WildBrain Entertainment

American animation studio

For the current company formerly known as DHX Media, see WildBrain.

WildBrain Entertainment

WildBrain logo used from 2007 to 2016

Formerly| Wild Brain Productions (1994–2007)
Type| Subsidiary
Industry| Film industry, animation
Predecessor| BIG Pictures (unit of Colossal Pictures existing from 1986–1994)
Founded| August 1994; 28 years ago (1994-08)
Founders| John Hays (director)
Phil Robinson (director)
Jeff Fino
Defunct| July 3, 2016; 6 years ago (2016-07-03)
Fate| Acquired by DHX Media
Successor|

* WildBrain Spark
* DHX Media (now the current iteration of WildBrain)
* WildBrain Studios

Headquarters|

Los Angeles, California,
New York, New York

United States

Area served

| Worldwide
Products| television series, special, television commercials, licensed merchandise
Parent| DHX Media (2010–2016)
Divisions| WildBrain Animation
Kidrobot collectables
Ghostbot
Website| www.wildbrain.com
The evolution of WildBrain1968| FilmFair is founded

|

1971| DIC Entertainment is founded
1974| CPLG is founded
1976| CINAR and Colossal Pictures are founded
1988| Studio B Productions is founded
1994| WildBrain Entertainment is founded
1996| CINAR buys FilmFair's library
1997| Decode Entertainment is founded
1999| Colossal Pictures sells to WildBrain Entertainment
2004| Halifax Film Company is founded and CINAR rebrands as Cookie Jar Group
2006| Decode and Halifax Film merge forming DHX Media and DIC acquires CPLG
2007| DHX Media buys Studio B Productions
2008| Cookie Jar Group buys DIC Entertainment
2010| DHX Media buys WildBrain Entertainment
2012| DHX Media buys Cookie Jar Group
2013| DHX Media buys Ragdoll Worldwide
2014| DHX Media buys Epitome Pictures and Nerd Corps Entertainment
2016| WildBrain Entertainment closes and Studio B merges with Nerd Corps forming DHX Studios
2017| DHX Media buys Iconix Brands Entertainment
2019| DHX Media rebrands itself as WildBrain

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WildBrain Entertainment, Inc. (stylized as W!LDBRAIN, formerly Wild Brain Productions) was an American animation studio that developed and produced television programming, motion pictures, commercial content and licensed merchandise. Established in 1994, it maintained offices in Los Angeles and New York City. It had been operated in some form for 22 years before its eventual shutdown and repurposing of the brand name.

Its film productions included the Annie Award-winning CGI short Hubert's Brain, while its television work included the Nick Jr. series Bubble Guppies and Yo Gabba Gabba!, and Disney Channel series Higglytown Heroes. WildBrain also produced earlier animated shorts and television specials of Monster High for Mattel.

They have produced national commercials for clients like Esurance,[1] Chiclets, Target, Nike, Honda, Kraft, the Wall Street Journal and Lamisil, (featuring Digger the Dermatophyte). Their ad work has won Clio Awards, Addy Awards, BDA Awards, and Annie Awards. A subsidiary, Kidrobot, creates limited edition toys, clothing, artwork, and books. It had stores in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Filmography
* 2.1 Television series
* 2.2 Films
* 2.3 Short films
* 2.4 Video games
* 3 Staff
* 3.1 Executives
* 3.2 Directors
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## History[edit]

In October 1994, John Hays, Phil Robinson, and Jeff Fino started the Wild Brain Productions animation studio in San Francisco's Castro district. The new company bootstrapped with contract work from local game companies such as Broderbund, LucasArts, and Living Books. In 1996 Wild Brain Productions moved to a 17,000 square foot warehouse at the corner of 18th and York St. in the Mission District spearheading the growth of what came to be known in San Francisco as Multimedia Gulch. In 1999, Austin based Interfase Capital invested almost $17 million in Wild Brain Productions.

Over the next few years, Wild Brain Productions's staff ballooned from a staff of about 20 to about 250. It struck deals with Yahoo! and the Cartoon Network to produce animated shorts for the Web. It launched WildBrain.com, creating animated web shorts such as Groove Monkey, Mantalope, and numerous web series including Joe Paradise, Glue, Graveyard, and Space Is Dum.

After legendary studio Colossal Pictures closed down in 1999, and with the financial backing of the Interfase companies, Wild Brain Productions expanded further, providing employment for former Colossal directors and staff. Around this period they produced the series Higglytown Heroes and Poochini.

In 2004, Charles Rivkin, former CEO of The Jim Henson Company, joined Wild Brain Productions as president and CEO. Rivkin oversaw the creation and development of the Yo Gabba Gabba series for Nick Jr.

In 2007, former founder Jeff Fino left to start Nuvana, an educational web-based company with former Colossal Pictures Producer, Joe Kwong, Wild Brain Productions rebranded to WildBrain Entertainment the same year.

In 2008, Rivkin left WildBrain after being named U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco. Michael Polis, the marketing director of WildBrain, then became the new CEO.

Around this time John Hays left WildBrain to work on indie features (La Mission and Howl, which opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival).

By 2009, the original founders of the company had all left WildBrain. The company expanded its animation studios to Sherman Oaks in March, then closed its San Francisco office in June. It had been an independent company until DHX Media purchased WildBrain in 2010. The same year, Phil Robinson, and Amy Capen, exec producer of WildBrain's San Francisco studio started an independent company called Special Agent Productions. Robinson died in 2015 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.[2][3][4]

In 2016, DHX Media announced the formation of a new London-based multi-channel network under the WildBrain name, focusing primarily on YouTube channels aimed towards children (such as content and original series from DHX's properties, as well as other forms of educational and toy-oriented content).[5] In September 2019, DHX Media announced that it would change its name to WildBrain outright (with the MCN unit being renamed WildBrain Spark).[6]

## Filmography[edit]

### Television series[edit]

* KaBlam! ("The Brothers Tiki" shorts; 1997)
* O Canada (opening title & bumpers; 1997)
* Oh Yeah! Cartoons ("Fathead"; 1998)
* Space is Dum (1999–2001)
* Pajama Party (opening title; 2000)
* Poochini's Yard (2000–2002)
* The Chuck Jones Show (opening title; 2001)
* Higglytown Heroes (2004–2008)
* Yo Gabba Gabba! (2007–2015)
* Team Smithereen (2009–2011)
* The Ricky Gervais Show (2010–2012)
* The Hard Times of RJ Berger (2010–2011)
* Monster High (2010–2012)
* Bubble Guppies (season 1) (2011)
* The Ooglie Show (opening title; 2011)
* The Aquabats! Super Show! (2012–2014)
* UMIGO (2012–2014)
* Sheriff Callie's Wild West (season 1) (2014)

### Films[edit]

* FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue (1998)
* Dudley Do-Right (animation) (1999)
* The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (animation) (2000)
* Cats & Dogs (Egypt animation) (2001)
* Rat Race (opening title sequence) (2001)
* Dopamine (CGI animation) (2003)
* The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (TV spots) (2004)
* Howl (animation) (2010)
* Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011) (TV special)

### Short films[edit]

* Out In Space (1997)
* Humanstein (1998)
* A Dog Cartoon (1998)
* El Kabong Rides Again (2000)
* Hubert's Brain (2001)
* Anita Bomba (2001)
* Erin Esurance in "Carbon Copy" (2007)
* Disrespectoids (2010)

### Video games[edit]

* Living Books: The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight (animation) (1995)
* Living Books: Green Eggs and Ham (1996)
* NeoHunter (character design and animation) (1996)
* Flying Saucer (1997)
* Rugrats Adventure Game (additional art & animation) (1998)
* Star Wars: Jar Jar's Journey Adventure Book (1999)
* Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Treasures of Knowledge (character design) (2001)
* The Oregon Trail 5th Edition (character design) (2001)
* Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (2D animation) (2003)
* Sideway: New York (animation) (2011)

## Staff[edit]

### Executives[edit]

* Michael Polis
* Marge Dean
* David Graber
* Bob Higgins

### Directors[edit]

* George Evelyn
* Paul Fierlinger
* Denis Morella
* Scott Schultz
* Phil Robinson
* John Hays
* Ed Bell
* Robin Steele
* Dave Marshall

## References[edit]

1. ^ Alex Miller, "Cross-Media Case Study: Secret Agent of Change", OMMA, March 2006.
2. ^ "Phil Robinson". FALLOUT: JaMie BaKeR's BLOG. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
3. ^ "Wild Brain Co-Founder Phil Robinson, RIP". Cartoon Brew. 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
4. ^ "Director and Studio Co-Founder Phil Robinson Dies". Animation Magazine. 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
5. ^ "DHX Media unveils online kids net WildBrain". Kidscreen. April 25, 2016. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
6. ^ "DHX rebrands as WildBrain". Kidscreen. September 23, 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-23.

## External links[edit]

* Official website
* Animation Insider Article
* SF Weekly "The Little Animation Company That Could" by Ryan Blitstein

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WildBrain

WildBrain Television|

* Family Channel
* WildBrainTV
* Family Jr.
* Télémagino

WildBrain (UK) Limited|

* WildBrain Worldwide Limited
* WildBrain CPLG
* WildBrain Spark

Other|

* Peanuts Worldwide
* Shortcake IP Holdings LLC
* WildBrain Studios
* Decode Entertainment

People|

* Micheline Charest
* Ronald A. Weinberg
* Michael Donovan
* Michael Hirsh
* Anne Wood
* Andrew Davenport
* Linda Schuyler
* Stephen Stohn
* Asaph Fipke
* Jean Chalopin
* Andy Heyward
* Bruno Bianchi
* Ivor Wood

Related|

* List of WildBrain programs
* Studio B Productions
* Epitome Pictures
* Nerd Corps Entertainment
* Colossal Pictures
* CINAR scandal
* Cookie Jar Group
* Cookie Jar TV
* Cookie Jar Kids Network
* Cookie Jar Toons
* DIC Entertainment
* WildBrain Entertainment
* FilmFair
* KidsCo

* v
* t
* e

Animation industry in the United States

Companies
and studios|

| Active|

| Majors|

| Universal
Pictures|

* DreamWorks Animation
* DreamWorks Animation Television
* DreamWorks Classics
* Big Idea Entertainment
* Harvey Entertainment
* Jay Ward Productions
* Illumination
* Universal Animation Studios

|

Paramount
Pictures|

* CBS Eye Animation Productions
* Late Night Cartoons
* MTV Animation
* Nickelodeon Animation Studio
* Nickelodeon Digital
* Paramount Animation
* Miramax Animation (49%)

|

Warner Bros.|

* Cartoon Network Studios
* Rooster Teeth Animation
* Warner Animation Group
* Warner Bros. Animation
* Williams Street

|

Walt Disney
Studios|

* 20th Century Animation
* 20th Television Animation
* Disney Television Animation
* Lucasfilm Animation
* Industrial Light & Magic
* Marvel Animation
* Pixar Animation Studios
* Walt Disney Animation Studios

|

Sony Pictures|

* Funimation (95%)
* Crunchyroll
* Sony Pictures Animation
* Sony Pictures Imageworks

|

* Augenblick Studios
* Fox Corporation
* Bento Box Entertainment
* Billionfold Inc.
* Blur Studio
* Cartuna
* Charlex
* CMCC Cartoons
* DNEG
* Digital Domain
* Film Roman
* Phil Roman Entertainment
* Floyd County Productions
* Fred Wolf Films
* Genius Brands
* Wow Unlimited Media
* Frederator Studios
* Frederator Films
* Fuzzy Door Productions
* Hasbro
* Entertainment One
* Joe Murray Productions
* Kinofilm
* Klasky Csupo
* Laika
* Lee Mendelson Films
* Melendez Films
* Little Airplane Productions
* Man of Action Entertainment
* Mattel
* Mexopolis
* Mirari Films
* Mondo Media
* 6 Point Harness
* Netflix Animation
* Noble
* Omation Animation Studio
* Parallax Studio
* Powerhouse Animation Studios
* Psyop
* Radical Axis
* Reel FX Creative Studios
* Renegade Animation
* Rough Draft Studios
* Rovio Animation
* Screen Novelties
* Scholastic
* Weston Woods Studios
* SD Entertainment
* ShadowMachine
* Snee-Oosh, Inc.
* Splash Entertainment
* Sprite Animation Studios
* Stretch Films
* Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
* Tau Films
* Threshold Entertainment
* Titmouse, Inc.
* The ULULU Company
* United Plankton Pictures
* Vanguard Animation
* WildBrain
* Wild Canary Animation
* World Events Productions
* Worker Studio

Former|

* 41 Entertainment
* 4Kids Entertainment
* 70/30 Productions
* Adelaide Productions
* Adventure Cartoon Productions
* Allspark
* Amblimation
* Animation Collective
* Animation Lab
* Animation Magic
* Blue Sky Studios
* Bolder Media
* Cambria Productions
* Cartoon Pizza
* Chorion
* Circle 7 Animation
* Cookie Jar
* Copernicus Studios
* Crest Animation Productions
* Curious Pictures
* DePatie–Freleng Enterprises
* DIC Entertainment
* Disneytoon Studios
* DNA Productions
* Famous Studios
* Filmation
* Fleischer Studios
* Format Films
* Fox Animation Studios
* Golden Films
* Hanna-Barbera
* HIT Entertainment
* Jetlag Productions
* Kanbar Animation
* Kroyer Films
* Laugh-O-Gram Studio
* Marvel Productions
* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation
* MGM Animation/Visual Arts
* MGM Cartoons
* MoonScoop
* Pacific Data Images
* PorchLight Entertainment
* Prana Studios
* Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment
* Rhythm and Hues Studios
* Ruby-Spears
* Saban Entertainment
* Screen Gems
* Skellington Productions
* Soup2Nuts
* Spümcø
* Sullivan Bluth Studios
* Sunbow Entertainment
* Terrytoons
* United Productions of America
* Van Beuren Studios
* Walter Lantz Productions
* Warner Bros. Cartoons
* WildBrain Entertainment
* Will Vinton Studios
* Zodiac Entertainment

Industry
associations|

* The Animation Guild, I.A.T.S.E. Local 839
* ASIFA-Hollywood

Awards|

* Academy Awards
* Annie Awards
* Daytime Emmy Awards
* Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
* Primetime Emmy Awards

History|

* Silent era
* Golden age
* World War II
* Television era
* Modern era

Related|

* Animated sitcom
* American comics
* History of American comics
* Tijuana bible
* Humorous Phases of Funny Faces
* Flash animation

* Category

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