Jellyfish Pictures, who produced the animation for Dog Man, Star Wars and more, goes out of business in the UK. More here.
In a year where box office returns have been on the disappointing side, one highlight has been the DreamWorks animated movie Dog Man. Off a budget of $40m, the film has returned $129m worldwide to date, and it’s just had its physical media release confirmed in the UK as well. Don’t be surprised if sequels are ordered.
However, for the company that produced the animation for the movie, it’s a bittersweet success. DreamWorks is now outsourcing its animation work across its films, and UK-based Jellyfish Pictures has been going since 2001. It’s worked on movies such as The Bad Guys, The Boss Baby: Family Business and more, as well as doing visual effects work on Star Wars productions.
And yet you know where this story is heading. Earlier in the month, Jellyfish Pictures announced that it was putting itself on the block as it looked for sale and investment. This week comes the news that 69 staff are being laid off, with a handful left to oversee the winding up of the company.
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Jellyfish Pictures wasn’t working on low-key productions, either. The success of Dog Man means it did the animation work on what is currently the third highest grossing film of the year to date.
As reported by Cartoon Brew, Jellyfish’s administrators have said that “sadly, this is the latest in a series of insolvencies across the animation and visual effects industry as studios up and down the country continue to battle fierce economic headwinds.”
Assets are now up for sale, and it looks like there’s no way back at all for the company. The blame has been put down to the “long-tail impact of Covid, coupled with rising costs and the fall-out from the writer and actor strikes.”
It’s a grim story when even the successful companies can’t stay in business. Sending our very best to the Jellyfish team, and a hope that they land on their feet, fast.
