Nintendo Animation

Current logo, first seen on The Legend of Zelda (2010)

***Nintendo Animation*** is a Japanese computer-animation studio based in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan. It was founded in 1998 during the restructuring from Nintendo Feature Animation. The studio also produced a spinoff television series, *Mario*, that aired in 2006 through Nicktoons. Its latest film is *Pikmin!*, which was released on April 8, 2022 by Netflix.

## History

### 1998-2004; Founding, first films and *Eternal Darkness*

Nintendo Animation was founded in 1998 after the closure of its predecessor, Nintendo Feature Animation. Its debut film, *The Revenge of Evil Peach*, was released on March 28, 2000 to positive reception. It was then followed by the 2002 film *Star Fox*, which both were released by 20th Century Studios.

### 2006-2009; *Mario* television series, *Donkey Kong*, *Star Fox* and *Metroid* film adaptations

> Featured articles: *Mario*, *Donkey Kong's Big Movie*, *Star Fox Commanders*, *Metroid: Blast*
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After the success of The Super Mario Movie, Nintendo Animation produced the highly popular *Mario* TV series. Shigeru Miyamoto served as a director and supervising producer, while Satoru Iwata served as a story writer and executive producer.

In 2007, Nintendo Animation released *Donkey Kong's Big Movie*, a computer-animated action-adventure musical film based on the video game franchise *Donkey Kong*. Produced on a production budget of $120 million and distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film was a box office bomb, grossing $183.6 million. Nintendo Animation would keep going, however.

In 2008 and 2009, Nintendo Animation produced and released two other films; *Star Fox Commanders*, a computer-animated action-fantasy drama film, and *Metroid: Blast*, a computer-animated action-adventure fantasy film. With each film produced on $115 million budgets, *Star Fox Commanders* grossed $596.2 million worldwide, while *Metroid: Blast* grossed $258 million worldwide. While *Star Fox Commanders* was a box office success, *Metroid: Blast* was a box office bomb. *Star Fox Commanders* was distributed by Columbia Pictures and *Metroid: Blast* was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

### 2011; *Super Mario Galaxy*, bankruptcy issues

In 2009, development on a Super Mario Galaxy movie was in the works. The film was produced on a budget higher than *The Super Mario Movie*, being $140 million. Being produced by Nickelodeon Movies and distributed again by Paramount Pictures, the film was theatrically released on January 8, 2011, and unfortunately did not perform well at the box office, earning $92 million, making it Nintendo's biggest box office bomb ever. However, it still garnered positive reviews from critics, with a 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But, due to the box office performance, Nintendo Animation lost $160 million in revenue.

### 2012-present; Resurrecting, Netflix deal and acquisition of brands

*Star Fox*, one of Nintendo's film products, was acquired as a half majority stake by Columbia Pictures, requiring the rights to *Star Fox: Commanders*, while 20th Century Studios still owned the rights to the main *Star Fox* franchise.

## Filmography

The following is a list of filmography by Nintendo Animation, unless mentioned elsewhere.