20th Century Animation

Logo used as 20th Century Fox Animation.

In 1998, following the success of Anastasia, the division was renamed to Fox Animation Studios, refocusing on animated feature films, including stop-motion, mixed media and digital production. The division's live action films in development at the time included Marvel Comics' Silver Surfer, the disaster film spoof Disaster Area, Fantastic Voyage[4] and Goosebumps.[13] Ever After (1998), a Cinderella adaptation, was the division's last live action film.[4] At this time, there were several animated films on the company's development slate: Dark Town with Henry Selick, Chris Columbus and Sam Hamm, Santa Calls at Blue Sky, and Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Steve Oedekerk and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) projects. The Phoenix studio at the time was producing Planet Ice expected in 1999 and directed by Art Vitello and Anastasia producer/directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman's then soon to be announced project.[14] Chris Meledandri remained as the president of the division,[4][15] which was known by 1999 as 20th Century Fox Animation.[16] The only television series that the Phoenix studio produced was Adventures from the Book of Virtues, which was a co-production between Fox Animation Studios and PorchLight Entertainment; that series would air on PBS between 1996 and December 2000.[17][18]

20th Century Fox Animation vice president of physical production Chuck Richardson was sent in early December 1999 to Fox subsidiary Blue Sky Studios as general manager and senior vice president. Richardson was sent to prepare Blue Sky for feature animation production.[19]

The Phoenix studio, which kept the Fox Animation Studios name, laid off 2/3 of its employee workforce in February 2000 before its closure in late June of that year, ten days after Titan A.E. was released and six months before Adventures from the Book of Virtues aired its final episode. Fox Animation looked to produce films at Blue Sky and its Los Angeles headquarters.[20]

In January 2007, Meledandri left for Universal Pictures to set up Illumination there with Vanessa Morrison as his replacement while answering to newly appointed 20th Century Fox Film Group vice chairman Hutch Parker. Morrison moved from the live action division where she handled family-children fare as senior vice president of production.[21] Morrision was making deal with outside producers like she approved a Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox stop-motion adaptation.[22]

In September 2017, Locksmith Animation formed a multi-year production deal with 20th Century Fox, who will distribute Locksmith's films, with Locksmith aiming to release a film every 12-18 months. The deal was to bolster Blue Sky's output and replace the loss of distributing DreamWorks Animation films, which are now owned and distributed by Universal Pictures.[23]

On October 30, 2017, Morrison was named president of a newly created 20th Century Fox division, Fox Family, which as a mandate similar to this company when it was called Fox Family Films.[24] Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird were named co-president of Fox Animation the same day and would also have direct oversight of Blue Sky and oversee the Locksmith Animation deal and grow Fox Animation with other partnerships and producer deals.[25]

On October 18, 2018, it was announced that 20th Century Fox Animation would be added alongside 20th Century Fox to the Walt Disney Studios following their acquisition, with co-presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird retaining leadership while reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman, Alan Horn and Twentieth Century Fox vice chairman Emma Watts.[26]

On March 21, 2019, Disney announced that the 20th Century Fox Animation label (including Blue Sky Studios) would be integrated as new units within the Walt Disney Studios with Co-Presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird continuing to lead the studio reporting directly to Alan Horn.[27] Miloro step down as co-president in late July 2019.[28] In August 2019, Walt Disney Animation Studios head Andrew Millstein was named as co-president of Blue Sky for day-to-day operations alongside Baird, while Pixar Animation Studios president Jim Morris would also be taking a supervisory role over Millstein.[3] With the Disney take over, the Locksmith deal left 20th Century Fox for Warner Bros. in October 2019 except for the first and only film under the deal, Ron's Gone Wrong.[29]

On January 28, 2020, Disney dropped the "Fox" name from the two main film studio units acquired from 21st Century Fox, while there were no mention of changes to other lesser feature film units.[30]

• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)
• Dunston Checks In (1996)
• Home Alone 3 (1997)
• Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997)
• Ever After (1998), a Cinderella adaptation, was the division's last live action film[4]

From 1994–2000,[31][32] Fox operated Fox Animation Studios, a traditional animation studio which was started to compete with Walt Disney Animation Studios, which was experiencing great success with their releases of films such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The Fox studio, however, was not as successful. Their first feature Anastasia made nearly $140 million at the worldwide box office on a $53 million budget in 1997,[33] but their next feature, Titan A.E., was a large financial loss, losing $100 million for 20th Century Fox in 2000.[34] The lack of box office success, coupled with the rise of computer animation, led Fox to shut down the Fox Animation Studios.[32]

• Anastasia (1997)
• Bartok the Magnificent (1999) direct to video
• Titan A.E. (2000)[32]

Premiere of Blue Sky Studio's Rio at the Connecticut Science Center: Vanessa Morrison, 20th Century Fox Animation president;[35] Jim Gianopulos, Fox Entertainment Group chairman and CEO; Dannel Malloy, governor of Connecticut; Brian Keane, Blue Sky Studios COO;[35] and Chris Dodd, MPAA chairman.

Since 1997, Fox has owned Blue Sky Studios, a computer animation company known for the Ice Age franchise.[36] Fox has had much more success with this studio, and the box office receipts of their films are competitive with those of Pixar and DreamWorks Animation. On March 21, 2019, Blue Sky Studios was integrated as a separate unit within Walt Disney Studios, but they will still report to Fox Animation presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird.[37][38] They have released thirteen feature films, numerous short films and television specials. Major feature films include:

• FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue (1998) (co-production with Wild Brain and Wang Film Productions)[5]
• Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999) (co-production with DNA Productions, Flower Films and The Curiosity Company) [48]
• Monkeybone^[S] (2001) (co-production by 1492 Pictures)[4]
• Kung Pow: Enter the Fist^[S] (2002) (co-production by O Entertainment)[49]
• Isle of Dogs (2018) (co-production by Studio Babelsberg, Indian Paintbrush, and American Empirical Pictures; distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures)[50]
• The Call of the Wild^[S] (2020) (co-production with TSG Entertainment and 3 Arts Entertainment)[51]
• Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again (2021) (co-production with 21 Laps Entertainment, Alibaba Pictures and 1492 Pictures; distributed by Disney+)

^S Combines live-action with animation.