Rough Draft Studios, Inc. (RDS) is an animation production studio based in Glendale, California, United States, with a second studio in Glendale and its sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in Seoul, South Korea. Rough Draft Studios was founded in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California by Gregg Vanzo. The studio produces animation for film and television; including:The Simpsons Movie, Futurama, Great Britain's Full English, Napoleon Dynamite, Sit Down, Shut Up, Drawn Together, Baby Blues, The Maxx, Star Wars: Clone Wars, the Spy vs. Spy shorts on MADtv and others. The Korean studio does work on the aforementioned, as well as shows from other studios, such as The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants, Gravity Falls, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Beavis and Butt-head, Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Phineas and Ferb,
Founding
Rough Draft Studios was originally founded in a Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California garage by Gregg Vanzo and his wife Nikki Vanzo. While working on The Ren & Stimpy Show, Nikki Vanzo approached John Kricfalusi, creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, about taking the animation to Korea. In Korea, Nikki Vanzo founded and runs Rough Draft Korea.
Growth in business
After 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 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 The Maxx in 1995, which was nominated for an Annie Award. 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". It was also in 1995 that Rough Draft Studios moved to Glendale, California.
Technology
Rough 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 Futurama and The Simpsons Movie.
Filmography
Feature films
- RoboCop 3 (1993) - "Johnny Rehab" commercial animation
- Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996) - (co-production with Paramount Pictures, Geffen Pictures and MTV Films)
- The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002) - (co-production with Warner Bros. Pictures and Cartoon Network Studios)
- Duck Dodgers: Attack of the Drones (2003) - Warner Bros. theatrical short
- The Whizzard of Ow (2003) - Warner Bros. theatrical short
- The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) - (co-production with Paramount Pictures, United Plankton Pictures, and Nickelodeon Movies)
- Inside the CIA (2005) - An American Dad! theatrical short
- The Simpsons Movie (2007) - (co-production with 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Animation and Gracie Films, co-animation with Film Roman)
- Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007) - (co-production with 30th Century Fox Animation, The Curiosity Company, Comedy Central, and 30th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Direct-to-video)
- Futurama: Bender's Game (2008) - (co-production with 30th Century Fox Animation, The Curiosity Company, Comedy Central, and 30th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Direct-to-video)
- Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs - (2008) (co-production with 30th Century Fox Animation, The Curiosity Company, Comedy Central, and 30th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Direct-to-video)
- Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) - (co-production with 30th Century Fox Animation, The Curiosity Company, Comedy Central, and 30th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Direct-to-video)
- The Pink Panther 2 - Title sequences only
- The Longest Daycare - A Simpsons theatrical short
- The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water - (co-production with Paramount Animation, United Plankton Pictures, and Nickelodeon Movies; 2D hand-drawn animated sequences only)
TV series
- The Ren & Stimpy Show - Nickelodeon / Spümcø (Season 1-2) / Games Animation
- Beavis and Butt-head - MTV
- The Maxx - MTV
- Futurama - 30th Century Fox Television / 20th Century Fox Television / Comedy Central
- Baby Blues - Warner Bros. Animation
- Drawn Together - Comedy Partners/Comedy Central
- Star Wars: Clone Wars I & II - Cartoon Network Studios / Lucasfilm
- Sit Down Shut Up! - 20th Century Fox Television / Sony Pictures Television International
- Good Vibes (pilot) - MTV
- Napoleon Dynamite - 20th Century Fox Television
- Full English - Co-production with Squirrelman Prod for UK, Channel 4
Other
- Spy vs. Spy shorts on MADtv
- 2003 Wendy's "Go Wild" commercial starring the Looney Tunes characters, promoting Looney Tunes: Back in Action
- 59th Primetime Emmy Awards - Brian and Stewie Griffin opening number
Outsourced projects
References
External links
- Rough Draft Studios official website
- Rough Draft Korea official website (Korean)
