Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is an American animation production studio based in Glendale, California,[1] with a second studio in Glendale[2] and its sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in Seoul, South Korea.[3] The studio was founded in Van Nuys, Los Angeles by Gregg Vanzo in 1991.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hand-drawn animation Television production |
| Founded | March 20, 1991 in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Founder | Gregg Vanzo Nikki Vanzo |
| Headquarters | 615 Allen Avenue Glendale, California 91201, U.S. |
Key people |
|
| Divisions | Rough Draft Korea Rough Draft Feature Animation |
| Website | roughdraftstudios |
Rough Draft Studios and its divisions have produced specials, commercials and direct-to-video work for companies such as Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, 20th Television Animation, MTV Animation, Film Roman, Disney Television Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Studio.
Founding
editRough Draft Studios was founded in a Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California garage by Gregg and Nikki Vanzo. While working on The Ren & Stimpy Show, Nikki approached John Kricfalusi, creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, about taking the animation to Korea.[4] Nikki founded and runs Rough Draft Korea.[4]
Growth in business
editAfter working on The Ren & Stimpy Show, many other shows requested the assistance of Rough Draft Korea in animation and ink & paint. In 1992, Rough Draft Studios had produced animation for its first feature film, FernGully: The Last Rainforest. In the same year, the studio began producing animation for The Simpsons and then for Beavis and Butt-Head in 1993. Also in 1993, Gregg's brother Scott Vanzo was brought on board. Rough Draft Korea quickly built a strong portfolio in the animation business with shows like their first series produced outside of South Korea The Maxx in 1995, which was nominated for an Annie Award.[5] Claudia Katz, who had joined Rough Draft Studios in 1994 to produce The Maxx, and Rich Moore, joining in 1995 after having worked with Gregg on The Simpsons, completed the core of a Rough Draft Studios which would help "drive the cartoon boom of the late ‘90s".[6] It was also in 1995 that Rough Draft Studios moved to Glendale, California, where they enjoyed further success.
Technology
editRough Draft Studios is known for its blending of 2-D with computer animation, or non-photorealistic rendering which it first used on The Maxx and further utilized with Matt Groening's projects like Futurama, The Simpsons Movie, a few episodes of The Simpsons after the film and Disenchantment.
Filmography
editRough Draft Studios
editMost projects produced by Rough Draft Studios, Inc. in Glendale, California are also animated overseas by Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. in Seoul, South Korea.
TV series
edit| Show | Year(s) | Client | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | |||
| The Maxx | 1995 | MTV Animation | |
| Futurama | 1999–2003; 2008–2013; 2023–present[7] | The Curiosity Company 20th Television Animation[a] |
|
| 2000s | |||
| Baby Blues | 2000 | Warner Bros. Animation | 5 episodes |
| Star Wars: Clone Wars | 2003–2005 | Lucasfilm Cartoon Network Studios |
|
| Drawn Together | 2004–2007 | Double-Hemm Productions Comedy Partners |
|
| Korgoth of Barbaria | 2006 | Williams Street | TV pilot |
| Sit Down Shut Up! | 2009 | Adelaide Productions 20th Century Fox Television |
|
| 2010s | |||
| Good Vibes | 2011 | Rough House Pictures Warner Horizon Television MTV Production Development |
"Pilot"[8] |
| Napoleon Dynamite | 2012 | Hess Films Scully Productions 20th Century Fox Television |
|
| Full English | Two Brothers Pictures | ||
| Coffin Dodgers | 2013 | Williams Street | TV pilot |
| Clash-a-Rama | 2014–2018 | Tolerable Entertainment Supercell |
Web series |
| Tarantula | 2017 | Rough House Pictures Solid Brass Studio T |
|
| Disenchantment | 2018–2023 | The ULULU Company Netflix |
[9] |
| 2020s | |||
| Fired on Mars | 2023 | Pat & Mike Productions NN Productions |
[10] |
Films/specials
edit| Title | Year | Client | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | |||
| The Thief and the Cobbler | 1992 | The Completion Bond Company | ink-and-paint |
| RoboCop 3 | 1993 | Orion Pictures | "Johnny Rehab" commercial animation |
| 2000s | |||
| The Whizzard of Ow | 2003 | Warner Bros. Animation | theatrical short |
| Duck Dodgers: Attack of the Drones | 2004 | theatrical short produced in 2003 | |
| Futurama: Bender's Big Score | 2007 | The Curiosity Company 20th Century Fox Television[a] |
direct-to-video |
| Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs | 2008 | ||
| Futurama: Bender's Game | |||
| The Pink Panther 2 | 2009 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Columbia Pictures |
opening title sequence only |
| Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder | The Curiosity Company 20th Century Fox Television[a] |
direct-to-video | |
| 2010s | |||
| How Murray Saved Christmas | 2014 | Universal Television | TV special |
| 2020s | |||
| King Star King!/!/!/[11] | 2023 | Williams Street | TV special |
Other
edit- The Simpsons - "Deep, Deep Trouble" music video (overseas animation provided by Anivision)
- MADtv - Spy vs. Spy shorts
- 2003 Wendy's "Go Wild" and Sprint “Duck Naked” commercials starring the Looney Tunes characters, promoting Looney Tunes: Back in Action[8]
- 59th Primetime Emmy Awards - Brian and Stewie Griffin opening number[8]
- Gravity Falls - "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" (ShackTron CG animation)
- Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow
- DuckTales - "Moonvasion!" (additional animation)
Rough Draft Korea
editRough Draft Korea, RDS' sister studio based in Seoul, South Korea, has produced animation for the following series, features and specials:
TV series
editFilms/specials
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ "Studio Info". Rough Draft Studios. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
- ^ Spoke (2011-05-26). "Rough Draft Studios, Glendale, CA". Spoke. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
- ^ "ROUGH DRAFT KOREA CO., LTD. (82-2-571-4871) | South Korea Business Database". Kor.bizdirlib.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
- ^ a b Loos, Ted (November 10, 2002). "Commuting the Pacific, Unseating 'The Simpsons'". The New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
- ^ "Legacy: 23rd Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (1995)". International Animated Film Society. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
- ^ Driver, Dustin. "Rough Draft Studios: Drawing Inspiration". Apple. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (February 9, 2022). "Futurama Has a Bright Future with New Episodes on Hulu". Animation Magazine. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Studio Info". Rough Draft Studios. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
- ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (2018-05-23). "Netflix Sets 'Disenchantment' Premiere Date, Unveils First Look At Matt Groening Animated Series". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ^ "Studio Info - Rough Draft Studios".
- ^ "Adult Swim's Space-Age Heroes Return in 'King Star King!/!/!' & 'Ballmastrz: Rubicon'". 29 November 2022.
- ^ "Megna Co-productions Database (over 1000 listed titles!!)". Digilander.libero.it. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
- ^ Meyer, George (2004). The Simpsons Season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Homer the Heretic" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Furniss, Maureen (1999). Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics (Reprint ed.). London: John Libbey. ISBN 9781864620399. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ @VincentWaller72 (29 January 2014). "@Alphacino1018 It will be animated by..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.