Don't think it was gonna happen anyways as Apple kinda has the rights to Peanuts now.
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Blue Sky Studios, Fox’s Once-Dominant Animation House Behind ‘Ice Age’ Franchise, To Close
- Thread starter tormented
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The only other buyer was Comcast, and they're an ISP. The only way this would have probably been avoided is if Fox didn't sell it's entertainment division to anyone, but who could have stopped them from doing that?
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Blame Murdoch more,
Comcast would killed them immediately, Disney just gave them time.
Considering who else was bidding it's very unlikely Blue Sky was going to survive regardless.
Echoing the sentiments that their take on Peanuts was an absolutely respectful homage to the art style of Schulz and full of the same heart and humor as the comic strip. My kiddo watches it at least once a month and even the rewatches are enjoyable. RIP to the studio and hopefully the talent there can find another studio to work with.
Oh, come on Disney. You could have at least salvaged their final project to be a Disney+ exclusive.
I always had a feeling that Blue Sky Studios never fit into Disney's portfolio and this just goes to show that.
You'll get through this. I wish you and your wife the best.
I always had a feeling that Blue Sky Studios never fit into Disney's portfolio and this just goes to show that.
You'll get through this. I wish you and your wife the best.
Gonna be that person and say the only movies of theirs worth a damn are Ice Age 1, Rio 1, and the Peanuts movie. It's a travesty how the artists are being treated, but had Blue Sky just, like, went bankrupt or something, I wouldn't have skipped a beat.
What an absolutely bone headed move of Disney. Cutting their losses because of covid when cg and vfx studios are kinda booming right now during covid and getting rid of an entire animation studio they could have shaped into a animated offshoot marvel studio? Just dumb.
I knew some guys who worked there
I knew some guys who worked there
Hopefully it won't be too hard for everyone, and hoping you guys land on your feet alright. Any time an anim studio closes its a loss for the entire industry.
The lesser of two evils doesn't suddenly mean it's good. (And I'm not knowledgable about Comcast's plans with Fox to judge if it would've been worse, I'm neutral in that regard).
The only saying the consolidation of so much power into one company is terrible for the industry as a whole. And this is coming from someone who considers himself quite the Disney-fan.
That's too bad. Would have loved another Peanuts movie.
I still think Ice Age should still have a concluding film where they meet back up with the baby from the first film grown up.
Considering there's a future Disney+ spin-off and somehow a retail video game in 2019 that franchise still seems to have life in it.
I still think Ice Age should still have a concluding film where they meet back up with the baby from the first film grown up.
Considering there's a future Disney+ spin-off and somehow a retail video game in 2019 that franchise still seems to have life in it.
CG and VFX has been a shit market for some time. Even if you helped make a $1.6 billion grossing movie, you're still in danger.
The Lion King VFX Studio Shutting Down Despite Disney's Box Office Win
When you pay VFX artists to animate your photorealistic movie so you don't have to credit or pay the non-union workers as animators, someone's going to lose
collider.com
Yeah I can't say I was a huge fan of any of their movies (besides Peanuts) but variety is the spice of life. Bummer to hear; even if their employees just get rolled into Disney or Pixar (which, just to be clear, would be great), still translates to lower output overall for animated movies.
I would actually love if Disney opened up a smaller studio just to crank out hand-drawn animated features again, but clearly P&TF's underperformance convinced them there was no market for it.
None of the other big studio owners. Comcast or sony should have been allowed to buy fox whoever did it would have had too much power in the film industry.
Blue Sky was no pixar but it was a successful enough studio that any buyer who didn't have a conflict of interest would have been incredibly stupid to close it.
At least it seems like Disney is looking into keeping a lot of them on in other studios
Imagine wanting Comcast involved as if that would have been any better
Imagine wanting Comcast involved as if that would have been any better
I was already annoyed when Disney killed Disneytoon (the studio who made the infamous Disney Sequels under Eisner's orders in the Eisner era, but who turned things around with the Tinkerbell movies in the Lasseter era, and was waiting for some new direction post-Lasseter). At the time, everyone was saying "Oh, this is fine. Disney fired them because they just bought Fox and picked up Blue Sky Studios, and Blue Sky is an upgrade." It stings double now that they're both gone.
I had been under the impression that animation studios were handling Covid WAY better than regular movie studios, due to more isolation (cubicles) and the ability to work from home.
And then, Disney just launched Disney+, and is in need of new content.
I'm guessing Disney just considers these people "disposable". Like, they can't fire Marvel Studios, even if Marvel Studios takes a bigger hit, because Marvel Studios is linked to the MCU, and they need the MCU. Similarly, they can't fire WDAS because they're Disney's signature animation studio. But Disneytoon and Blue Sky? Fuck 'em! The instant they become unprofitable, Disney can just fire them all and outsource their work to a temporarily hired studio.
I had been under the impression that animation studios were handling Covid WAY better than regular movie studios, due to more isolation (cubicles) and the ability to work from home.
And then, Disney just launched Disney+, and is in need of new content.
I'm guessing Disney just considers these people "disposable". Like, they can't fire Marvel Studios, even if Marvel Studios takes a bigger hit, because Marvel Studios is linked to the MCU, and they need the MCU. Similarly, they can't fire WDAS because they're Disney's signature animation studio. But Disneytoon and Blue Sky? Fuck 'em! The instant they become unprofitable, Disney can just fire them all and outsource their work to a temporarily hired studio.
Seems like a shortsighted move since they're in dire need of content for D+.
But they probably know better. Sad for the people affected though.
But they probably know better. Sad for the people affected though.
Disney should have sold Blue Sky Studios to Apple during the asset divestiture of the 21st Century Fox merger.
This. Even for the people stating that Comcast would've shut them down too, they probably wouldn't have halted the release of back catalogue Fox titles in 4K. They have no idea what to do with the Fox stuff.
I think everybody saw this coming at some point, I just don't think anyone expected it so soon. COVID-19 really did a number on the movie industry.
There were a lot of reasons for MPC Vancouver to shut down, and that was pre covid. Though I'm not trying to downplay how cg and vfx has been crap for a long time, anim studios are in a unique position these days, especially with streaming.CG and VFX has been a shit market for some time. Even if you helped make a $1.6 billion grossing movie, you're still in danger.
The Lion King VFX Studio Shutting Down Despite Disney's Box Office Win
When you pay VFX artists to animate your photorealistic movie so you don't have to credit or pay the non-union workers as animators, someone's going to lose
This is awful, the Peanuts movie was really good, my kids are obsessed with it now and watch it almost every day. :(
This fucking sucks. An animation studio of the pedigree of Blue Sky would have made a great asset in the streaming wars in any other constellation, but obviously not under Disney.
The guys at Locksmith in London must be nervously checking their inboxes...
But would that mean relocating to LA?
Good luck to you and your colleagues, this is such a bummer.
The guys at Locksmith in London must be nervously checking their inboxes...
But would that mean relocating to LA?
Good luck to you and your colleagues, this is such a bummer.
The article implies the Buck Wild show is still going. I assume Blue Sky wasn't on that? Any idea who was if you can say?
I always thought Blue Sky was a cozy fit for Disney. They should've been a perfect 3rd pillar of animated films alongside Disney Animation and Pixar. Such a shame this happened. :(
Yeah, I was upset about Disneytoons also.
Gonna be a real hit to local employment here. It's not just the studio, it's the loss of a building tenant, etc.
Of course, we've lost so many arts non-profits and local theaters in the area thanks to Trump giving no aid to the states, what is lost now even with a new administration may not be able to be restored. Moves like this, even if seen as eventually inevitable, just emphasize how long a recovery may be.
Spies in Disguise was good.
Gonna be a real hit to local employment here. It's not just the studio, it's the loss of a building tenant, etc.
Of course, we've lost so many arts non-profits and local theaters in the area thanks to Trump giving no aid to the states, what is lost now even with a new administration may not be able to be restored. Moves like this, even if seen as eventually inevitable, just emphasize how long a recovery may be.
Spies in Disguise was good.
I don't believe Comcast would have shut Blue Sky down. They could have easily sold the whole studio to anyone looking to prop up their streaming service with animated content - which is everyone except Disney.
yuuuuuuuuuuup
a lot of people losing their jobs as the amount of projects coming in has been reduced and on top of that the many, many movies that have finished post, ready to go since last year and still not released
You're overestimating how much covid means for the industry. VFX was in high demand even before it but it was a race to the bottom in terms of pay as studios are constantly looking for cheaper effects.
Animation industry isn't much different. You'll find a lot of western animation has parts outsourced to Korea.
Absolutely wonderful news. /s
Say what you will about the Ice Age franchise, but the first film is genuinely good. Blue Sky also put out the only solid Dr. Seuss film adaptation (Horton Hears a Who!), and The Peanuts Movie is a great film that was far and away Blue Sky's greatest accomplishment. (I'm also not crazy about it, but I liked the first Rio well enough.)
I was also looking forward to their Nimona adaptation, but I'm nowhere near surprised Disney just binned that too.
I once said AT&T (TimeWarner acquisition) would probably cause the most destruction/consolidation in the aftermath of their M&A, but I see Disney's coming for that throne I guess. The Fox feature film department is just what, Searchlight and 20th Century Studios now? (And the latter is just a non-family/non-Marvel/non-Star Wars label for whatever films Disney decides to greenlight?)
I had this concern in mind too, but I also thought DisneyToon Studios (which Disney shuttered in 2018) was their sacrificial lamb for keeping Blue Sky around as a new third feature animation pillar. I was hoping they would use them as an alternative animation studio that put out less mainstream animated films on a irregular basis (it helped that Blue Sky's budgets for a good amount of their films actually came under $100M, and the studio's early years had them releasing films every two-three years); the Nimona adaptation looked like they might had been heading for that sort of direction.
Instead we're now seeing two major animation studios die under Disney's watch within the span of three years.
Say what you will about the Ice Age franchise, but the first film is genuinely good. Blue Sky also put out the only solid Dr. Seuss film adaptation (Horton Hears a Who!), and The Peanuts Movie is a great film that was far and away Blue Sky's greatest accomplishment. (I'm also not crazy about it, but I liked the first Rio well enough.)
I was also looking forward to their Nimona adaptation, but I'm nowhere near surprised Disney just binned that too.
I once said AT&T (TimeWarner acquisition) would probably cause the most destruction/consolidation in the aftermath of their M&A, but I see Disney's coming for that throne I guess. The Fox feature film department is just what, Searchlight and 20th Century Studios now? (And the latter is just a non-family/non-Marvel/non-Star Wars label for whatever films Disney decides to greenlight?)
I had this concern in mind too, but I also thought DisneyToon Studios (which Disney shuttered in 2018) was their sacrificial lamb for keeping Blue Sky around as a new third feature animation pillar. I was hoping they would use them as an alternative animation studio that put out less mainstream animated films on a irregular basis (it helped that Blue Sky's budgets for a good amount of their films actually came under $100M, and the studio's early years had them releasing films every two-three years); the Nimona adaptation looked like they might had been heading for that sort of direction.
Instead we're now seeing two major animation studios die under Disney's watch within the span of three years.
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