A to Z of Animation Studios: UPA (United Productions of America)
(Or: The Studio That Said “Who Needs Depth?” and Changed Animation Forever)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while pointing out which studios threw all the rules out the window and somehow still made masterpieces. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before UPA animates your life into abstract shapes and flat colors.
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🔥 U is for UPA (United Productions of America)
Before UPA, animation was all about realism, perspective, and making things look as lifelike as possible.
UPA took one look at that and said,
“Nah. Let’s get WEIRD.”
They basically invented stylized, modern animation, proving that cartoons didn’t have to look like Disney to be great.
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The Greatest Hits (A.K.A. Cartoons That Looked Weird But Worked Anyway)
1. Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950)
• A Dr. Seuss story turned into an animated short.
• The main character doesn’t talk—he just makes sound effects.
• Won an Academy Award and proved that animation didn’t have to be cutesy or realistic.
2. Mr. Magoo (1949-Present)
• A nearsighted old man who somehow survived endless life-threatening situations.
• UPA’s biggest commercial success.
• If you’ve ever seen an old cartoon where a guy mistakes a lion for a house cat, that’s probably Magoo.
3. The Tell-Tale Heart (1953)
• A trippy, nightmarish, avant-garde adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story.
• Not for kids. Not even for some adults.
• A masterpiece of psychological horror in animation.
4. Rooty Toot Toot (1951)
• A jazzy, abstract take on the Frankie and Johnny story.
• Some of the most unique visuals of the 1950s.
5. 1001 Arabian Nights (1959)
• One of UPA’s only feature films.
• Tried to bring their abstract style to a full-length movie.
• Didn’t do great at the box office, but visually stunning.
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The UPA Effect (A.K.A. Why They Were So Important)
1. They rejected Disney-style realism.
2. They influenced modern animation design forever.
3. They introduced flat colors, geometric shapes, and minimalist backgrounds.
Basically, if you love Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, or any cartoon that looks more like a moving painting than a traditional animation…
You can thank UPA.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Universal Cartoon Studios (The Kings of Endless Direct-to-Video Sequels)
Now let’s talk about Universal Cartoon Studios, the kings of the never-ending franchise.
What Did They Make?
• The Land Before Time (1988-… infinity?) – The first movie was a Don Bluth masterpiece. The sequels?
• There are FOURTEEN of them.
• Yes, they turned a heartfelt story about dinosaurs into a never-ending singalong.
• The original had death, trauma, and survival. The sequels had musical numbers and friendly T-Rexes.
• An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) – The sequel that traded Don Bluth’s emotional depth for a fun, wacky Western adventure.
• We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (1993) – A movie about dinosaurs in New York that was both amazing and deeply unsettling.
• Casper (1995) – Yes, Universal made the Casper movie. And all the straight-to-video sequels.
• Curious George (2006-Present) – Universal realized they could milk George for decades, and they did.
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Why Universal Cartoon Studios Is an Odd Legacy
• They made good stuff… but then ran it into the ground.
• They embraced the direct-to-video market HARD.
• If you ever see an animated sequel to a classic film and think, “Did anyone ask for this?”—Universal probably made it.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Mr. Magoo Accidentally Runs You Over)
UPA? The artsy animation rebels who changed the game.
Universal Cartoon Studios? The sequel factory that refused to stop.
Next up? V for Van Beuren Studios—the forgotten early animation studio that made some of the strangest pre-Disney cartoons ever.
(Spoiler: This one gets WEIRD.) 🚀
A to Z of Animation Studios: TMS Entertainment
(Or: The Studio That Worked on Everything and Never Got Enough Credit for It)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while exposing which studios secretly carried the industry on their backs. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before TMS animates your life story but only gives you two frames per second.
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🔥 T is for TMS Entertainment
TMS Entertainment is the greatest animation studio that most people have never heard of.
They’ve been around since 1946 and have animated more iconic shows, movies, and projects than any other studio in history.
• They’ve worked on anime legends.
• They’ve worked on Western animation classics.
• They’ve been the secret weapon of the animation industry for decades.
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The Greatest Hits (A.K.A. The Shows and Movies That Prove TMS is a Legend)
1. Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995)
• The gold standard of superhero cartoons.
• Dark, moody, beautifully animated—this show made Batman cooler than ever.
• TMS handled some of the absolute best-looking episodes, including Heart of Ice and Two-Face.
• Without TMS, this show wouldn’t have been the masterpiece it was.
2. Akira (1988) (Yes, THAT Akira)
• One of the greatest animated films ever made.
• TMS was one of the studios that worked on it.
• Every single frame is a work of art.
• If you haven’t seen Akira, stop reading this and go watch it now.
3. Lupin III (1971-Present)
• The longest-running anime about a gentleman thief.
• One of the first anime series to truly go global.
• Gave us The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), which was Hayao Miyazaki’s directorial debut.
• Every single Lupin III series and movie looks better than it has any right to.
4. Detective Conan (Case Closed) (1996-Present)
• A show about a teenage detective stuck in a kid’s body.
• It has been running for over 25 years and shows no signs of stopping.
• Every episode is basically “Murder Mystery: The Anime.”
• If you love detective stories, you NEED to watch this.
5. Sonic X (2003-2006)
• The anime that made Sonic fans go feral.
• Featured actual continuity (unheard of for Sonic adaptations before this).
• Also gave us the meme-worthy “Gotta go fast” theme song.
6. Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)
• A visually stunning yet weirdly forgotten fantasy film.
• One of the most ambitious international animation collaborations ever.
• Featured work from both American and Japanese animators.
• It bombed at the box office, but animation nerds still love it.
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Why TMS is So Important (A.K.A. Why They Deserve More Respect)
• They’ve animated some of the most visually stunning anime of all time.
• They’ve worked on Western cartoons without people even realizing it.
• They balance quantity AND quality, which is insanely rare.
TMS is basically the quiet overachiever of the animation world.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Toei Animation (Dragon Ball, One Piece, The Ultimate Anime Giant)
Now let’s talk about the anime studio that has controlled your childhood.
What Did They Make?
• Dragon Ball (1986-Present) – The most influential shonen anime ever. Goku refuses to stop powering up.
• One Piece (1999-Present) – The longest-running anime epic about a rubber pirate who still hasn’t found the treasure.
• Sailor Moon (1992-1997) – The show that invented the magical girl genre as we know it.
• Digimon (1999-Present) – Pokémon’s edgier, slightly darker rival.
• Pretty Cure (2004-Present) – The spiritual successor to Sailor Moon that has been printing money for decades.
• Mazinger Z (1972-1974) – The show that basically created the giant robot genre.
Why Toei is an Anime Powerhouse
• They’ve been running since 1956.
• They created some of the biggest franchises in anime history.
• They keep their shows running FOREVER.
Toei is basically the Disney of anime. They mass-produce, but when they go all out (like in the One Piece movies), they deliver absolute masterpieces.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Toei Animates Your Entire Life in Filler Episodes)
TMS Entertainment? The anime powerhouse that worked on everything.
Toei Animation? The unstoppable anime empire that will outlive us all.
Next up? U for UPA—the studio that turned flat, stylized animation into an art form.
(Spoiler: Yes, we will talk about Mr. Magoo.) 🚀
A to Z of Animation Studios: Sony Pictures Animation
(Or: The Studio That Gave Us Both the Best and Worst CGI Movies Ever Made)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while also exposing the questionable choices that got greenlit. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before Sony releases The Emoji Movie 2 and forces us all to relive the trauma.
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🔥 S is for Sony Pictures Animation
Sony Pictures Animation is the ultimate wildcard studio.
Some days, they make groundbreaking, visually stunning masterpieces.
Other days, they make movies that feel like they were written by a broken AI.
They are the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of CGI animation.
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The Masterpieces (A.K.A. The Movies That Proved Sony Can Actually Be a Genius)
1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
• The greatest animated superhero movie ever made.
• Revolutionized animation with comic book-inspired visuals that make everything else look boring.
• Launched an entire franchise and a million memes.
• “Anyone can wear the mask.” (Except other studios, because none of them have come close to this level of perfection.)
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
• Somehow even better than the first movie.
• A visual spectacle so detailed it took animators years to finish just a few seconds of footage.
• Left audiences emotionally destroyed and desperate for the next one.
3. The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
• A hilarious, beautifully animated family film that proves Sony isn’t just about superheroes.
• Perfectly captures chaotic family road trips.
• Gave us the best animated dog in cinema history.
4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
• The movie that had no right being this good.
• A zany, physics-defying foodpocalypse with some of the best comedic animation ever.
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The Dumpster Fires (A.K.A. The Movies That Made Us Lose Faith in Humanity)
1. The Emoji Movie (2017)
• A corporate cash grab disguised as a movie.
• The most soulless, joyless, marketing-driven mess of animation history.
• Somehow convinced Sir Patrick Stewart to voice the Poop Emoji.
• Shameless product placement disguised as plot.
2. Open Season (2006) (And the Infinite Sequels No One Asked For)
• What if a bear and a deer were best friends in a very forgettable movie?
• Mediocre at best.
• Somehow got four sequels that nobody has ever actually seen.
3. The Angry Birds Movie (2016)
• It exists.
• That’s all I can say.
4. Hotel Transylvania (2012-Present)
• The first movie was actually fun.
• Then they made four of them.
• By the fourth one, Adam Sandler had left, and we were all ready to leave too.
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Sony’s Biggest Problem: Consistency
• When they innovate, they change the animation industry forever.
• When they play it safe, they make forgettable, cash-grab movies that nobody remembers.
Sony is the ultimate gamble. You never know if you’re getting Spider-Verse or The Emoji Movie.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Sunbow Entertainment (G.I. Joe, Transformers, ‘80s Cartoon Gold)
Now let’s talk about Sunbow Entertainment, the studio that defined Saturday mornings for an entire generation.
What Did They Make?
• G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983-1986) – The show that made kids think joining the military meant fighting laser battles.
• Transformers (1984-1987) – The cartoon that launched a franchise that refuses to die.
• Jem and the Holograms (1985-1988) – Barbie meets rockstars meets corporate toy marketing.
• The Inhumanoids (1986) – A weird, forgotten horror-themed action cartoon that was way too scary for kids.
• The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – The movie that killed off Optimus Prime and scarred an entire generation.
Why Sunbow Was Legendary
• Made some of the most iconic ‘80s cartoons ever.
• Created franchises that are still alive today.
• Proved that cartoons could be both ridiculous and unforgettable.
Sunbow eventually faded out in the ‘90s, but their legacy? Still alive in every reboot, toyline, and nostalgic meme.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Sony Makes Another Emoji Movie)
Sony Pictures Animation? The studio that can either change animation forever or make you question reality.
Sunbow Entertainment? The ‘80s powerhouse that made cartoons feel like toy commercials—because they were.
Next up? T for Toei Animation—the anime giant behind Dragon Ball, One Piece, and decades of legendary series.
(Spoiler: We WILL talk about how they milk Dragon Ball for eternity.) 🚀
A to Z of Animation Studios: Ralph Bakshi Productions
(Or: The Studio That Looked at Disney and Said, “Let’s Make Cartoons for People Who Chain-Smoke in Alleyways”)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while also pointing out which studios actively tried to traumatize their audiences. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before Ralph Bakshi personally calls you a coward for not appreciating ‘real art.’
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🔥 R is for Ralph Bakshi Productions
If Disney is the polished, family-friendly face of animation, then Ralph Bakshi is the whiskey-drinking uncle who tells inappropriate stories at Thanksgiving.
Bakshi didn’t just make animated films—he pushed animation into places it was never meant to go and set everything on fire along the way.
He made X-rated cartoons.
He pioneered rotoscoping for adult audiences.
He fought censorship, executives, and sometimes logic itself.
And somehow… he made history.
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The Wildest Hits (A.K.A. The Movies That Proved Animation Wasn’t Just for Kids Anymore)
1. Fritz the Cat (1972)
• The first X-rated animated film and the highest-grossing independent animated movie for decades.
• Based on Robert Crumb’s underground comic.
• Featured sex, drugs, politics, and more chaos than a college dorm at 2 AM.
• Disney did not approve of this one.
2. Heavy Traffic (1973)
• An urban nightmare of surrealism and crime.
• Probably the closest thing to an animated Scorsese film.
• Filled with adult content, social commentary, and a general feeling of doom.
3. Coonskin (1975)
• A brutal takedown of racism and American culture.
• So controversial that protestors literally tried to shut it down before even watching it.
• A mix of live-action and animation, making it even more surreal.
• One of the most challenging films ever made.
4. Wizards (1977)
• A fantasy epic on a budget of pocket change.
• Features Nazi propaganda imagery in a movie about fairies. (No, really.)
• The most “what did I just watch” movie of all time.
5. The Lord of the Rings (1978)
• The first attempt to animate Tolkien’s masterpiece.
• Half rotoscope, half fever dream.
• Ends right in the middle of the story because they ran out of money. (Classic Bakshi.)
6. Fire and Ice (1983)
• A collaboration with legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta.
• Rotoscoped warriors, skimpy outfits, and sweaty muscle-bound action.
• Basically Conan the Barbarian in animated form.
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The Bakshi Effect (A.K.A. Why He’s Important)
1. Pushed Animation into Adult Territory – Without Bakshi, there’s no South Park, no BoJack Horseman, no adult animation boom.
2. Rotoscoping Madness – He was one of the first to use rotoscoping heavily in feature films, for better or worse.
3. Told the Stories No One Else Would – Crime, sex, race, politics—he tackled everything mainstream studios were too scared to touch.
4. Unfiltered Chaos – Every Bakshi movie feels like an angry rant turned into a film.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Rankin/Bass (Rudolph, Stop-Motion Christmas Magic and Nightmare Fuel)
If Ralph Bakshi was animation’s punk rock rebel, then Rankin/Bass was the studio that made Christmas specials weirdly unsettling but iconic.
What Did They Make?
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) – The stop-motion classic that somehow made Santa look like a massive jerk.
• Frosty the Snowman (1969) – The one where Frosty dies, and we all just had to accept it.
• Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (1970) – Featuring a skinny Santa with a love interest and a fascist warlord who bans toys.
• The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) – The one that gave us Heat Miser and Snow Miser, the only part anyone remembers.
• Mad Monster Party? (1967) – A horror-comedy stop-motion film that basically invented the aesthetic of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Why Rankin/Bass Still Matters
• Defined stop-motion holiday specials forever.
• Their work is still played every single year, despite being decades old.
• Weirdly unsettling, yet impossible to forget.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Ralph Bakshi Reboots Your Life in Rotoscope)
Ralph Bakshi? The madman who made animation a serious art form for adults.
Rankin/Bass? The studio that made Christmas feel both magical and slightly off-putting.
A to Z of Animation Studios: Qubo
Or: The TV Network That Felt Like a Fever Dream but Somehow Existed for 14 Years)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while also exposing the deep-cut weirdness that most people have forgotten. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before Qubo’s weirdly forgotten mascot finds you in your sleep.
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🔥 Q is for Qubo (Cookie Jar Entertainment and the Land of Saturday Morning Strangeness)
Imagine a TV network that aired shows no one asked for, at times no one watched, yet somehow stayed alive for over a decade.
That was Qubo.
What Was Qubo?
• A kids’ TV block-turned-network that ran from 2006 to 2021.
• Mostly aired low-budget, second-tier cartoons that felt like rejects from PBS Kids and Nickelodeon.
• Somehow managed to exist on free over-the-air television, making it the last bastion of “just turn on the TV and see what’s on” animation.
Qubo was a wild, unpredictable mess. One minute you were watching educational programming, the next, a knockoff superhero show with animation from the uncanny valley.
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The Qubo Roster (A.K.A. Cartoons You Forgot Existed)
• Jacob Two-Two – A Canadian show about a kid so painfully awkward that he repeated everything twice.
• Jane and the Dragon – A 3D-animated show about a medieval girl who refused to be a princess and instead hung out with a sarcastic dragon.
• Babar and the Adventures of Bad CGI – Qubo revived Babar, but this time, in terrifying 3D.
• VeggieTales (The TV Show) – Yes, Qubo aired VeggieTales, proving that even Christian vegetables could make it onto network television.
• The Mysteries of Alfred Hedgehog – A show that nobody remembers, yet somehow aired constantly.
• Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century – Yes, this was real. Sherlock Holmes was revived in the future with robot Watson.
• Turbo Dogs – A show about dogs who were also race car drivers. That’s it. That’s the whole plot.
• Scaredy Squirrel – A paranoid squirrel who refused to leave his home. Basically, all of us post-2020.
The Qubo Experience (A.K.A. Why Was It So Weird?)
1. The animation quality? Ranged from decent to “this was animated in Microsoft Paint.”
2. The scheduling? Completely random. You never knew what you’d get at 3 AM.
3. The vibe? It felt like a liminal space for cartoons—a strange purgatory where forgotten shows went to live out their days.
And then, in 2021, Qubo was shut down and erased from history.
Gone, but never forgotten. (Actually, most people forgot it immediately.)
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Quirino Cristiani Studios (The Obscure Creator of the First Animated Feature Film Ever!)
Now let’s talk about Quirino Cristiani, the unsung hero of animation history.
Who Was Quirino Cristiani?
• An Argentinian animator who, in 1917, made the first animated feature film EVER.
• Yes, before Disney. Before Japan. Before ANYONE.
His Groundbreaking Work
El Apóstol (1917) – THE FIRST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM IN HISTORY.
• A political satire about the Argentine president.
• 70 minutes long.
• Entirely animated in cut-out style.
• It no longer exists. (A fire destroyed all copies in 1926. Thanks, fate.)
Peludópolis (1931) – THE FIRST ANIMATED FILM WITH SOUND.
• Beat Disney’s Snow White to the punch by six years.
• Also lost to time because history is cruel.
Cristiani was so ahead of his time that most of his work was destroyed before animation even became a global industry.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Qubo Haunts Your Dreams)
Qubo? The strangest, most random kids’ TV network ever.
Quirino Cristiani? The animation pioneer that history forgot.
Next up? R for Rankin/Bass—the stop-motion Christmas kings who made your childhood both magical and slightly terrifying.
(Spoiler: Yes, we’re talking about that creepy Rudolph special.) 🚀
A to Z of Animation Studios: Pixar
(Or: The Studio That Made You Cry Over Toys, Fish, and a Clown Cooking Rat)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while exposing the emotional damage it has caused us. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before Pixar releases a short film about a sentient toaster that makes you bawl uncontrollably.
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🔥 P is for Pixar
Pixar is more than an animation studio—it’s a weaponized emotion factory.
Founded in 1979, Pixar went from a struggling computer graphics division at Lucasfilm to the studio that changed animation forever.
• They made the first fully CGI feature film.
• They pioneered 3D animation techniques.
• They perfected the “make the audience cry in the first 10 minutes” formula.
Pixar movies aren’t just films—they’re experiences that simultaneously inspire and emotionally destroy you.
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The Masterpieces (A.K.A. The Movies That Ruined Us Emotionally)
• Toy Story (1995) – The movie that started it all. It revolutionized animation while making every child terrified of what their toys did when they weren’t looking.
• Finding Nemo (2003) – A cute fish movie that’s actually a horror story about getting kidnapped, PTSD, and overprotective parenting.
• Up (2009) – The first 10 minutes of this film emotionally devastated an entire generation. After that, it was just a talking dog and an angry old man in a floating house.
• Inside Out (2015) – Pixar saw a perfectly normal child and said, “What if we made her emotions fight each other and then made you cry about growing up?”
• Ratatouille (2007) – A rat. In a kitchen. Cooking gourmet food. Somehow, one of the greatest animated movies ever made.
• The Incredibles (2004) – The best Fantastic Four movie ever made, and it isn’t even about the Fantastic Four.
• WALL-E (2008) – The most romantic movie about a lonely trash robot and humanity’s inevitable self-destruction.
• Coco (2017) – Pixar’s most visually stunning film that also wrecked every millennial emotionally.
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The Pixar “Eh” Pile (A.K.A. The Ones That Just… Exist)
• The Good Dinosaur (2015) – The animation? Gorgeous. The story? Exists.
• Brave (2012) – The Scottish princess movie that nobody ever talks about.
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The Pixar Faceplants (A.K.A. What Were They Thinking?)
• Cars 2 (2011) – The one where Pixar turned Lightning McQueen into a side character and decided Mater should be a spy. A fever dream that no one asked for.
• Lightyear (2022) – The Buzz Lightyear origin movie… that isn’t really about Buzz Lightyear.
• Cars 3 (2017) – A movie that tried so hard to undo Cars 2 that it forgot to be fun.
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The Pixar Formula™ (A.K.A. How to Emotionally Damage an Audience in Three Acts)
1. Start with a cute, wholesome concept.
2. Immediately introduce existential dread, emotional trauma, or a gut-punching death.
3. End with a bittersweet, hopeful moment that makes adults sob in front of their children.
Pixar isn’t just an animation studio—it’s a perfectly calibrated cry-making machine.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Pacific Data Images (PDI) (Helped Launch 3D Animation with Antz)
Before Pixar became the king of CGI animation, there was PDI, the unsung pioneer that helped DreamWorks get into the game.
What Did They Do?
• Antz (1998) – The first non-Pixar CGI feature film, proving that DreamWorks wanted to compete from day one.
• Shrek (2001) – PDI’s magnum opus. This movie was so good that it dethroned Disney’s monopoly on fairy tales.
• Madagascar (2005) – The animation wasn’t great, but King Julien was.
PDI was one of the first studios pushing CGI forward, but when DreamWorks shifted gears, they got absorbed and eventually shut down in 2015.
They may be gone, but their legacy? Forever Shrek.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Pixar’s Next Movie Makes You Cry Again)
Pixar? The undisputed masters of 3D animation, emotions, and existential crises.
PDI? The pioneers who helped launch CGI animation but never got the recognition they deserved.
Next up? Q for Qubo—the weirdest TV network that somehow existed for years before imploding.
(Spoiler: You probably forgot Qubo existed, but it was real. And it was weird.) 🚀
🔥 Q – Qubo (Cookie Jar Entertainment) (Saturday morning randomness)
🎖 Honorable Mention: Quirino Cristiani Studios (Obscure but created the first animated feature film ever!)
A to Z of Animation Studios: Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Production
(Or: The Studio That Invented Modern Anime and Then Crashed and Burned Spectacularly)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we respect animation history while also pointing out its chaotic messes. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before Astro Boy flies over and judges your life choices.
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🔥 O is for Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Production
Osamu Tezuka is often called “The God of Manga” and “The Father of Anime.” And honestly? That’s not an exaggeration.
This man practically invented modern anime as we know it.
• Astro Boy? That was him.
• The reason anime characters have giant eyes? That was him.
• The foundation of TV animation in Japan? That was also him.
Founded in 1961, Mushi Production was Tezuka’s dream studio. But like many dreams, it eventually spiraled into financial ruin.
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The Anime That Started It All
1. Astro Boy (1963-1966)
The first major anime TV series—and the one that defined what anime would look like forever.
• One of the earliest serialized anime with an actual storyline.
• Introduced limited animation techniques that made anime feasible for TV.
• Astro Boy became an international icon, proving anime wasn’t just for Japan.
2. Kimba the White Lion (1965-1967)
You might recognize this as “Wait, isn’t this just The Lion King?”
• A beautifully animated story about a white lion cub learning to be king.
• Disney has repeatedly denied “borrowing” from Kimba, but let’s be honest, the similarities are… suspicious.
• Fun fact: Kimba predates The Lion King by nearly 30 years.
3. Princess Knight (1967-1968)
• One of the first shojo (girls’) anime.
• A princess disguises herself as a prince in a world where gender roles are law.
• Basically the blueprint for all cross-dressing anime protagonists ever.
4. Phoenix (1980-1982, 2004)
• Based on Tezuka’s life’s work—a manga series that spanned centuries and explored reincarnation.
• This was his most ambitious story, but the anime adaptations never truly finished his vision.
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The Fall of Mushi Production (A.K.A. When You’re Too Creative for Your Own Good)
Tezuka was a creative genius but a terrible businessman.
• He kept making ambitious projects that weren’t profitable.
• Mushi Production burned through money faster than they could make it.
• By 1973, Mushi Production was bankrupt.
Tezuka lost his own studio, but instead of quitting, he just moved on and kept making anime elsewhere.
His legacy? Untouchable.
Mushi Production? Rebuilt later, but never the same.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: OLM, Inc. (Pokémon, Yo-Kai Watch, and Endless Monster Catching)
Now let’s talk about OLM, Inc., the studio that has been animating your childhood for decades without you realizing it.
What Did They Make?
1. Pokémon (1997-Present)
The biggest, longest-running monster-catching anime in history.
• Ash Ketchum spent 25 years losing tournaments before finally winning.
• Pikachu became more recognizable than most world leaders.
• The show somehow still exists, even after Ash retired.
2. Yo-Kai Watch (2014-Present)
• The anime that almost dethroned Pokémon in Japan for a hot minute.
• Involves a kid collecting ghosts instead of pocket monsters.
• Massively popular for a while, then quietly faded outside of Japan.
3. Berserk (1997, 2016-2017)
• Yes, OLM animated the original Berserk anime in 1997.
• No, they are not responsible for the abomination that was the 2016 CGI version.
4. Other Shows & Video Game Adaptations
• Inazuma Eleven (2008-Present) – Soccer, but anime levels of dramatic.
• The original Medabots anime (1999-2000) – The Pokémon alternative where kids battled tiny customizable robots.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Astro Boy Becomes Your AI Overlord)
Mushi Production? The foundation of anime as we know it.
OLM, Inc.? The studio that made sure Pokémon never stopped printing money.
Next up? P for Pixar—the studio that made you cry over lamps, toys, and emotions.
(Spoiler: We will be discussing Cars 2. And we will not be kind.) 🚀
🔥 P – Pixar (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and that awkward Lightyear movie)
🎖 Honorable Mention: Pacific Data Images (PDI) (Helped launch 3D animation with Antz)
A to Z of Animation Studios: Nickelodeon Animation Studios
(Or: The Studio That Defined Childhoods, Launched a Slime Empire, and Occasionally Made Some of the Worst Shows Imaginable)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while also roasting studios that have given us both masterpieces and crimes against humanity. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before Nickelodeon greenlights another show about talking farts.
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🔥 N is for Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Nickelodeon didn’t just make cartoons—they built an empire out of them.
Founded in 1990, Nickelodeon Animation Studios changed television forever by creating some of the most iconic cartoons of all time and some shows that feel like they were designed to annoy parents into turning off the TV.
Nickelodeon is a rollercoaster of quality—for every Avatar: The Last Airbender, there’s a Breadwinners.
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The Greatest Hits (A.K.A. Cartoons That Were More Important Than School)
• SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-Present) – The longest-running animated fever dream in history. SpongeBob started as a weird but brilliant comedy and became a meme factory that refuses to die.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008) – Nickelodeon’s magnum opus. A show so perfectly written, animated, and executed that people still rewatch it religiously.
• Rugrats (1991-2004) – Babies having deep philosophical thoughts while unsupervised. The definition of a ‘90s classic.
• The Fairly OddParents (2001-2017) – Started off brilliantly clever, then descended into madness when they added a talking dog and a baby fairy.
• Danny Phantom (2004-2007) – The best teen ghost superhero ever. Deserved way more seasons.
• Hey Arnold! (1996-2004) – The most chill and emotional kids’ show ever made.
• Invader Zim (2001-2006) – Nickelodeon’s weirdest and most chaotic show. Zim had no right being this dark and funny.
• The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004) – Nature documentary meets Tim Curry chaos.
• Rocko’s Modern Life (1993-1996) – A show about a wallaby navigating adult life that snuck in more inappropriate jokes than any parent realized.
• The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2002-2006) – The first time kids asked, “Why does CGI look so weird?”
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Nickelodeon’s Worst Shows (A.K.A. What Went Wrong?)
• Fanboy & Chum Chum (2009-2014) – Imagine if a sugar rush was a show. Loud, annoying, unhinged.
• Breadwinners (2014-2016) – A show about ducks delivering bread. Animated in Flash. Somehow real.
• The Mighty B! (2008-2011) – Amy Poehler voiced a girl scout on steroids. It lasted three seasons.
• Nick Studio 10 (2013) – Not animated, but worth mentioning because it was so bad it was pulled off the air within months.
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The Nickelodeon Formula™ (A.K.A. How to Print Money)
1. A simple, goofy premise. (What if a sponge worked at a fast food place?)
2. Fast-paced, exaggerated humor. (Screaming = comedy!)
3. Catchy theme song. (90% of Nick theme songs are bangers.)
4. Merchandising. (They sold Reptar Bars. They made SpongeBob MAC lipstick. Nickelodeon will slap their characters on anything.)
5. At least one live-action reboot that nobody asked for.
Nickelodeon dominated kids’ animation for decades, but eventually… they got lazy.
• They rejected Adventure Time.
• They ran SpongeBob into the ground.
• They let Cartoon Network and Disney Animation take the lead.
Nickelodeon is still around, but their golden era is over.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Nelvana (Babar, Care Bears, the Overlooked Canadian Giants)
While Nickelodeon was making cartoons loud and chaotic, Nelvana was quietly making some of the best animated kids’ shows ever.
What Did They Make?
• Babar (1989-1991) – The most wholesome, sophisticated elephant king in animation history.
• Care Bears (1985-1988) – The show that tried to teach kids emotions through aggressively cute bears.
• Beetlejuice (1989-1991) – A surprisingly weird and fun animated adaptation of the Tim Burton movie.
• Redwall (1999-2002) – A seriously underrated fantasy series about warrior mice and medieval battles.
• Clone High (2002-Present) – Yes, the same Clone High that got revived 20 years later.
Why Nelvana Deserves More Love
• They made high-quality kids’ shows that didn’t insult your intelligence.
• Their animation was clean, unique, and well-produced.
• They rarely get the credit they deserve.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Nickelodeon Reboots Your Childhood Poorly)
Nickelodeon? The kings of ‘90s and 2000s animation, even if they’ve lost their edge.
Nelvana? The underrated Canadian powerhouse that quietly shaped animation history.
Next up? O for Osamu Tezuka Productions—the studio that basically created modern anime.
(Spoiler: Astro Boy walked so all anime protagonists could run.) 🚀
A to Z of Animation Studios: Marvel Animation
(Or: The Studio That Gave Us Some of the Best Superhero Cartoons Ever… And Some That Look Like They Were Made in PowerPoint.)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while also questioning how Marvel has both the best and worst animated shows at the same time. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before 90s Spider-Man gets stuck in an endless web-swinging loop trying to reach you.
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🔥 M is for Marvel Animation
Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe took over Hollywood, Marvel was cranking out animated shows with wildly inconsistent quality.
Some were legendary. Some were so bad they feel like AI-generated nightmares. And all of them helped shape superhero animation forever.
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The Greatest Hits (A.K.A. Superhero Cartoons That Actually Slapped)
• Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994-1998) – The GOAT of ‘90s superhero cartoons. A Spider-Man who never actually punched anyone due to censorship, but still managed to have one of the most gripping serialized stories in animation history.
• X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997) – Duh-duh-duh-DUH-DUH! If you read that and heard the theme song in your head, you understand its power.
• The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008-2009) – A criminally underrated masterpiece that was canceled way too soon and replaced by… Ultimate Spider-Man (which we do not talk about).
• The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2010-2012) – Basically the animated MCU before the MCU took over. And then they canceled it for a worse version because life is unfair.
• Hulk Vs. (2009) – Proof that animated Marvel movies could be brutal and awesome when they wanted to be.
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The Marvel Animation Fails (A.K.A. What Even Was That?)
• Iron Man (1994-1996) – The show that said, “What if we made Iron Man as unwatchable as possible?”
• Spider-Man Unlimited (1999-2001) – “What if Spider-Man… but in space… with furries?”
• Avengers Assemble (2013-2019) – The show that was forced to exist because Disney wanted a safe MCU knockoff for kids.
• Ultimate Spider-Man (2012-2017) – Spider-Man, but he never shuts up, the animation is stiffer than an action figure, and Deadpool humor is forced into every scene.
• The Inhumans Motion Comic (2013) – Motion comics were a dark time for Marvel Animation. It was like watching a slideshow where the slides occasionally blinked.
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Why Marvel Animation Is So Inconsistent
• Budget? Unpredictable. Sometimes they go all out, sometimes they animate a single frame and call it a fight scene.
• Storytelling? A coin flip. They have some of the best serialized storytelling ever (X-Men, Spider-Man) but also some of the most forgettable cash grabs.
• Ownership changes? Constant. Marvel Animation has changed hands more times than Spider-Man has had reboots.
Despite all this, Marvel Animation has given us some of the best superhero cartoons ever made, proving that even with questionable production choices, when they get it right, they get it REALLY right.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Madhouse (Perfect Blue, Ninja Scroll, Gorgeous Anime Chaos)
Now, let’s talk about Madhouse, the animation studio that specializes in beautiful, violent, mind-bending anime.
What Did Madhouse Create? Pure, Unfiltered Anime Insanity.
• Perfect Blue (1997) – The terrifying psychological thriller that inspired Black Swan. If you want an anime that will make you question your own reality, this is it.
• Ninja Scroll (1993) – One of the most brutal, action-packed, beautifully animated ninja films of all time.
• Redline (2009) – The most visually insane racing movie you’ve ever seen, animated entirely by hand over seven years.
• Death Note (2006-2007) – The anime that made writing in a notebook look dramatic as hell.
• One Punch Man (2015, Season 1) – The show that delivered some of the best fight animation ever put on screen.
• Hunter x Hunter (2011-2014) – A shonen anime masterpiece that proves Madhouse can do anything.
Why Madhouse Is a Legend
• They don’t just animate fights—they create art.
• Their psychological thrillers are unmatched.
• They take their time to perfect their craft.
Madhouse is one of the best anime studios of all time. Meanwhile, Marvel Animation is still trying to figure out how to make Spider-Man move his arms smoothly.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Marvel Cancels Another Good Show)
Marvel Animation? A chaotic mix of amazing and awful.
Madhouse? Anime at its absolute best.
Next up? N for Nickelodeon Animation—the studio that defined childhoods and also somehow gave us Breadwinners.
(Spoiler: Spongebob will be discussed. A lot.) 🚀
A to Z of Animation Studios: Laika
(Or: The Stop-Motion Studio That Willingly Chose Suffering as a Career Path)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we celebrate animation history while also questioning why anyone willingly chooses stop-motion as their career. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before Laika spends five years animating a scene of you making bad life choices in painstaking detail.
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🔥 L is for Laika
Laika is the studio that took one of the most grueling, tedious, and time-consuming animation techniques in existence and said,
“Yes, this is what we want to do for a living.”
Founded in 2005, Laika specializes in stop-motion animation, a technique that requires moving tiny puppets frame by frame over several years just to create a 90-minute film.
Imagine spending six months animating a single character blinking, only for the studio execs to say, “Hmm… let’s change that.” That’s Laika’s entire existence.
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The Stop-Motion Masterpieces™ (A.K.A. Movies That Look So Good You Forget How Much They Suffered to Make Them)
• Coraline (2009) – The movie that made an entire generation terrified of buttons. Absolutely stunning animation, incredible atmosphere, and a villain who scarred children for life.
• Paranorman (2012) – What if The Sixth Sense was animated in excruciating stop-motion detail? A beautifully crafted ghost story with some of the best zombie animation ever.
• The Boxtrolls (2014) – A weird little movie about garbage-dwelling creatures and fancy cheese-obsessed villains.
• Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) – This movie has some of the most breathtaking stop-motion sequences ever created. At this point, Laika was basically competing with itself.
• Missing Link (2019) – A charming and hilariously overlooked film featuring a Bigfoot with better social skills than most people.
Every Laika film looks so good that you almost forget that every frame took weeks of painstaking effort. And yet, they still struggle to turn a profit. Why? Because stop-motion is an act of pure insanity.
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Laika’s Unfair Fate (A.K.A. Why Their Movies Never Make Money)
• Their movies take forever to make.
• They’re up against CGI-heavy blockbusters that cost less and make more.
• Most audiences don’t fully appreciate how difficult stop-motion is.
And yet, Laika refuses to give up. Even if it means painstakingly animating a character’s hair movement for a year while Pixar just uses a physics simulator.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Will Vinton Studios (The Real Stop-Motion Pioneers)
Now let’s talk about the studio that walked so Laika could run.
Before Laika, there was Will Vinton Studios, a company that pioneered claymation before it was cool.
What Did They Do?
• The California Raisins (1986) – Yes, the singing raisins from the ‘80s commercials. And yes, they were so popular that they got their own TV special.
• The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985) – A stop-motion film that featured one of the most unsettling animated sequences ever created: the ‘Mysterious Stranger’ scene. If you’ve seen it, you know.
• The PJs (1999-2001) – A stop-motion sitcom starring Eddie Murphy as a landlord in the projects. Somehow, this existed.
• Claymation Christmas (1987) – A Christmas special featuring the most terrifying camel designs ever animated.
The Laika Takeover (A.K.A. The Sad Truth About Will Vinton Studios)
Will Vinton pioneered modern stop-motion, but his studio eventually ran out of funding.
Enter Travis Knight, son of Nike co-founder Phil Knight, who invested in the studio and took over. Eventually, it was rebranded as Laika, and Will Vinton was pushed out of his own company.
Vinton’s influence lives on, but it’s a harsh reminder that even animation legends aren’t safe from corporate takeovers.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before a Stop-Motion Puppet Replaces You in Real Life)
Laika? Absolute stop-motion masters.
Will Vinton? The original claymation king.
A to Z of Animation Studios: Klasky-Csupo
(Or: The Studio That Gave Us Childhood Nostalgia and Some of the Most Unsettling Cartoon Faces Ever Animated)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, the only place where we celebrate animation history while also screaming into the void about why Klasky-Csupo characters always looked like they were in a state of perpetual suffering. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, do it now before Tommy Pickles crawls into your nightmares.
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🔥 K is for Klasky-Csupo
Klasky-Csupo is responsible for some of the most iconic cartoons of the ’90s and early 2000s—and also responsible for giving us characters that looked like they were drawn during a minor earthquake.
Founded in 1982 by Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó, this studio had a signature art style that could be best described as:
1. Bold.
2. Ugly (but in a charming way?).
3. Borderline terrifying.
And yet… we loved them anyway.
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The Greatest Hits (A.K.A. Cartoons That Were Both Brilliant and Slightly Unhinged)
• Rugrats (1991-2004) – What if babies had existential crises while wandering around unsupervised? Absolute classic. Gave us Reptar, Cynthia, and more therapy bills than we’d like to admit.
• Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (1994-1997) – A cartoon about monsters who attended a horror school and looked like something you’d see during sleep paralysis.
• The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004) – A show that taught us about nature, travel, and what happens when you give Tim Curry free rein to voice an animated character.
• Rocket Power (1999-2004) – X-Games: The Animated Series. Every kid wanted to be cool like Otto, but in reality, most of us were Twister.
• As Told By Ginger (2000-2006) – Klasky-Csupo’s attempt at a more serious, coming-of-age drama. If Rugrats was about baby existentialism, this show was about teen existentialism.
• Duckman (1994-1997) – A completely unhinged, adult animated sitcom featuring a foul-mouthed private detective duck voiced by Jason Alexander.
The Klasky-Csupo Art Style™ (Or: Why Did Everyone Look Like That?)
1. Eyes? Usually uneven, and slightly staring into the abyss.
2. Mouths? Far too big for comfort.
3. Heads? Just… odd shapes.
4. Everything? Looked like it was melting, yet somehow still worked.
This studio had a one-of-a-kind aesthetic that could never be mistaken for anything else. It was ugly on purpose, and we respect that.
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Why Klasky-Csupo Was Actually a Powerhouse
Even though their shows looked like a fever dream, Klasky-Csupo was:
• One of the most dominant animation studios of the ’90s.
• The original animation studio for The Simpsons (seasons 1-3) before Fox switched to another studio.
• Responsible for Nickelodeon’s golden era of cartoons.
Then, in the mid-2000s, Nickelodeon moved away from Klasky-Csupo’s shows, and the studio quietly faded from mainstream animation. But their impact? Undeniable.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Kyoto Animation (K-On!, Violet Evergarden, and Masterful Anime Art)
Now, let’s go from melting faces to pure visual perfection.
What Kyoto Animation Does Better Than Almost Everyone
• Hyper-detailed backgrounds that look better than real life.
• Characters with so much emotion that you cry over things you didn’t even know could be sad.
• Consistently high-quality animation that puts big-budget movies to shame.
Their Masterpieces
• K-On! – The anime that single-handedly increased guitar sales in Japan. Cute girls, good vibes, 10/10 animation.
• Violet Evergarden – If you didn’t cry watching this, you might be a robot.
• A Silent Voice – A gut-punch of a movie about guilt, redemption, and emotional devastation.
• Clannad: After Story – This anime emotionally destroyed an entire generation.
• Hyouka – A show about solving small, everyday mysteries that somehow feels more intense than a crime thriller.
Kyoto Animation sets the gold standard for anime production. Their work is beyond stunning, and they treat their animators like actual human beings, which is rare in the industry.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Klasky-Csupo Draws You Into Their Universe)
Klasky-Csupo? Weird, bold, and unforgettable.
Kyoto Animation? Beautiful, emotionally devastating, and untouchable in quality.
Next up? L for Laika—the stop-motion studio that makes movies so detailed you wonder how they haven’t all lost their minds.
(Spoiler: Coraline is still nightmare fuel.) 🚀
🔥 L – Laika (Coraline, Paranorman, the stop-motion kings—BUT WAIT!)
🎖 Honorable Mention: Will Vinton Studios (The real pioneers of stop-motion before Laika took over!)
A to Z of Animation Studios: Jay Ward Productions
(Or: The Studio That Proved Bad Animation Doesn’t Matter If Your Jokes Are Good Enough)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we respect animation history while also mercilessly roasting the industry’s weirdest choices. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel yet, I assume you prefer your cartoons without punchlines. Fix that before Boris and Natasha show up at your house and try to steal your furniture.
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🔥 J is for Jay Ward Productions
Before animation was smooth, beautiful, and expensive, there was Jay Ward Productions, a studio that said,
“What if our cartoons looked awful… but were also some of the funniest things ever made?”
Founded by Jay Ward, this studio was responsible for some of the most beloved, absurd, and brilliantly written cartoons of all time—despite the fact that they animated at a frame rate of about five drawings per episode.
Jay Ward’s biggest contribution to animation?
• Proving that you don’t need fancy visuals if the writing is smart enough.
• Setting the gold standard for meta-humor, satire, and fourth-wall-breaking before Deadpool was even a concept.
• Giving us characters that are still hilarious today, despite being animated with the budget of a peanut butter sandwich.
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The Greatest Hits (A.K.A. Cartoons That Were Funnier Than They Had Any Right to Be)
• Rocky & Bullwinkle – A show about a talking squirrel and a dumb moose constantly battling Cold War-era Russian spies while making some of the most brilliant satire ever written. Also featured Dudley Do-Right, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and Fractured Fairy Tales, proving that Jay Ward ran an entire sketch comedy empire inside one cartoon.
• George of the Jungle – Imagine Tarzan, but stupider. George swung on vines directly into trees, his elephant thought it was a dog, and the theme song was better than the actual show.
• Super Chicken – A superhero who was just a chicken wearing a cape.
• Dudley Do-Right – A Canadian Mountie with the intelligence of a bag of flour, constantly foiling the evil Snidely Whiplash entirely by accident.
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The Jay Ward Formula™ (Or: Why These Shows Still Hold Up)
1. Jokes Per Second – Maximum Overdrive – You could blink and miss five jokes.
2. Characters Dumber Than a Bag of Rocks – But somehow still lovable.
3. Self-Aware Humor Before It Was Cool – Rocky and Bullwinkle mocked their own scripts, broke the fourth wall, and made fun of the show’s budget constantly.
4. Political and Pop Culture Satire Disguised as Kid’s TV – You think Scooby-Doo had jokes about Cold War espionage and corrupt capitalism? Think again.
5. Narrators Doing the Most – The narrator was basically a co-star in every show, constantly roasting the characters.
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The Problem? Jay Ward Productions Was Too Good for This World.
Despite being one of the funniest animation studios of all time, Jay Ward’s shows were never massive financial successes.
Why?
• They didn’t sell enough toys.
• Their animation budgets were microscopic.
• Networks never fully understood how to market them.
So eventually, Jay Ward faded into history. But their influence? Still massive.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: JibJab Animation Studios (Internet Animation Pioneers)
Before YouTube, before TikTok, before every social media site was filled with questionable animation memes, there was JibJab—the OG kings of viral internet animation.
What Did JibJab Do?
• Made some of the first viral animated videos.
• Mastered the “talking cutout mouth” animation style.
• Created political satire that spread faster than flu season.
Remember This Land (2004), the George W. Bush vs. John Kerry animated musical?
That was JibJab, and it broke the internet before breaking the internet was even a thing.
They basically proved that you don’t need Pixar-level animation to go viral—you just need a funny concept and the right timing.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Boris and Natasha Steal Your Wallet)
Jay Ward Productions? The godfathers of absurd comedy in animation.
JibJab? The pioneers of internet animation before anyone knew what “viral content” even meant.
Next up? K for Klasky Csupo—the studio that somehow made Rugrats and the most terrifying animation style known to man.
(Spoiler: Those screaming babies haunted an entire generation.) 🚀
A to Z of Animation Studios: Illumination
(Or: The Studio That Figured Out How to Print Money Using Minions and the Tears of Artists)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we examine animation history while screaming into the void about corporate greed. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, go do it now before a Minion shows up at your house and starts speaking in gibberish.
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🔥 I is for Illumination
Illumination isn’t just an animation studio—it’s a billion-dollar marketing machine disguised as an animation studio.
Founded in 2007 by Chris Meledandri, Illumination basically said,
“What if we made animated movies, but instead of focusing on story, heart, or artistic ambition… we just made bank?”
And then, they did.
Illumination has mastered the art of making movies that critics roll their eyes at, but the box office LOVES. Their business model? Spend as little as possible, make characters that work as meme fuel, and slap in some pop songs.
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The Minion Takeover™
• Despicable Me (2010) – The world is introduced to Gru, a supervillain with a heart of gold, and Minions, the tiny yellow creatures who would one day take over the Earth.
• Despicable Me 2, 3, 4, 97 (Probably) – The law of diminishing returns does not apply to Minions.
• Minions (2015) – A spin-off about the gibberish-speaking chaos gremlins that somehow made over $1 BILLION.
• Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) – People wore suits to theaters to watch this. Humanity is lost.
At this point, Illumination doesn’t even need to make movies—they could just print Minions onto lunchboxes and call it a day.
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Other Illumination Films (Yes, They Exist!)
While Minions fuel their empire, Illumination has also made other movies that follow the same formula:
• The Secret Life of Pets (2016) – What if Toy Story, but dogs?
• Sing (2016) – A musical talent show movie where they spent more money on pop song licensing than animation.
• The Grinch (2018) – The one where Benedict Cumberbatch voices the least mean Grinch in Grinch history.
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) – Proof that if you make a movie look just like the video game, fans will forgive everything else.
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The Illumination Formula™ (Why These Movies Make Billions)
1. Bright, simple animation that doesn’t cost much to make.
2. Pop songs inserted at random to keep your brain occupied.
3. A basic plot that can be understood by a toddler, a distracted adult, or a dog.
4. Marketability—EVERY character is designed to be sold as a toy, sticker, or Happy Meal item.
5. Minions. If the movie doesn’t have Minions, it might as well not exist.
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The Genius (And Evil) of Illumination
Say what you want about Illumination, but they cracked the code.
• They spend way less on animation than Disney or Pixar.
• They make more money per movie than most other animation studios.
• They don’t care if critics hate them because kids and parents will watch anyway.
At this point, Illumination could release a movie about a sentient sock that sings Bruno Mars songs and it would make a billion dollars.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Indian Animation Studios (Tata Elxsi, Green Gold, etc.)
While Illumination is swimming in Minion money, Indian animation studios have been quietly growing into major players in the industry.
What They’ve Done
• Tata Elxsi – One of India’s biggest animation and VFX companies, working on everything from Hollywood films to TV ads.
• Green Gold Animation – The studio behind Chhota Bheem, the massively popular Indian kids’ series that has more spin-offs than Despicable Me.
• Maya Digital Studios – A studio that’s worked on tons of 3D animated projects and even collaborated on international films.
• Reliance Animation – A company that’s helping push Indian animation into global markets.
The Future of Indian Animation
While Indian animation has historically been underfunded and overlooked, things are changing fast. With better tech, bigger budgets, and international partnerships, it won’t be long before an Indian studio makes its own billion-dollar Minions.
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Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Why You Should Subscribe Before Minions Take Over Your Life)
Illumination? A marketing genius that turned simple movies into an empire.
Indian animation? On the rise, and ready to take over.