Film Roman

Film Roman, LLC is an American animation studio currently based in Woodland Hills, California and formerly in Burbank. It was previously independent, and later bought by News Corporation (now Microsoft Entertainment Group). Founded by veteran animator and director Phil Roman on October 26, 1984, it is best known for providing animation for the Garfield primetime specials, based on Jim Davis' comic strip of the same name. The studio also produced the animated series The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy, and ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks for 20th Century Fox (Paramount Pictures), Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and Eloise: The Animated Series for Disney, Sonic The Hedgehog: Animated, Dan Vs, and The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants for Nickelodeon and Slacker Cats for MTV.
==History==
===Background===
Phil Roman, veteran alumnus of MGM Animation/Visual Arts and Bill Melendez Productions, founded Film Roman on October 26, 1984 as a means to continue the production of the Garfield television specials, since Melendez's own studio was unable to work on both the Peanuts and Garfield specials. Peanuts executive producers Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez and their aforementioned studio had produced the first two Garfield specials, but due to both Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz' and Garfield creator Jim Davis' concerns about conflicting interests in allocating production priority at Melendez's boutique studio, the production had to be moved. While he was leaving him and Melendez for his already-established studio, Roman was offered the opportunity to produce the next Garfield prime time special, Garfield in the Rough (1984), for CBS by Mendelson, which he accepted and went on to produce and direct all by himself, winning an Emmy in the process.
===Formation===
In 1985, CBS' head of children's programming Judy Price had commissioned an animated television series based on the Garfield prime time special series, later ultimately titled Garfield and Friends, which took three years for Roman to decide developing and producing the program before it eventually aired on the network's Saturday morning time slot, premiering on September 17, 1988. The aforementioned show was Film Roman's first regular series. In 1986, in an effort to expand and diversify the studio, Roman hired Marvel Productions VP of Business Affairs and his own personal attorney, Michael Wahl, as President and Bill Schultz, Marvel's Director of Development, to join in the company as the fledgling studio's VP of Production and Development. Garfield and Friends was expanded to an hour on CBS' number one rated Saturday Morning block and the studio grew to increase its capacity.
In 1988, the new management team developed, sold and produced a new series, Bobby's World, to CBS. From 1992 to 2016, Film Roman took over the source production of 20th Century Fox's The Simpsons from Klasky-Csupo who had produced the one-minute teaser cartoon shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show as well as the animation for the first three seasons and the first two episodes of the fourth season (in total 61 episodes). The studio went on to grow and produce many popular animated series now seen all around the world.
===Microsoft Entertainment Group ownership===
In 1994, Film Roman was acquired by Viacom (now Microsoft Entertainment Group)
===Location===
The original studio was located on Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, California, where Roman was also joined by Melendez producer Lee Mendelson. Years later, the studio moved to a new location on Chandler Blvd. in Studio City, before settling into its present location at Microsoft Plaza on Hollywood Way in Burbank, which it shared with Paramount Animation, Hub Network and Hasbro Studios.
==Television series==
Show 	Creator(s) 	Year(s) 	Co-production(s) 	Notes
Garfield and Friends 	Jim Davis 	1988–1994	United Media (Season 1)
United Media/Mendelson (Seasons 2–3)
United Media/Lee Mendelson Productions (Seasons 4–6)
Lee Mendelson Productions (Season 7)
Paws, Inc.
Fox Children's Productions	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Bobby's World 	Howie Mandel 	1990–1998	Alevy Productions
Fox Children's Productions	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Zazoo U 	Shane DeRolf 	1990–1991	Fox Children's Productions 	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Mother Goose and Grimm 	Mike Peters 	1991–1993	King Features Syndicate
Grimmy, Inc.
Lee Mendelson Productions
Paramount Television Animation	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog 	 	1993-1995	Sega Studios 	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Animated Classic Showcase 	 	1993–1994	Soyuzmultfilm 	
Cro 	Mark Zaslove 	1993–1994	Children's Television Workshop
Warner Bros Television Animation	Currently distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
Mighty Max 	Mark Zaslove
Rob Hudnut	1993–1994	 	
The Baby Huey Show 	Bob Jaques 	1995 	DreamWorks Television Animation	Season 2 only
Currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution
The Mask: Animated Series 	Duane Capizzi 	1995–1997	New Line Television
Cartoon Network Studios	
The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat 	Pat Sullivan
Otto Messmer	1995–1997	DreamWorks Television Animation	Currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution
C Bear and Jamal 	Earl Richey Jones
Todd R. Jones	1996–1997	 	
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm	Sean Catherine Derek	1996 	Warner Bros. Television Animation
Midway	Currently distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
Richie Rich 	Timothy Williams 	1996 	DreamWorks Television Animation	Currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Bruno the Kid 	Joel Madison 	1996–1997	 	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Sonic The Hedgehog 	 	1996-1996	Sega Studios 	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Sonic Underground 	 	1999-2000	Nelvana
Alphanim
Sega Studios 	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Free For All 	Brett Merhar 	2003 	MTV Entertainment Group 	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Sonic The Hedgehog: Animated 	Yuji Naka (original characters)
----(d): Sam Register, Matt Youngberg and Derrick J. Wyatt	2006-2014	Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Sega Animation	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Eloise: The Animated Series 	Kay Thompson
Hilary Knight	2006 	Anchor Bay Entertainment
HandMade Films	Currently owned by Disney Media Disturbution
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! 	Bob Boyle 	2006-2010	Lionsgate Television Animation
Walt Disney Television Animation	Currently owned by Disney Media Disturbution
Slacker Cats 	Andy Riley
Kevin Cecil	2007–2009	MTV Animation 	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Dan Vs. 	Dan Mendel
Chris Pearson	2011–2013	The Hatchery
Nickelodeon Animation Studios	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants 	Dav Pilkey (original characters)
----(d): Peter Hastings	2018-2020	Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Scholastic Entertainment	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow 	Tom Tomorrow 	TBA 	 	Currently owned by Microsoft Media Ventures
Heathcliff 	 	TBA 	 	
The Untamed 	 	TBA 	 	
===Subcontracted from others:===
====for 20th Century Fox Television/Animation:====
Show 	Creator(s) 	Year(s) 	Notes
The Simpsons 	Matt Groening 	1992–2016 	Seasons 4–27 only
King of the Hill 	Mike Judge 	1997–2010 	
Family Guy 	Seth MacFarlane	1999–2000 	Seasons 1–2 only
ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks	Janice Karman 	2015-Present	
====for Marvel Animation:====
Show 	Creator(s) 	Year(s) 	Notes
X-Men: Evolution 	Marty Isenberg
Robert N. Skir
David Wise	2000–2003	Currently distributed by Disney Media Distribution
The Super Hero Squad Show 	Stan Lee 	2009–2011	Currently distributed by Disney Media Distribution
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes	Ciro Nieli
Joshua Fine
Christopher Yost	2010–2012	Currently distributed by Disney Media Distribution
Ultimate Spider-Man 	Marvel Animation	2012–2017	Currently distributed by Disney Media Distribution
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. 	Paul Dini
Henry Gilroy
Marvel Animation	2014–2015	Currently distributed by Disney Media Distribution
====with other studios====
*Klutter (1995–1996) (as part of Eek! Stravaganza)
*The Critic (1994–1995)
*Mission Hill (1999–2002)
*The Man Show (1999–2002) (animation)
*The Oblongs (2001–2002)
*Law & Order (2006) (visual effects)
*The Goode Family (2009)
*Beavis and Butt-Head (2011)
Puppet/CGI shows:
*The Mr. Potato Head Show (1998)
*Tripping the Rift (2004–2007)
==Television specials==
===Garfield specials===
*Garfield in the Rough (1984, the studio's inaugural production)
*Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1985)
*Garfield in Paradise (1986)
*Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987)
*A Garfield Christmas (1987)
*Happy Birthday, Garfield (1988)
*Garfield: His 9 Lives (1988)
*Garfield's Babes and Bullets (1989)
*Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989)
*Garfield's Feline Fantasies (1990)
*Garfield Gets a Life (1991)
===Other specials===
*The Pink Panther (1989) (unreleased live-action/animated pilot)
*Nick & Noel (1993)
*A Cool Like That Christmas (1994)
*The Bears Who Saved Christmas (1994)
*Izzy's Quest for Olympic Gold (1995)
*The Story of Santa Claus (1996) (co-production with Arnold Sharpio and CBS Productions)
*Sonic Christmas Blast (1996) (co-production with Sega, Nelvana and CBS Productions)
*The Magic Pearl (1997)
*Puss in Boots (1997)
*Super Bowl XXXIII (1999) (The Simpsons short)
*Johnny Tsunami (1999) (live-action)
*Hairballs (2000) (Unsold TV series pilot created by Mr. Lawrence)
*Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000)
*Motocrossed (2001) (live-action)
*The Santa Claus Brothers (2001)
*A Miles Prower Christmas (2012) (co-production with Paramount Home Entertainment and Sega Animation)
==Films==
===Direct-to-video===
*The Happy Elf (2005, co-production with IDT Entertainment)(TV)
*Weebles: Welcome to Weebleville! (2005)(CGI)
*Weebles: Sharing in the Fun! (2005) (CGI)
*Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006)
*Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007)
*Turok: Son of Stone (2008, co-production with Classic Media and Starz Media)
*Tripping The Rift: The Movie (2008, co-production with CinéGroupe)
*Wubbzy's Big Movie! (2008, co-production with Bolder Media, Lionsgate Television and Walt Disney Television Animation)
*Dead Space: Downfall (2008, co-production with Electronic Arts and Anchor Bay Entertainment)
*Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: Wubb Idol (2009, co-production with Bolder Media, Lionsgate Television and Walt Disney Television Animation)
*The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) (Planned for theatrical release)
*Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic "Prologue", "The Arrival", "Entry to Hell" (2010, co-production with Electronic Arts and Anchor Bay Entertainment)
*Dead Space: Aftermath (2011, co-production with Electronic Arts)
===Theatrical features===
*Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992, co-production with Turner Entertainment Co., distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
*My First Mister (2001) (co-produced with Total Film Group; distributed by Paramount Classics)
*The Simpsons Movie (2007, produced by 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Animation and Gracie Films, co-animated with Rough Draft Studios, AKOM, Rough Draft Korea and Rough Draft Feature Animation)
*Tails: A Sonic Movie (2012, produced by Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation and Gracie Films, co-animated with Rough Draft Studios, Rough Draft Korea and Rough Draft Feature Animation)
====Cancelled films====
*Untitled Camp WWE film
*Garfield's Judgment Day
==Special effects for other films==
*Second Time Around (2002)
*Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)
*Daredevil (2003)
*The Fallen Ones (2003)
*I, Robot (2004)
*Demon Hunter (2005)
*All Souls Day (2005)
*What's the Meaning of Love (2005)
*Voodoo Moon (2006)
*Slayer (2006)
*Jackass Number Two (2006)
*The Thirst (2006)
*Haunted Prison (2006)
*Sands of Oblivion (2007)
*Rush Hour 3 (2007) (trailer)
*Illegal Tender (2007)
*Hairspray (2007) (trailer)
*The Great Buck Howard (2008)
*Sex and the City (2008) (trailer)
*Speed Racer (2008)
*Secrets of the Furious Five (2008)
==Miscellaneous==
*Get in Line (Barenaked Ladies music video)
*Frijolero (Molotov music video)
*The Simpsons Game (2007, produced by Activision) (cutscenes only)
*The Simpsons Ride (2008, amusement simulator ride film produced for the attraction of the same name at Paramount Orlando Resort, Paramount Studios Hollywood and Paramount Tokyo Joypolis)
*The Simpsons: Tapped Out (2012, freemium mobile game produced for Fox Digital Entertainment and Activision) (cutscenes only)
===Commercials===
*Alpo
*Ask Jeeves (2000) (five-minute branding reel)
*Burger King (2001–2003)
*Butterfinger (1992–1994, 1998–2001, 2007)
*CC's (1998)
*C.C. Lemon (2000–2002)
*Embassy Suites Hotel
*Expedia (2003)
*Garfield Fruit Snacks
*General Foods
*Honey Nut Cheerios (1993) (Garfield ad only)
*Matchbox (2002) (CGI sales presentation animated by Forum Visual Effects)
*Microsoft (2003)
*Mirinda (2005–2006, 2008)
*Partnership for a Drug-Free America (2002)
*RC Cola (1999)
*SeaWorld (1998)
*SHO Too (2002)
*Toyota (1992–1993)
*Trix (1991)
==Web series==
*Charlie's Angels: Animated Adventures (2003)
*Camp WWE (2016–present)
Category:Companies
Category:Microsoft