Reel FX Creative Studios is an American computer animation studio based in Dallas, Texas, Hollywood, California and Montreal. The studio develops and produces award-winning animated films, short form and theme park content. Its first original animated feature film, Free Birds, was released in 2013 and grossed over $110 million worldwide, despite receiving negative reviews. Its second film, The Book of Life was released in 2014 to widely positive reviews and received several nominations, including Best Animated Feature Nominations from the Golden Globe's, Critics’ Choice Awards, Producers Guild Awards and Annie Awards. Rumble will be the 3rd original film from Reel FX, in conjunction with Paramount Animation, and is slated to be released on January 29, 2021. The studio also does animation for other studios, including UglyDolls for STX Entertainment, and Scoob! for Warner Animation Group,
History
In March 2007, Reel FX acquired Radium, a California-based digital studio that was founded in 1996 by Jonathan Keeton and Simon Mowbray. As part of the acquisition, the studio re-branded itself in 2010 to Radium/Reel FX, and in February 2012 to Reel FX. Since 2007, Reel FX has been presenting the Texas Avery Animation Award, created by the studio to "celebrate career achievement in animation". The award, which is named after the Texas-born animator and cartoonist Tex Avery, is awarded each year at Dallas International Film Festival in a form of a bronze casting of Avery's Wolf character. On December 2010, it was announced that Reel FX produced an untitled 3D film with producer Andrew Adamson and Cirque du Soleil. In January 2012, it was announced by Paramount Pictures that it had acquired worldwide rights to the film, now titled directed by Adamson and executive-produced by James Cameron. In October 2012, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Reel FX's connection to the 2012 feature film, Rise of the Guardians. in 2013, all Reel FX's in-house feature films are released under its Reel FX Animation Studios banner. From 2009 to 2013, Reel FX completed its first original animated feature film Free Birds. Originally titled Turkeys and scheduled for the release of 2014, but it was pulled back to November 1, 2013. Jimmy Hayward directed the film, which tells a story about two turkeys who travel back in time to prevent their species from being the traditional Thanksgiving meal. In February 2012, the studio announced a new CG-animated film, The Book of Life, directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez and produced by Guillermo del Toro. It is described as a "Romeo and Juliet-style love story set against a Mexican Day of the Dead backdrop." In December 2012, it was reported that the studio has partnered with 20th Century Fox Animation to produce the film, and scheduled for October 3, 2014, but it was pushed back to October 17. Rumble'' is their next original film, slated with Paramount for a January 29, 2021 release, directed by Hamish Grieve.
