Ellipse Animation
(also known as Le Studio Ellipse, Ellipse Programme, and Ellipsanime) is a French animation studio based in Paris. It was established in 1987 by Philippe Gildas and Robert Rea.
Ellipse is easily one of the biggest names in the French animation industry, having quickly made a reputation for itself in the early 1990s due to their work on many critically acclaimed French cartoons, like Trouble With Sophie and Pirate Family. They are also well known for their hit co-productions with famed Canadian studio Nelvana, such as Babar, Rupert, Blazing Dragons, and, most famously, The Adventures of Tintin. Their Tintin animated series in particular has gone down in the eyes of many as one of the greatest cartoons in the history of both the Canadian and European animation industry.
In 2003, the studio was acquired by the French entertainment conglomerate Media-Participations, which itself already owned the Franco-Belgian Comics publishing company Dargaud (famed for Asterix, Tintin, and Lucky Luke), and would later acquire Dargaud's longtime rival Dupuis of The Smurfs and Billy & Buddy fame. Dargaud and Dupuis already had animation studios of their own, established in 1967 and 1959 respectively to produce Animated Adaptations of their own properties, such as the 1981 The Smurfs cartoon (a co-production with Hanna-Barbera) and the 1967 movie version of Asterix the Gaul. As a result, many of Ellipse's new productions were released in collaboration with and under the Dargaud and Dupuis label, including the 2021 The Smurfs cartoon, Yakari: A Spectacular Journey, and The Garfield Show. As you can tell, many of their productions are adaptations of comic books, ranging from popular Franco-Belgian series and American brands like the above-named works to manga like Dream Land and even African comics like Akissi. They also produced France's very first animated Youtube series, Roger and His Humans - and yes, it's based on a comic book (on top of also being the first foray into adult animation).
In 2022, Media-Participations decided to consolidate Ellipse, Dargaud Media, and Dupuis Edition & Audiovisual under the Ellipse Animation label. Previously, Ellipse's productions had been released under Dupuis and Dargaud's labels, but the change meant that now Ellipse would be the name that all previous and future animated works from Dargaud and Dupuis would be known under.
Series worked on by Ellipse:
- The Adventures of Tintin (1991) (the Animated Adaptation; co-production with Nelvana)
- Akissi (the Animated Adaptation)
- Aliens Love Underpants (the Animated Adaptation)
- Alta Donna (the Animated Adaptation)
- Babar (the Animated Adaptation; co-production with Nelvana)
- Babar: The Movie (the Animated Adaptation; co-production with Nelvana)
- Blake and Mortimer (the Animated Adaptation)
- Blazing Dragons (co-production with Nelvana)
- Bob Morane (the Animated Adaptation)
- Chicken Town
- Chumballs (co-production with Les Films de la Perrine and Araneo Belgium)
- Contraptus
- Corto Maltese (the Animated Adaptation)
- Cubitus (the Animated Adaptation)
- Dream Land (the Animated Adaptation)
- Fennec (co-production with Cactus Animation)
- The Fox Badger Family (the Animated Adaptation)
- The Funny Little Bugs
- The Garfield Show (co-production with Paws Inc.)
- Garfield Originals (co-production with Paws Inc.)
- The Jungle Book (2010) (co-production with DQ Entertainment International and ZDF Enterprises)
- Kid Lucky (based on Lucky Luke)
- Kid Paddle (the Animated Adaptation; co-production with Spectra Animation)
- Kong: The Animated Series (co-production with BKN International)
- Little Furry (the Animated Adaptation)
- Living with Dad (the Animated Adaptation)
- The Magic Roundabout
- The Marsupilamis (based on Marsupilami)
- Miss BG (the Animated Adaptation; co-production with Breakthrough Entertainment)
- My Pet Monster (the Animated Adaptation; co-production with Nelvana)
- The Neverending Story: The Animated Adventures of Bastian Balthazar Bux (the Animated Adaptation; co-production with Nelvana)
- Nick & Perry (co-production with EM.TV)
- Orson and Olivia (the Animated Adaptation)
- Pirate Family
- Rupert (the Animated Adaptation; co-production with Nelvana; Seasons 1-3 only)
- Roger and His Humans (the Animated Adaptation)
- The Smurfs (2021) (the Animated Adaptation)
- Sullivan (the Animated Adaptation)
- Taratabong
- Trotro & Zaza (the Animated Adaptation)
- Trouble with Sophie (the Animated Adaptation)
- Versailles Unleashed: Belfort & Lupin
- Wonder Wai
- Yakari: A Spectacular Journey
- Yakari: The Sequel
- Yummy Toonies
Tropes applying to their work
- Animated Adaptation: Probably what they're best known for. As you can see from the above, most of their cartoons are adaptations of comic books. In fact, it's probably a lot easier to name their animated shows that aren't based on comics.
- Breakthrough Hit: The Adventures of Tintin (1991), full stop. The enormous acclaim the series achieved internationally very quickly put the still-fresh Ellipse on the map (thank to their collaboration with the already world-renowned Nelvana), and for many fans of French and Canadian animation, it's reputation still has yet to be beaten.
- Production Posse:
- Famously collaborated with Nelvana during the 80s and 90s on such cartoons as Babar and The Adventures of Tintin (1991). Heck, it was their work on those shows that put them on the map in the first place.
- After their acquisition by Media-Participations, they've done a lot of work with fellow MP subsidies and famous Franco-Belgian Comics publishers Dupuis and Dargaud, resulting in stuff like Kid Paddle, the Yakari movies, a Spinoff Babies of Lucky Luke, and the 2021 The Smurfs cartoon.
