A to Z of Animation Studios: Blue Sky Studios
(Or: How a Bunch of Ice Age Mammals Became More Relevant Than Most of Hollywood’s CGI)
Welcome back to Animation Anarchy, where we roast animation studios like they’re a Thanksgiving turkey, except this time, the turkey is probably voiced by John Leguizamo. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, it’s not too late to atone for your sins. Click that button before Scrat shows up at your house and steals your kneecaps.
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🔥 B is for Blue Sky Studios
Before Disney acquired them and sacrificed them on the altar of corporate greed, Blue Sky Studios was a scrappy little underdog that managed to turn a prehistoric squirrel into one of the most iconic characters of all time.
The Era of Ice Age Domination
Blue Sky was founded in 1987 and spent its early years doing visual effects for movies no one remembers. Then, in 2002, they dropped Ice Age, a movie about a grumpy mammoth, a sloth on something stronger than caffeine, and an apex predator with main character syndrome.
This film single-handedly made a neurotic acorn-obsessed squirrel more famous than some real-life celebrities. Scrat had better story arcs, more emotional depth, and more successful spin-offs than 90% of the live-action remakes Disney has inflicted upon us.
After Ice Age, Blue Sky Studios realized they could just keep milking this prehistoric cow for all it was worth. And boy, did they ever:
• Ice Age 2: The Meltdown – What if the first movie, but wetter?
• Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – Because science doesn’t matter when dinosaurs are involved.
• Ice Age 4: Continental Drift – At this point, the franchise had more Fast & Furious energy than educational value.
• Ice Age 5: Collision Course – An asteroid was about to destroy Earth and the best plan involved sloths.
Non-Ice Age Movies (Yes, They Exist!)
Believe it or not, Blue Sky actually made other movies. Some of them were even… good?
• Rio – A movie about a domesticated bird having an existential crisis in Brazil. Basically, Finding Nemo, but for birds. Had way too many sequels for a movie about a species going extinct.
• Epic – Not as epic as the title suggests, but hey, they tried. This movie somehow made leaves look cooler than most Marvel action sequences.
• Ferdinand – A bull that just wants to vibe. Somehow, one of the most wholesome movies they ever made.
• Spies in Disguise – Will Smith turns into a pigeon. This is not a joke, that’s literally the plot.
Then, in 2021, Disney bought Blue Sky, gutted it, and discarded it like a half-eaten burrito. Just like that, Scrat was orphaned, and Ice Age 6 was left in the hands of people who had no idea what they were doing.
Press F to pay respects.
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🎖 Honorable Mention: Big Idea Productions (VeggieTales and Their Descent into Chaos)
Now, let’s talk about a studio that took “Christian Animation” and turned it into a 30-year-long fever dream.
Big Idea Productions, the company behind VeggieTales, started out strong, bringing us a world where vegetables could talk, sing, and occasionally get crucified in metaphorical ways.
The Golden Age of Talking Vegetables
• Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato were the Christian Muppets we didn’t know we needed.
• Silly Songs with Larry was basically the original TikTok, if TikTok was run by Sunday School teachers.
• They somehow managed to make Bible stories engaging, despite starring a cast of literal vegetables.
Then, It All Fell Apart.
At some point, corporate greed and bad decisions turned this once-mighty produce kingdom into a salad of mediocrity.
• Big Idea went bankrupt in 2003. Turns out, making movies about God doesn’t protect you from financial ruin.
• Universal took over. That’s right—VeggieTales got minion-ified.
• The Netflix reboot happened. And we don’t talk about it. Ever.
• Bob and Larry lost their souls (and their original voices). The animation got weird, the writing got weird, and suddenly, our vegetable overlords were nothing more than soulless CGI husks.
VeggieTales wasn’t just a kids’ show. It was a cultural phenomenon. And then, just like Ice Age, it became a victim of the entertainment industry’s cold, dead hands.
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Next up in C, we either praise or destroy Cartoon Network, depending on how much nostalgia goggles are clouding my judgment.
(Spoiler: They’re clouding it a lot.) 🚀
