Division | |
Industry | Motion pictures |
Founded | 1988 |
Headquarters | Disney Grand Central Creative Campus, Glendale, CA, US |
Key people
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|
Products | Animated films |
Owner |
Walt Disney Animation Studios (The Walt Disney Studios) |
Number of employees
|
44 (2014) |
Website | DisneyToon Studios |
DisneyToon Studios, originally Disney MovieToons and was also Disney Video Premieres, is an American animation studio which creates direct-to-video and occasional theatrical animated feature films. The studio is a division of Walt Disney Animation Studios, with both being part of The Walt Disney Studios itself a division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio has produced 47 feature films, beginning with DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990); its most recent is Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast (2015).
Disney MovieToons' first feature production was in 1990 with DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp with animation from Walt Disney Animation France.Disney Television Animation hired a director of specials, Sharon Morrill, in 1993.
Disney began producing direct-to-video sequels of Walt Disney Feature Animation films: the first of which was the Aladdin (1992) sequel The Return of Jafar (1994). When Aladdin was selected as a possible candidate as an animated TV series (before the film's release), as with many animated series, the first three episodes were one multi-part story which Disney used as a potential 'family movie special' for the Friday night before the series' premiere. With work handed out to both the Australian and Japanese animation units, the opening story was instead green lit for a direct-to-video release. Thus with The Return of Jafar and its success, the direct-to-video unit started. Then a second sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996), assign work to both the Australian and Japanese animation units.