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Sometime a company's work load can be quite large, and you don't want your best staff members (Disney's Los Angeles unit, known today as Walt Disney Animation Studios) to waste their time on TV shows when said staff members are best off working on Major Movies, and that's why the other studios are here.


Units of Disney:

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Los Angeles area units

    Walt Disney Animation Studios 
Walt Disney Animation Studios (formerly Walt Disney Feature Animation from 1986-2006) was established in 1923, when Walt Disney moved out to Los Angeles after his Laugh-O-Gram studio went bankrupt and sold his Alice Comedies to distributor M.J. Winkler. For more information about this unit, see the Classic Disney Shorts page and the Disney Animated Canon page.

Their first studio, the Disney Brothers cartoon Studio opened in 1923 on Kingswell Avenue in Los Angeles. In 1926, the studio, now called the Walt Disney Studio, moved into a larger studio on Hyperion Avenue. In December 1939, the crew began to move into a more spacious studio up in Burbank, a move completed by May 1940. In 1985, the animation crew was ousted from the old building on the studio lot and was moved into some warehouses in Glendale. In 1995, a new feature animation studio (named the Roy E. Disney Animation Building as of 2010) opened in Burbank across the street from the old lot, where the unit is housed today. See also Dream Quest Images, a VFX studio absorbed into this branch in 2002.

    Disney Television Animation 
Established in 1984, Disney Television Animation (established as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group) produces Disney's animated television series and specials. It didn't really boom until 1989, when Disney stopped relying on TMS Entertainment and established various satellite studios around the world.

    Disneytoon Studios 
Disneytoon Studios was established in 2003, spun off from the Direct to Video unit within Disney Television Animation established in 1994. This was Disney's DTV unit, producing video (and occasionally theatrical) releases based on famous Disney characters and franchises. In June 2018, Disney announced that the studio would shut down.

See Disneytoon Studios for more.

Satellite studios

     Walt Disney Animation Studios Vancouver 
Announced August 2021 and expected to begin operation in January 2022, this new studio will focus on providing animation for various long-form series that will stream on Disney+, while the main Burbank studio will continue to produce feature films and short-form projects.

This is actually Disney's second animation studio to be based in Vancouver (see Walt Disney Animation Canada below).

Projects:

     Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida 
Established in 1989, this satellite studio for the feature animation division was housed in the Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) theme park at Walt Disney World. The studio was nicknamed "the Fishbowl" because the studio also doubled as an attraction that allowed guests to see the artists in action through windows.

The studio worked on segments from various full-length features, and was the main production facility for Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear, as well various shorts, including two cartoons starring Roger Rabbit and commercials featuring Disney's properties. The studio closed in January 2004.

See Project Firefly, a studio founded by former Disney Florida employees Paulo Alvarado, Gregg Azzopardi, Dominic Carola, Glen D. Gagnon and John Webber.

Productions:

     Walt Disney Animation Canada 
Established in January 1996, Walt Disney Animation Canada operated from two studios in Toronto and Vancouver and co-produced various direct-to-video projects. This venture was short-lived, and the studios closed in Spring 2000; they were originally set to produce Return to Neverland (then called Peter and Jane), but with the closure, it was instead given to the Australian unit.

Notable staff in the Canadian unit include Keith Ingham, Sean Newton and Bill Speers.

Projects:

    Walt Disney Animation Japan 
DisneyToon Studios Japan (formerly Walt Disney Animation Japan, Inc.) was the biggest of the non-North American units. The studio was founded by Motoyoshi Tokunaga (an ex-TMS producer) in 1988 after Disney bought out Pacific Animation Corporation (a studio mostly known for doing Rankin Bass' Thunder Cats and Silverhawks, and one of the three studios that split off from Topcraft), with new and more modern facilities created in 1991. However, the studio was shut down in 2004 as Disney was getting rid of their non-CGI animation units (yet the Los Angeles units were saved). After that, most of their staff members went to work for Madhouse, Studio Pierrot or Production I.G. The ones who went with Tokunaga joined him when he formed The Answer Studio.

Notable staff in the Japanese unit include Saburo Hashimoto, Shigeru Yamamoto, Sawako Miyamoto, Kazuyoshi Takeuchi, Hiroshi Kawamata, Yukio Okazaki, Kenichi Tsuchiya, Tsuguyuki Kubo, and Ritsuko Notani (the latter being transferred to Disney's Los Angeles unit after WDAJ closed down).

See also Tama Productions, Nakamura Productions, Studio Robin, Jade Animation and Takahashi Production, studios that were often used by Disney Japan; Pacific Animation Corporation and Topcraft, the predecessors to Walt Disney Animation Japan; and Studio Ghibli and Studio Gainax, the other animation studios that split off from Topcraft after the blockbuster success of Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.


Productions by Disney Japan:

  • Adventures of the Gummi Bears: All of season five and 9 episodes of season six ("Toadie the Conqueror", "Zummi in Slumberland", "Thornberry to the Rescue", "Once More the Crimson Avenger", "True Gritty", "King Igthorn" (Part 2), "Tummi Trouble", "Trading Faces" and "Wings Over Dunwyn"). With the Australian unit and (for the segment "Friar Tum") Guimaraes, replacing TMS Entertainment.
  • The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (one short: "To Catch a Hiccup")
  • Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (22 episodes) [[labelnote:List]]"To the Rescue Parts 1-5", "A Creep in the Deep", "Chipwrecked Shipmunks", "When Mice Were Men", "Weather or Not", "One-Upsman-Chip", "Love is a Splintered Thing", "Song of the Night 'n Dale", Gadget Goes Hawaiian", "Dirty Rotten Diapers", "Good Times, Bat Times", Pie in the Sky", "Le Purrfect Crime", "A Lean on the Property", "The Pied Piper Power Play", "The S.S. Drainpipe", Zipper Come Home", "Puffed Rangers" With Wang, Sunwoo and A1. Replacing TMS.
  • TaleSpin (24 episodesList , plus assistance for Hanho Heung-Up for "Stormy Weather")
  • Darkwing Duck (13 episodes, with Atelier Bwca, Studio Jack, Tama and Jade) List 
  • Goof Troop (5 episodes) List 
  • The Little Mermaid: The TV series, season 1 and the first half of season 2.
  • Raw Toonage
  • Bonkers (14 episodes) List 
  • Gargoyles (19 episodes) List 
  • Aladdin: The Series (16 episodes) List 
  • Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series (one episode, with Jade) List 
  • 101 Dalmatians: The Series (15 episodes) List 
  • Hercules: The Animated Series (seven episodes, with various additional production facilities) List 
  • Mickey Mouse Works: Disney Japan's shorts were also re-broadcast on House Of Mouse.
  • Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (with Jade and Pixar)

  • 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (with Jade, Character Builders and Yowza! Animation)
  • Aladdin and the King of Thieves: Done with Disney Australia.
  • Aladdin: The Return of Jafar: The first of the Disney Direct to Video sequels, done with the Australia unit. Japan animated the second half of the film.
  • Cinderella II: Dreams Come True: An aborted TV series that became a direct-to-video movie.
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
  • Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas: "Stuck on Christmas" segment with Anime Workshop Basara. Movie with the Canadian Unit and Toon City.
  • Mulan II (with support by Jade and Wang Film)
  • Piglet's Big Movie
  • Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World: With the Canadian unit, Spaff Animation and Character Builders.
  • Pooh's Grand Adventure
  • Pooh's Heffalump Movie: Their final production
  • The Tigger Movie: Done with TMS (Telecom unit), Tama and other studios.

Unconfirmed:

  • Nightmare Ned (the credits list Shigeru Yamamoto as animation supervisor; most of the show's animation was handled by Tama and Animal-Ya)

    Walt Disney Television Animation Australia 
Founded in 1988 by several former Hanna-Barbera animators, DisneyToon Studios Australia (formerly Walt Disney Television Animation Australia Pty. Ltd.) is often known among the animation community for having very cartoonish and expressive animation, which they are still praised for. The studio had a longer life than the Japanese unit; it became the main hub for Disney's Direct to Video sequels, a role originally fulfilled by the Japanese unit. The Australian unit came to an end in July 2006, due to rising costs for animation in Australia, making it the last studio owned by Disney to ever use traditional animation before The Princess and the Frog. Its role was once again succeeded by other studios used by Disney like Toon City and Synergy Animation.

Notable animators in the Australian unit include Bob Baxter, Adam Murphy, Kevin Peaty, Lianne Hughes, Andrew Collins, Ian Harrowell, Alexs Stadermann, Pieter Lommerse, Ryan O'Loughlin, Bernard Derriman, Robert Mason and Lily Dell.


Productions by Disney Australia:

  • The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Their first production. Most of the series after season 1 with Hanho and Wang, replacing TMS.
  • Adventures of the Gummi Bears - 8 episodes from the sixth season. List 
  • Darkwing Duck - 10 episodes. List 
  • Goof Troop - 26 episodes. List 
  • Bonkers - 13 episodes. List 
  • Gargoyles - The episode "Seeing Isn't Believing".
  • Aladdin: The Series - 10 episodes. List 
  • Timon & PumbaaList 
  • Quack PackList 
  • Jungle CubsList 
  • 101 Dalmatians: The Series - 7 episodes. List 
  • Hercules: The Animated Series: Two episodes: "Hercules and the First Day of School" (layouts only; actual animation by Toon City) and "Hercules and the Dream Date".
  • House of Mouse - A few Mickey Mouse Works shorts.
  • The Legend of Tarzan
  • Aladdin and the King of Thieves - Done with Disney Japan.
  • Bambi II
  • Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (with the Canadian unit, Wang Film, Red Rover and Character Builders)
  • Brother Bear 2
  • Cinderella III: A Twist in Time - The unit's final production, done with Toon City.
  • A Goofy Movie (with the France unit and Phoenix Animation Studios). They handled An Extremely Goofy Movie completely on their own outside of some uncredited layout assistance from the Canada unit.
  • The Jungle Book 2 - Done with Toon City.
  • Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure
  • Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch
  • The Lion King 1 ½ - Done with Toon City.
  • The Lion King II: Simba's Pride - Done with the Canadian unit and Toon City.
  • The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea - Done with the Canadian unit and Wang.
  • Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers - Done with Toon City.
  • Return To Never Land - With the Canadian unit and Cornerstone.
  • Aladdin: The Return of Jafar - Done with Disney Japan. Australia animated roughly the first half of the film, while Japan handled the second half.
  • Tarzan II - Done with Toon City
  • A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving
  • Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You (CGI animation)

    Walt Disney Feature Animation France 
Walt Disney Feature Animation France (formerly Walt Disney Animation France, S.A.) was established in 1989 when Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi sold their company, Brizzi Films, to Disney. Initially, they were mostly used on the TV shows, but starting in 1995, they became a division of the Feature Animation studio, partially animating most of their features from 1996 to 2003. The studio was shut down in Summer 2003.

Features and shows:

     Walt Disney Animation UK Limited 
This short-lived unit was set up in Camden Town, London in 1986 for the animation production of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, using a combination of Disney animators from Burbank, Richard Williams’ associates and animators from all over Europe (many of whom would later join the prestigious Feature Animation unit in Burbank when production wrapped on Roger Rabbit).

Projects:

Tropes associated with Walt Disney's various animation units:

  • Animation Bump: The Los Angeles, Japan and Australia units are the biggest examples, but all are known for this. This is Disney, after all.
  • Depending on the Artist: Most evident in the episodes animated by the Australian studio, unsurprisingly because of the studio's emphasis on expressive animation and less on remaining completely uniform from scene to scene.
  • Medium Blending: The North American units are known for this.
  • Signature Style: For the Japanese unit, bouncy characters and crisp, mostly precise linework. For the Australian unit, deranged eyes when a character is angry, very specific mouth movements, and wrinkled faces in certain poses. For the French unit, it seemed that they've used a combination of tactics that were found in the previous two studios such as the wrinkled faces and specific mouth movements (Australian) and the bounciness (Japanese), likely stemming from the Brizzi brothers's work on the likes of Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea and Asterix Versus Caesar.

Alternative Title(s): Walt Disney Animation Australia, Walt Disney Animation France, Walt Disney Animation Japan, Walt Disney Overseas Animation Studios

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