Amblimation was the British animation production subsidiary of Amblin Entertainment.[1][2] It was formed by Steven Spielberg in May 1989, following the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and after he parted ways with Don Bluth due to creative differences. It only produced three feature films: An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), and Balto (1995), all three of which feature music composed by James Horner and were distributed by Universal Pictures. The company's mascot, Fievel Mousekewitz, appears in its production logo. It was based in what was originally the D. Napier & Son factory in Acton, London, and had 250 crew members from 15 different nations.[3]

Amblimation
Company typeSubsidiary
PredecessorSullivan Bluth Studios (through distribution of An American Tail: Fievel Goes West by Universal Pictures)
FoundedMay 1989; 35 years ago (1989-05)
FounderSteven Spielberg
Defunct1997; 27 years ago (1997)
FateClosed
SuccessorUniversal Animation Studios
DreamWorks Animation
HeadquartersPark House, 207-211 The Vale, ,
United Kingdom
Key people
Kate Mallory (studio manager)
Simon Wells (director)
Cynthia Woodbyrne (production manager)
ProductsAnimated films
ParentAmblin Entertainment

The studio closed in 1997 after only eight years of operation. All 250 of Amblimation's crew members went on to join DreamWorks Animation,[4] which was later acquired in 2016 by Universal's parent company NBCUniversal for $3.8 billion.[5]

Filmography

Theatrical feature films

Release date Title Box office gross
November 22, 1991 An American Tail: Fievel Goes West $40.6 million
November 24, 1993 We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story $9.3 million (US)
December 22, 1995 Balto $11.3 million

See also

References

  1. ^ Hofmeister, Sallie (17 October 1994). "Hollywood Falls Hard for Animation". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ^ "A look inside Hollywood and the movies" - Los Angeles Times
  3. ^ "Animation Really Keeps Steven Spielberg Moving". The Morning Call. 17 November 1991. Retrieved 30 May 2020 – via Mcall.com.
  4. ^ "Film: The Man Who Would Be Walt". archive.nytimes.com.
  5. ^ James, Meg (28 April 2016). "Comcast's NBCUniversal buys DreamWorks Animation in $3.8-billion deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 January 2019.