Curious Pictures
(formerly known as Broadcast Arts) was an American animation studio founded by Steve Oakes and Peter Rosentheal in 1978. It was originally located in Washington, D.C. and one of the company's first assignments was a series of network IDs for MTV, which had set the standard for the network's irreverent humor. This success established the fledgling studio and brought them projects for various clients. Broadcast Arts moved to New York in 1985, where they produced hundreds of commercials, constantly weaving together multiple animation and special effects techniques for various projects, as well as the animation for the first season of Pee-wee's Playhouse. Broadcast Arts changed its name to its current name in 1993.
Having worked together for several years, the team of five partners, Oakes, Susan Holden, David Starr, Peter Rosentheal, and Richard Winkler, continued producing television commercials, with the intention of expanding to other ventures. The company expanded into a 25,000 square-foot studio in Lower Manhattan, fully equipping it with a cel and computer animation department, a shooting stage with two motion control camera systems, a prop and model shop, and digital editing rooms. From 1995 to 1999, an office was maintained in San Francisco to support the company's expansion into animated television series.
They disbanded in 2014 and eventually ceased operations in 2015 (on the same day one of their last productions Team Umizoomi ended its run).
Shows and films worked on by Curious:
- A Little Curious
- August (additional visual effects)
- The Barbie Diaries
- Bite & Smile
- Bored to Death (opening titles)
- Black Swan (motion capture)
- Chicago 10
- Codename: Kids Next Door
- Cyberchase (original main character designs; plus "The Poddleville Case" pilot)
- A Day in the Life (opening titles)
- Eureka (1 episode)List
- Foil Man
- The George Michael Sports Machine (main title animation)
- Hey Joel
- I Go Pogo
- It's Kind of a Funny Story (visual effects)
- The Jackie Bison Show
- KaBlam! (The Off-Beats segments)
- An Off-Beats Valentine's
- Life (special thanks)
- Little Einsteins
- The Louie and Louie Show
- The Love Guru (graphics and visual effects)
- MaxTrax (bumpers)
- My Scene Goes Hollywood
- My Scene: Jammin' in Jamaica
- My Scene: Masquerade Madness
- NFL Rush Zone (season 1 only)
- Norman's Corner
- Pee-wee's Playhouse (season 1 only)
- PollyWorld
- Sesame Street (Elmo's World segments; season 1 only)
- Sheep in the Big City
- Smoke Alarm
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (graphic display animation)
- Sunday Pants (Freshman Clowns shorts)
- Team Umizoomi
- Vandemonium Plus
- What A Cartoon! Show (2 shorts)List
- Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? (graphic design)
- Who's That Girl (main title animation)
- The Wrong Coast
