick, Fuse and Zee—wearing furry suits of different colors. The characters make sounds but there is no dialogue, making the series easily translatable and international.

Andrew Huebner is an American television producer with Nickelodeon Animation Studios. In that capacity, he has received one Primetime Emmy Award and three Daytime Emmy Awards.

References

  1. Tyler, Richard (September 21, 2011). "Telegraph 1000: Walker Books innovates to stay ahead of the competition". The Telegraph.
  2. Zahed, Ramin (December 11, 2008). "Singapore Plans New VFX Studio". Animation Magazine.
  3. Kolesnikov-Jessop, Sonia (November 14, 2010). "Animation Industry Finds a Home in Singapore". New York Times.
  4. "Sparky Animation opens its doors in Malaysia" (Press release). Sparky Animation. March 22, 2014. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014.
  5. Frater, Patrick (November 30, 2015). "ATF: Sparky Animation Finds New 'Rhythm'". Variety.
  6. Rebecca A. Fannin (25 October 2011). Startup Asia: Top Strategies for Cashing in on Asia's Innovation Boom. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 157–. ISBN   978-0-470-82990-5.
  7. Hutchins, Aaron (September 30, 2014). "Dinosaur Train leaves big CP footprint in Europe and Russia". Kidscreen.
  8. "British animator rockets to Disney success". Broadcast Now 28 May 2010
  9. "Drawiz extends hand to Singapore". FilmBiz Asia
  10. Sherman, Jennifer (October 4, 2011). "Shiki's Amino Remakes Arashi no Yoru ni/One Stormy Night". Anime News Network.
  11. Goldman Getzler, Wendy (November 23, 2010). "TIA reveals Toy of the Year nominees, consumer voting website". Kidscreen.
  12. "The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces the 38th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Award Nominations" (PDF) (Press release). p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2011-05-13.
  13. ""Jack" by Sparky Animation clinches prestigious Canadian Award | Animators in Singapore". Archived from the original on 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2016-12-26.
  14. "The 17th Asian Television Awards". December 2012.