Gingo Animation, LLC is an American animation studio owned and operated by NBCUniversal through Gingo Entertainment. Located in North Hollywood, California, the studio primarily produces and develops animated programs and shorts for Gingo, but has also produced programs for its preschool programming block Gingo Junior and night–time block NightHouse, as well as sibling cable channels NBC, USA Network, and Universal Kids.
The actual animation production is done overseas, mostly Wang Film Productions, Saerom Animation and Rough Draft Studios, with pre-production and post-production being United States-based.
History
Gingo Animation originated as a television animation division of Multimedia Entertainment that focused on producing original programming for Gingo Entertainment, including The Toon Hour, Gabriel Garza and Mickey the Wicked. Following the merger of Gingo's parent, Multimedia with MCA Inc., Multimedia Entertainment was folded into Universal Television, while the Gingo studio was integrated as a separate unit within Universal Cartoon Studios, later known as Universal Television Animation. Animators at Gingo worked on projects based at the Gingo studio, but also assisted in projects based in the Universal Feature Animation studio.
Re-acquisition by Universal
- Further information: Proposed 2019 acquisition of Gingo by NBCUniversal
On November 2, 2016, after their successful attempt at buying DreamWorks Animation, Comcast (the owner of Universal Pictures' parent company NBCUniversal) sent a letter to Gingo Animation and Universal Animation Studios (which currently handles the pre-2005 Gingo library), encouraging the two studios to merge back into one animation studio. NBCUniversal's Universal Pictures already owns three animation studios: Universal Animation, Illumination Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation. Universal Animation Studios' CEO Michael Wildshill would once again oversee both Gingo and Universal Animation following the completion of the merger. If approved by federal regulators, the merger would reunite Gingo's properties under the same umbrella as Universal Animation, with the intention of treating the company similarly to Marvel Studios as well as strengthening the relationship between Universal and Gingo.
The deal has faced criticism for the possibility that Universal could operate too many animation studios to mimic that of The Walt Disney Company (which owns Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar) and focus too much on animated films. On November 17, 2016, the Department of Justice filing an antitrust lawsuit over the acquisition explaining, "it can cause a huge negative impact on the animation audience and cause less competition due to how big the deal is." On January 21, 2017, the deal was called off.
On August 23, 2018, it was reported by the Los Angeles Times that NBCUniversal had re-entered talks to acquire Gingo and merge the studio into Universal Animation. Both Gingo and NBCUniversal stated that the merger would not affect any films in production prior to the deal (such as Addie and The Boy and the Ape for Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation), nor any Glass Ball Productions properties (with most of them being owned by the Walt Disney Studios via 20th Century Fox) as well as any preexisting deals with other film studios for the time being, although NBCUniversal said they would distribute future Gingo projects under Universal once the deals expired. The proposed deal would have Universal bring Gingo back under the Universal umbrella and gain full control to the film rights of the post-2004 Gingo library (excluding the Universal-distributed films) with films distributed by studios other than Universal having their distribution rights expire in 2020. Also all films after the merger, excluding ones by other companies would be released under the Universal Animation label.
On September 28, 2018, District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled in favor of NBCUniversal, thus allowing the acquisition to go ahead with no conditions or remedies. Leon argued that the Department of Justice provided insufficient evidence that the proposed transaction would result in lessened competition. He also warned the government that attempting to obtain an appeal or stay on the ruling would be manifest unjust, as it would cause "certain irreparable harm to the defendants."
On July 2, 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that Gingo Entertainment and Universal Animation would explore merger discussions in mid-August 2019. Reports said that Universal and Gingo reportedly set September 12 as an informal deadline for reaching an agreement to recombine the two media companies. NBCUniversal announced to acquire Gingo as part of the re-merger deal for up to $64.9 billion.
On August 19, 2019, it was reported that NBCUniversal agreed to merge Gingo back into Universal, pending approval from the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division. However, on August 21, 2019, NBCUniversal delayed its acquisition of Gingo as the two companies report the quarterly earnings, though the talks about the re-merger continued.
On August 25, NBCUniversal and Gingo officially announced their merger. Clive Nakayashiki and Athena Christaniakis will retain as co-presidents of Gingo Animation and Glass Ball Productions, while Michael Wildshill will return as chairman and CEO of both Gingo and Universal Animation, where he will oversee the Gingo-branded properties. NBCUniversal also announced that both the Gingo and Glass Ball labels (alongside Creative Step Studio) would be integrated as new units within the Universal Animation Studios while NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group will take full ownership of the Gingo Channel, in which Universal owned 50% with Gingo. On October 1, the acquisition was officially finished thus putting the whole company under NBCUniversal with non-Universal owned properties by Gingo and it’s other companies unaffected.
More coming soon!
List of Gingo Animation productions
TV series
Gingo
| Series | Creator | Years | Co-production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | ||||
| The Toon Hour | Geo G. Michael Wildshill |
1988–1997 | Hanna-Barbera (seasons 1–4) | Only Gingo series from the 1980s |
| 1990s | ||||
| Gabriel Garza | Geo G. | 1991–2002; 2018–present | Hanna-Barbera (season 1) Klasky Csupo (seasons 2–3) Film Roman (seasons 4–present) |
First installment of the Gabriel Garza franchise. |
| Mickey the Wicked | Brad Bird | 1992–1994 | Amblin Entertainment Warner Bros. Animation |
First and only Gingo/Amblin/Warner Bros. series. |
| Hatty | Steve Samono | 1996–2002 | ||
| Niz Chicoloco | Geo G. (characters) | 1998–2005 | DreamWorks Animation | First Gingo series to be based on a video game. First Gingo series co-produced with DreamWorks. |
| Puyo Puyo | Kazunari Yonemitsu (characters) Developed by: Geo G. |
1999–2000 | Second Gingo series to be based on a video game. | |
| GGTV | Gingo Animation | 1999–present | First Gingo sketch show, longest-running Gingo series, and the only Gingo series from the 90s still in production. | |
| 2000s | ||||
| Jenny Zoom | Samuel Merritt | 2001–2004 | Third Gingo series to be based on a video game. | |
| Cookie and Cream | FromSoftware (characters) Developed by: Geo G. |
2001–2006 | Nelvana | Fourth Gingo series to be based on a video game. |
| The Supernova Spies | Dave Madson | 2002–2004 | ||
| Planetokio | Osamu Sato (characters) Developed by: Geo G. |
2002–2003 | Universal Digital Images | Fifth Gingo series to be based on a video game. |
| Critter Mockers | Michael Wildshill | 2003–2009 | ||
| Pochacco's Famous Friends | Geo G. | 2003–2008 | First Gingo series to be spun off from a Sanrio character. | |
| The Pandemoniums | Henri Dosclz | 2004–2011 | ||
| DreamWorks' Sinbad | Patrick Gilmore | 2004–2008 | DreamWorks Animation | Second Gingo series co-produced with DreamWorks. |
| Limo Dude | Terry Ward | 2004 | ||
| Chrysocolla & Sam | Michael Wildshill (characters) | 2005–2008 | Sixth Gingo series to be based on a video game. | |
| Worldwide Animals | Dave Madson | 2005–2008 | Nelvana | |
| Adventures of Zina and the Vivid Crew | Geo G. and Steve Oedekerk | 2005–2009 | O Entertainment | |
| The BJ and Wally Show | 2006–2012 | Only Gingo series based on the comic strip of the same name. | ||
| FusionMania | Geo G. | 2008–2013 | ||
| 2010s | ||||
| Primate House | Samuel Merritt | 2010–2013 | ||
| Niz Chicoloco (2018) | Geo G. | 2018–present | DreamWorks Animation Television | |
Universal Kids
| Series | Creator | Years | Co-production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernard Revamped | Jose Luis Ucha Enriquez and Claudio Biern Lliviria (characters) | 2018–present | Universal Television Animation BRB Internacional Screen21 RG Animation Studios |
Reboot of Bernard. |
Gingo Junior (preschool shows)
| Series | Creator | Years | Co-production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Critter | Mercer Mayer (books) | 1997–2005 | Nelvana | |
| David's Friends | 2012–present |
GingoDirect
Coming soon!
Short pilots
Successful
| Series | Episode | Creator | Year | Co-production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabriel Garza | "The Special Visitor" | Geo G. | 1989 | Hanna-Barbera | |
| Hatty | "Wise Weasel" | Steve Samono | 1994 | ||
| Niz Chicoloco | N/A | Geo G. | 1995 | DreamWorks | |
| TeenV | 1996 | Originally produced under the Gingo Animation brand. Later released under the Glass Ball Productions label. | |||
| Jenny Zoom | Samuel Merritt | 1998 | |||
| Puyo Puyo | "One Weird Afternoon" | Geo G. | |||
| The Critter Mockers | N/A | Michael Wildshill | 1999 | Re-tooled as Critter Mockers for the series. | |
| It's the Pandemoniums! | Henri Dosclz | 2000 | Re-tooled as The Pandemoniums for the series. | ||
| Zina Supermoon | "Maximum Power!" | Geo G. | 2001 | O Entertainment | |
| Worldwide Animals | N/A | Dave Madson | 2002 | ||
| Limo Dude | "One Big Trip" | Terry Ward | 2003 | ||
| Big Monkey House | N/A | Samuel Merritt | 2008 | Re-tooled as Primate House for the series. |
Failed
| Series | Creator | Year | Co-production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donny Dino | Geo G. and Michael Wildshill | 1988 | Hanna-Barbera | |
| Melee Girl | Jim Anderson and Gary Hall | 1990 | ||
| Nitroman | Geo G. and Gary Hall | 1994 | Originally planned spin-off of Gabriel Garza. | |
| Pepper Ann | Sue Rose | 1995 | Fido Dido Studio | Failed pilot, but successful for Disney. |
| Violet | Amy McNeill | 1996 | ||
| Chrysocolla: Part-Time Agent | Michael Wildshill | 1997 | Cancelled when Gingo executives found it too violent for children, but later reworked as the more toned-down Chrysocolla & Sam. | |
| Time Squad | Dave Wasson | 1998 | Failed pilot, but successful for Cartoon Network. | |
| Meet Otis | Steve Samono | |||
| The Weekenders | Doug Langdale | Failed pilot, but successful for Disney. | ||
| Monster Freaks | Henri Dosclz | |||
| The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | Maxwell Atoms | Failed pilot, but successful for Cartoon Network and became a segment on Grim & Evil before becoming a separate TV series. | ||
| Claire Jones | Geo G. | Originally planned spin-off of Gabriel Garza. A video game was released in March 2000, but the spin-off was never produced for unknown reasons. | ||
| Ashley's Point | 2001 | Aired as part of GGTV. | ||
| Kero Kero Keroppi | 2002 | Mike Young Productions | Planned reboot of Keroppi and Friends. | |
| Niz's Dream House | 2003 | DreamWorks Animation | Originally planned spin-off of Niz Chicoloco. Planned for own series, but was cancelled due to being too similar to Disney's House of Mouse. | |
| Shantae | N/A | 2004 | Nelvana | Planned TV series based on the video game. |
| Blueball the Gumball | Michael Wildshill | Failed pilot, but successful for Universal as Blueball & Pinkball without Gingo's involvement. | ||
| Eris | N/A | 2005 | DreamWorks Animation | Originally planned spin-off of Sinbad for an older audience. |
| Amphibia | Matt Braly | 2016 | N/A | Failed pilot, but successful for Disney. |
Television films and specials
| Title | Release date | Co-production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Gabriel Garza Christmas | November 16, 1991 | ||
| Gabriel Goes Hollywood | September 11, 1993 | ||
| Gabriel Gets Spooked | October 21, 1995 | ||
| Hatty: The Untold Story | September 25, 1998 | ||
| The Gabriel Project | April 10, 1999 | ||
| Niz Chicoloco's Christmas Mayhem | November 18, 2000 | DreamWorks Animation | |
| Hatty's Weasel-tastic Christmas! | November 17, 2001 | ||
| The Jenny Zoom Christmas Hour | December 21, 2002 | ||
| Planetokio: The Madness Isn't Over | May 17, 2003 | Series finale of Planetokio. | |
| Hatty in the Night of the Living Weasel | October 25, 2003 | ||
| Critter Mockers Save Christmas | December 6, 2003 | ||
| Jenny Zoom: A Conclusion of Confusion | April 3, 2004 | Series finale of Jenny Zoom. | |
| Critter Mockers: Dude, Where's My Critter? | June 15, 2004 | First season finale of Critter Mockers. | |
| Niz Chicoloco vs. Eris | November 13, 2004 | DreamWorks Animation | First DreamWorks/Gingo crossover special, featuring characters and elements from both Niz Chicoloco and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. |
| Critter Mockers: A Fuzzy Valentine's Day | February 13, 2005 | Second season finale of Critter Mockers. | |
| The Pandemoniums: Battle Against Time | May 27, 2006 | Third season finale of The Pandemoniums. | |
| Pandemonium Mockers | September 30, 2006 | Featuring characters and elements from both The Pandemoniums and Critter Mockers. | |
| Zina's Spooked Future | October 21, 2006 | O Entertainment | |
| A Critter Mockers Summer Vacation | July 15, 2007 | ||
| BJ and Wally in Christmas Madness | December 11, 2008 | ||
| Adventures of Zina and the Vivid Crew: Home | July 18, 2009 | O Entertainment | Series finale of Adventures of Zina and the Vivid Crew. |
| The Pandemoniums: Thank You | June 21, 2011 | Series finale of The Pandemoniums. |
Direct-to-video films
| Title | Release date | Co-production | Animation service(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mickey the Wicked Witch of the City | May 4, 1993 | Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Animation Amblin Entertainment |
Gingo North Hollywood |
| Gabriel and the Big Hero 6 | January 16, 2018 | Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Animation Studios Universal 1440 Entertainment Man of Action Studios |
Reel FX Creative Studios |
Theatrical films
All the films are theatrically distributed by Universal Pictures.
| Title | Release date | Co-production | Budget | Gross | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hatty in the Big City: The Movie | July 2, 1999 | $48 million | $96.2 million | 60% | 56 | |
| The Gabriel Garza Movie | July 31, 2002 | $60 million | $89.8 million | 38% | 44 | |
| Zina and the Vivid Crew | December 10, 2004 | O Entertainment | $70 million | $293.5 million | 80% | 62 |
| The TeenV Movie | July 1, 2005 | Glass Ball Productions | $74 million | $288.3 million | 78% | 62 |
| The Pandemoniums Movie | November 25, 2009 | $68 million | $170.7 million | 78% | 65 | |
| Agent Chrysocolla | March 20, 2020 | Sony Pictures Imageworks | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
See also
Coming soon!