Since the close of Blue Sky Studios happened so quickly, Paste reached out to the creative team behind Ice Age: Scrat Tales-including Chris Wedge, Anthony Nisi and Michael Knapp-to get the full story of how this Scrat-focused entry, which was supposed to signify a new chapter for the company, became its coda.Ĭo-founded in 1987 by a collective of tech orphans after the shut down of MAGI, an early computer visual effects company that worked on Tron, Blue Sky Studios was conceived to be a turnkey operation that would produce creative visuals for their clients in-house, using their proprietary software CGI Studio.Īfter making a name for itself creating computer animation for clients like M&Ms and MTV, Blue Sky saw 20th Century Fox’s VFX company, VIFX, acquire a majority interest in 1997.
The six-short series is a bittersweet swan song for Blue Sky Studios, as it features Scrat, the tunnel-visioned, saber-toothed squirrel who opened their very first film, Ice Age, and now brings the creative entity to its close. Ironically, the last endeavor produced with its creatives under its own roof, Ice Age: Scrat Tales, premieres April 13, almost exactly a year later, on Disney+.
But its entire history came to an unexpected, grinding halt on April 10, 2021, when the studio’s new owner, The Walt Disney Company, closed Blue Sky forever. But for 34 years, Blue Sky Studios was also part of that vanguard of technology and creativity, operating as both a pioneer and an outlier in the computer animation world. The Ice Age franchise, however, won’t be ending anytime soon as The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild was released as a feature on Disney+ on March 25 and a sixth Ice Age film is reportedly in the works, though it is unclear if it will be part of the main story or another spin-off.When you think of the founding studios of modern CG animation, Pixar and DreamWorks Animation immediately come to mind.
How to make a whole generation weep in 35 seconds - Jillian Clare April 14, 2022īeautiful ending for a great movie licence which followed me during all my childhood - ArcheD6 April 13, 2022 Getting his acorn is such a beautiful way to say goodbye to - ?ℝ?? April 14, 2022 ? /uN4h4wVzvz - Blue Sky Studios April 7, 2021įollowing the farewell video posted nearly a year after the studio's closure, fans who grew up with the films took to Twitter to share their sentiments. With the news of Blue Sky’s closing, we send 34-years worth of gratitude and appreciation to our friends and fans throughout the world. On April 7, 2021, co-founder Chris Wedge announced on social media that Blue Sky Studios was shutting down permanently, thanking fans of the films and creators behind the studio.Ī letter from Blue Sky Co-Founder, Chris Wedge.
Many fans of the Ice Age films fondly remember the adventures of Manny the woolly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger, and the running gag of sidekick Scrat never being able to eat his acorn in peace.īlue Sky Studios was a computer animation company active from 1987 to 2021, most widely known for their animated feature films in the early 2000s to 2010s including Rio, Robots, Horton Hears a Who! and The Peanuts Movie.įollowing the Disney and 20th Century Fox merger in 2019, Blue Sky Studios remained under Disney Animation until the pandemic impacted their business negatively.