Disneytoon Studios

Disneytoon Studios was an American animation studio owned by the Walt Disney Company, responsible mainly for producing direct-to-video and occasionally theatrical films for Walt Disney Studios.
The studio had originally been formed at the former location of Walt Disney Television Animation Australia or Walt Disney Animation Australia, one of several Disney television animation satellite studios responsible for programs, such as Goof Troop, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Bonkers, Quack Pack, Darkwing Duck, Timon & Pumbaa, and Aladdin. Disneytoon Studios later became the main producer of the many Disney sequels and direct-to-video films (along with the theatrically released Return to Never Land, The Jungle Book 2, and Piglet's Big Movie).
The Australia studio was closed in October 2006; the pre- and post-production facilities at the main Disney lot in Burbank, California, USA remained in operation. The final years of DisneyToon Studios served as a division of Walt Disney Animation Studios and developed both theatrical and direct-to-video features based upon Disney Consumer Products franchises and television programs, as well as spin-offs and original properties.
The studio was shut down on June 28, 2018 due to further cutbacks within Walt Disney Animation Studios.
==History==
Walt Disney Animation Australia had worked on Disney television series since its opening in 1988. Originally subcontracting to Asian studios such as TMS Entertainment, Cuckoo's Nest Studios, and Wang Film Productions, Walt Disney Television Animation began setting up its own foreign satellite studios by the end of the 1980s. In addition to Walt Disney Animation Australia, the company set up Walt Disney Animation Japan and Walt Disney Animation France (formerly the Brizzi Brothers Studios) to work on Disney television programs. As with most American television animation, the main Television Animation department in California handled pre-production (writing, storyboarding, and layout), while the satellite studios handled the animation production.
The television studios' first feature production was 1990's DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, based upon the syndicated Disney TV show DuckTales. In 1994, the France studio was absorbed into Walt Disney Feature Animation as work began on a second Disney feature based on a TV show A Goofy Movie (derived from Goof Troop). At the same time, Disney began producing direct-to-video sequels of its Feature Animation productions, the first of which was the Aladdin sequel The Return of Jafar (also standing as a pilot to the Aladdin TV series). More DTV sequels followed due to the financial success in video sales including: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998), The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998), and Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002).
In 2003, the Australia studio became the main production hub of a new division known as Disneytoon Studios, exclusively dedicated to producing DTV sequels and spin-offs of Feature Animation productions. With the closings of the Disney studios in France, Florida and Japan by 2004, as well as the conversion of the main Feature Animation studio in California to all-computer animation production, Disneytoon Australia became the only in-house Disney animation studio still actively producing works using traditional animation. Some of the Disneytoon productions, including Return to Never Land (2002) and The Jungle Book 2 (2003), received wide theatrical releases rather than being issued only on home video. The Australian studio also provided additional animation on Home on the Range (2004).
On July 25, 2005, Disney announced that it was closing Disneytoon Studios Australia in October 2006, after 17 years of production, with its final feature being Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, which completed production in July 2006. The closing was attributed to the rising costs of animation production in Australia. Disneytoon Studios continued to produce its animated films (both traditional and computer-generated with the latter growing it's popularity at the time) after the closure by outsourcing to third party companies. These include Rough Draft Korea, Wang Film Productions, Kennedy Cartoons, Toon City and Sunwoo, among others.
On June 22, 2007, management of Disneytoon Studios was turned over to the control of Ed Catmull and Pixar founder John Lasseter under the banner of the recently reorganized and renamed Feature Animation studio, now called Walt Disney Animation Studios. As chief creative officer, Lasseter called for the cancellation of all future films in production or development at Disneytoon Studios that weren't connected to a Disney Consumer Products franchise. As a result, planned or in-progress sequels to Dumbo, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, Pinocchio, and The Aristocats were all cancelled, among other projects. A few days later, it was announced that Disneytoon would no longer produce future sequels to Disney animated films, but would instead focus on spin-offs and original films.
Following conflicts over the new direction for the division, as well as complications relating to the production of Tinker Bell (2008), the debut film of the Disney Fairies franchise, the previous president of Disneytoon, Sharon Morill, moved to a new position in the company.
In November 2017, Lasseter announced that he would be taking a six-month leave of absence after acknowledging what he called "missteps" in his behavior with employees in a memo addressed to the staff of Disneytoon Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Pixar. It is confirmed by The Washington Post and The Hollywood Reporter that the Pixar founder has a history of alleged sexual harassment towards employers. Shortly after it was announced that John Lasseter would leave Disney by the end of 2018, Disneytoon Studios had shut down.
==Films==
Films created by Disneytoon Studios include the following:
===Theatrical films===
Title 	Release date
DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp	August 3, 1990
A Goofy Movie 	April 7, 1995
The Tigger Movie 	February 11, 2000
Return to Never Land 	February 15, 2002
The Jungle Book 2 	February 14, 2003
Piglet's Big Movie 	March 21, 2003
Pooh's Heffalump Movie 	February 11, 2005
Planes 	August 9, 2013
Planes: Fire & Rescue 	July 18, 2014
===Direct-to-video films===
Title 	Release date
The Return of Jafar 	May 20, 1994
Aladdin and the King of Thieves 	August 13, 1996
Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin	August 5, 1997
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas 	November 11, 1997
Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World 	February 17, 1998
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World 	August 25, 1998
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride 	October 27, 1998
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas 	November 9, 1999
Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving 	November 9, 1999
An Extremely Goofy Movie 	February 29, 2000
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea 	September 19, 2000
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure 	Feburary 27, 2001
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True 	February 26, 2002
The Hunchback of Notre Dame II 	March 19, 2002
Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year 	November 12, 2002
101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure 	January 21, 2003
Atlantis: Milo's Return 	May 20, 2003
The Lion King 1½ 	February 10, 2004
Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo 	March 9, 2004
Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers 	August 17, 2004
Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas 	November 9, 2004
Mulan II 	February 1, 2005
Tarzan II 	June 14, 2005
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch 	August 30, 2005
Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie 	September 13, 2005
Kronk's New Groove 	December 13, 2005
Bambi II 	February 7, 2006
Brother Bear 2 	August 29, 2006
The Fox and the Hound 2 	December 12, 2006
Cinderella III: A Twist in Time 	February 6, 2007
Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams 	September 4, 2007
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning 	August 26, 2008
Tinker Bell 	October 28, 2008
Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure 	October 27, 2009
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue 	September 21, 2010
Secret of the Wings 	October 23, 2012
The Pirate Fairy 	April 1, 2014
Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast 	March 3, 2015
==Franchises==
Title 	Release date
Tinker Bell	2008–2015
Planes 	2013–2014
==Gallery==
Disney MovieToons logo.png|The original logo from 1990
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File:DisneyToon Studios logo.svg|Logo from 2003 to 2011
Picture 11970.png
DisneyToon New Logo.png
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==Trivia==
*While Disneytoon Studios only uses the G rating for its films, three of its films are actually rated PG, those being Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, Planes, and Planes: Fire & Rescue.
==References==
==See also==
*Disneytoon Studios Australia
*Walt Disney Animation Studios
*Disney Television Animation
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