CinéGroupe
 | |
| Industry | Animation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1974 |
| Founder | Jacques Pettigrew |
| Headquarters | 1010 Rue Sainte-Catherine E, 6th floor, , |
Key people | Jacques Pettigrew (President, CEO) Michel Lemire (Creative Director) Christian Garcia (CGI Supervisor) |
| Owner | Jacques Pettigrew |
Number of employees | 400 (2005) |
| Parent | Lions Gate Entertainment (1998–2002, minority stake) |
CinéGroupe is a Canadian animation studio and film production studio based in Montreal, Quebec. The company was founded in 1974.[1] Its shows and films have been seen in over 125 countries.[1]
Notable franchises from CinéGroupe include: What's with Andy?, The Kids from Room 402, and Pig City (all aired on Fox Family, now known as Freeform); the animated Tripping the Rift (Sci Fi, now known as Syfy); and PBS' Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat. With Sony Wonder, it has produced Mega Babies (also aired on Fox Family), as well as a direct-to-video feature, Lion of Oz (a prequel to both the L. Frank Baum work, and the 1939 movie). In the 2000s, the company produced the animation for a sequel to the 1981 cult classic Heavy Metal for Columbia TriStar Home Video titled Heavy Metal 2000,[2] premiered on Starz in the United States and on Teletoon in Canada from 2001 onwards. In 2004, it made Pinocchio 3000, a sci-fi retelling of the Italian tale.[3] Galidor, a live-action fantasy series for teenagers, has also been produced by the company. The company also cooperated with the toy maker MGA Entertainment in the creation of Bratz: Starrin' and Stylin', a 2D-animated direct-to-video film based on MGA's Bratz line of fashion dolls.
History
[edit]CinéGroupe was founded in 1974 by Jacques Pettigrew.
In August 1998, it was announced that Fox Family Worldwide would purchase a 20% minority stake in the company although CinéGroupe would still be a subsidiary of Lions Gate Entertainment, which owned 40% of the studio.[4][5]
In January 2001, the studio formed a production and distribution joint-venture with Telescene, with the first production under it being the third series of Big Wolf on Campus. CinéGroupe would hold an 80% stake while Telescene would hold 20%.[6] In July 2001, Lions Gate's ownership of the studio was confirmed to have been reduced to 30%, with Lions Gate president Andre Link having 50% of its voting stock, leading to the studio being a partner of Lions Gate instead of a subsidiary.[7] In September 2001, the company formed a division called CinéGroupe Image to expand to live-action programming.[8]
In October 2002, the company united with the music label Les Disques Star Records Inc. to create a home video distributor called CinéGroupe Star.[9] In November 2002, the company announced that it would produce a Britney Spears cartoon;[10] the project never came to fruition.
By December 2003, Lions Gate Entertainment's stake in the studio was reduced further to 29.4%.[11]
In January 2004, the CinéGroupe Star joint venture with Star Records was folded.[citation needed] The same month, in the wake of production cuts, the studio filed for a protection order from its creditors with the Quebec Superior Court.[12]
In 2018, CinéGroupe co-produced Tshakapesh, a 2D-animated series based on an Innu legend, which has aired on APTN and Radio-Canada. Two edutainment IPs are currently being developed by CinéGroupe, aiming at raising awareness about water preservation and environmental protection. CinéGroupe is also viewing revivals and revitalization of their old properties.[13]
Library
[edit]Distribution
[edit]CinéGroupe is currently partnered with HG Distribution (Henry Gagnon Distribution) for the distribution of its library.[14] However, only a portion of CinéGroupe's catalogue is listed for distribution by HG. Several notable titles such as Bad Dog, Daft Planet, and The Tofus are not listed,[15] as are live-action series, such as Big Wolf on Campus.[16]
Series
[edit]| Title | Year(s) | Co-production(s) | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra 7 | 1985 | CINAR Films, Turner Program Services | TNT | Production services |
| Ovide and the Gang | 1987–89 | Odec Kid Cartoons | Télévision de Radio-Canada | |
| Sharky & George | 1990–92 | Label 35, Les Films de la Perrine | Canal+ (France) Canal Famille (Canada) |
|
| The Little Flying Bears | 1990–91 | Zagreb Film | Family Channel/Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) HRT (Croatia) |
|
| Zoe and Charlie | 1993 | Tele Images | ||
| Spirou | 1993–95 | Dupuis | Family Channel/Canal Famille (Canada) Canal J/TF1 (France) |
|
| Sea Dogs: Adventures on the Seven Seas | 1995 | Les Films de la Perrine | Family Channel (Canada) France 2 (France) |
|
| The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo | 1996 | Tele Images, Ares Films, Hearst Entertainment | Family Channel/Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) France 3 (France) |
|
| Princess Sissi | 1997–98 | Saban International Paris | Rai Uno (Italy) France 3 (France) Das Erste (Germany) Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) |
|
| The Secret World of Santa Claus | 1997 | Marathon Productions | France 3 (France) Télé-Québec (Canada) |
|
| Kit and Kaboodle | 1998 | Les Productions Raggamuffins, MC Producciones | Télévision de Radio-Canada | |
| Team SOS | 1998 | Les Films de la Perrine | Télé-Québec | |
| Bad Dog | 1998–2000 | Saban Entertainment | Teletoon (Canada) Fox Family (US) |
|
| Mega Babies | 1999–2000 | Landmark Entertainment Group, Sony Wonder Television | Teletoon (Canada) Fox Family (US) |
|
| The Kids from Room 402 | 1999–2001 | Saban Entertainment | Teletoon (Canada) Fox Family (US) |
|
| Jim Button | 1999–2000 | Saban International Paris | Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) TF1 (France) Der Kinderkanal (Germany) |
|
| Wunschpunsch | 2000–01 | Saban International Paris | Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) TF1 (France) |
|
| Big Wolf on Campus | 2001–02 | Saban Entertainment | YTV/Vrak.TV (Canada) ABC Family (US) |
season 3 |
| What's with Andy? | 2001–07 | Saban Entertainment (season 1), SIP Animation (season 2) | Teletoon (Canada) ABC Family (US; season 1) Super RTL (Germany; seasons 2–3) |
[17][18] |
| Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat | 2001–02 | Sesame Workshop | PBS Kids (US) TVOKids/Knowledge Network/Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) |
|
| The Ripping Friends | 2001–02 | Spümcø, Cambium, Animagic | Fox Kids (US) Teletoon (Canada) |
Distributor |
| Edward | 2002–03 | Teletoon | ||
| Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension | 2002 | Tom Lynch Company, The Lego Group | YTV (Canada) Fox Kids (US) |
|
| Pig City | 2002–04 | AnimaKids, Red Rover Studios | Teletoon (Canada) Fox Kids Europe ProSieben (Germany) |
|
| Daft Planet | 2002 | Teletoon | ||
| Seriously Weird | 2002 | Granada Kids | YTV (Canada) CITV (UK) |
|
| Tripping the Rift | 2004–07 | Film Roman | Sci Fi (US) Space/Teletoon (Canada) |
|
| 11 Somerset | 2004 | Télé-Québec | ||
| The Tofus | 2004–05 | SIP Animation | Jetix France 3 (France) Teletoon (Canada) |
|
| Charlie Jade | 2005 | Space | ||
| Tshakapesh | 2020 | APTN | [13] | |
| Splish Splash | TBA | [13] | ||
| Sharky & George reboot | [13] |
Films
[edit]| Title | Release date | Co-production(s) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jean-du-Sud autour du monde | 1983 | ||
| Just a Game | May 22, 1983 | Astral Films (distributor) | |
| Heavy Metal 2000 | July 10, 2000 | Columbia Tristar Home Video (distributor) | |
| Lion of Oz | September 26, 2000 | Sony Wonder (distributor) | |
| Edge of Madness | January 1, 2002 | Credo Entertainment, Gregorian Films, Lions Gate Films (distributor) | |
| Pinocchio 3000 | February 9, 2004 | Filmax, AnimaKids, Christal Films (distributor) | |
| Bratz: Starrin' & Stylin' | August 3, 2004 | MGA Entertainment, Toon City Animation, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (distributor) |
TV specials
[edit]- David Copperfield (1993)
- Eye of the Wolf (1998)
Video games
[edit]In 2002 and 2003, CinéGroupe developed three video games for the Game Boy Advance.[19]
- Tom and Jerry in Infurnal Escape (2002, published by NewKidCo)
- Dora the Explorer: The Search for Pirate Pig's Treasure (2002, published by NewKidCo)
- Dora the Explorer: Super Spies (2003, published by Gotham Games)
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Company information for CinéGroupe". Telefilm Canada. 2004. Archived from the original on 2005-04-17.
- ^ Nesselson, Lisa (May 30, 2000). "Heavy Metal 2000". Variety.
- ^ "sous_section_filmo". 15 October 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007.
- ^ "Fox into Ciné-Groupe".
- ^ Tillson, Tamsen (2000-07-17). "Lions Gate takes bite out of loss". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ Kelly, Brendan (2001-01-31). "Telescene inks with CineGroupe". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ "Quebec grants $9.1m to Lions Gate partner".
- ^ "CinéGroupe Image takes on a live-action production mantle".
- ^ "CINEGROUP". 12 October 2002. Archived from the original on 12 October 2002.
- ^ "Lions Gate snags Britney".
- ^ http://www.curran-connors.com/localversions/online-ar/lg2004/LGF_2004_ARPDF.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "CineGroupe files for credit protection".
- ^ a b c d "MIPCOM 2018 directory of exhibitors" (PDF). SODEC.
- ^ "Series".
- ^ "sous_section_filmo". 10 October 2007. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007.
- ^ "sous_section_filmo". 15 October 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007.
- ^ "Casablanca Media Publishing - Search Results". Casablancamediapublishing.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- ^ "TELETOON: New Shows: Braceface". August 14, 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-08-14.
- ^ "CineGroupe signs on with kids' game developer".
