From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Former Canadian animation studio
Atkinson Film-Arts
was an
animation
studio based in
Ottawa
,
Ontario
, Canada. The company is best known for producing the first two
Care Bears
television specials
?
The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings
and
The Care Bears Battle the Freeze Machine
? and the four
syndicated
specials that inspired
The Raccoons
(as well as first-season episodes of the show itself). Atkinson also produced the Christmas specials
The Little Brown Burro
,
Tukiki and His Search for a Merry Christmas
and
The Trolls and the Christmas Express
and the 1986?87 series
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin
(with
DIC Entertainment
).
[1]
[2]
[3]
They also worked on the 1981 science fiction anthology movie
Heavy Metal
and
The Body Electric
, an animated movie featuring music composed by the Canadian rock band
Rush
.
[4]
History
[
edit
]
Vic Atkinson founded the company.
Atkinson was hospitalized after overseeing the production of two segments for
Heavy Metal
. He recovered and oversaw
The Christmas Raccoons
before leaving the company and selling his share to Bill Stevens. Atkinson did not like the direction the company was heading in and stated that "I won't produce garbage" while Stevens says he left over disagreements regarding growth and
financial risk
.
The Christmas Raccoons
cost $700,000,
The Raccoons on Ice
cost $850,000 and the episodes of
The Raccoons
cost up to $415,000.
F. R. Crawley
, who was $1.2 million in debt, sold his company to Stevens for $1.
Merilyn Read acquired the rights for
Babar the Elephant
and discussed creating a special with Atkinson-Crawley.
Babar and Father Christmas
was the one of the most expensive specials at the time, with a budget of $600,000.
Sheldon Wiseman
and
Kevin Gillis
formed
Hinton Animation Studios
, which recruited from Atkinson-Crawley's employment. In 1987, Stevens attempted to aid the financial ailing company by raising $6 million through a public offering under the name The Crawley Group, but the
stock market crashed
three days before his presentation. The company had $4 million in debt by 1988, and owed a large amount of unpaid wages causing more employees to join Hinton Animation.
Filmography
[
edit
]
Television specials
[
edit
]
Television series
[
edit
]
Direct-to-video films
[
edit
]
Feature films
[
edit
]
Short films
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Co-production with
|
1974
|
Santa
|
|
1974
|
Yesterday's Farm
|
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
of Canada
|
1975
|
Camp Roofless
|
Department of National Defence
|
1975
|
Amenita
|
Pyramid Films
|
1976
|
Let's Talk Business
|
Department of Regional Economic Expansion
|
1976
|
Propst[r]ike
|
Transport Canada
|
1977
|
Post and Beam Construction
(slide film)
|
Canadian Wood Council
Eastern Forest Products Laboratory
|
1980
|
Wood Construction
(slide film)
|
Canadian Wood Council
Eastern Forest Products Laboratory
|
1980s
|
Things That Go Bump: Client/Counselor Relationship and Other Things That Go Bump
|
Canadian Employment and Immigration Commission
|
1981
|
Groups That Work: Part One
|
Canadian Employment and Immigration Commission
Telescene Productions
|
1981
|
Groups That Work: Part Two
|
Canadian Employment and Immigration Commission
Telescene Productions
|
1983
|
A Piece of Sunshine
|
Ontario Hydro
|
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Works cited
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Active
companies
| |
---|
Defunct
companies
| |
---|
Related topics
| |
---|