Film Roman

Film Roman, LLC

Company type	Subsidiary of Waterman Entertainment
Industry	Animation, motion pictures, television
Founded	1984 (1984)
Founder	Phil Roman
Headquarters	Woodland Hills, California, United States
Key people	Steve Waterman (CEO) Phil Roman (chairman emeritus) Dana Booton (president of production)
Parent	Waterman Entertainment
Divisions	Film Roman Baja J.V. Phil Roman Entertainment

Film Roman's former headquarters in Burbank

Film Roman is an American animation studio owned by Waterman Entertainment, the production company of producer Steve Waterman. Founded by veteran animator and director Phil Roman in 1984, it is best known for producing source animation for series such as The Simpsons (1992–2016), King of the Hill and Family Guy for 20th Century Fox Animation, as well as Garfield and Friends and various Garfield animated television specials.

History

Beginning

Phil Roman, veteran alumnus of MGM Animation/Visual Arts and Bill Melendez Productions, founded Film Roman in 1984 as a means to continue the production of the Garfield series of animated prime time television specials, since Melendez's own studio was unable to work on both the Garfield and Peanuts series of specials. Peanuts executive producers Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez and their aforementioned studio had produced the first two Garfield specials (Here Comes Garfield (1982) and Garfield on the Town (1983) respectively, both specials directed by Roman), but due to both Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz' and Garfield creator Jim Davis' concerns about conflicting interests in allocating production priority at Melendez's boutique studio, the production had to be moved. While he was leaving him and Melendez for his already-established studio, Roman was offered the opportunity to produce the next Garfield prime time special, Garfield in the Rough (1984), for CBS by Mendelson, which he accepted and went on to produce and direct all by himself, winning an Emmy in the process.

Formation

In 1985, CBS' head of children's programming Judy Price had commissioned an animated television series based on the Garfield prime time special series, later ultimately titled Garfield and Friends, which took three years for Roman to decide developing and producing the program before it eventually aired on the network's Saturday morning time slot, premiering on September 17, 1988. The aforementioned show was Film Roman's first regular series. In 1986, in an effort to expand and diversify the studio, Roman hired Marvel Productions VP of Business Affairs and his own personal attorney, Michael Wahl, as President and Bill Schultz, Marvel's Director of Development, to join in the company as the fledgling studio's VP of Production and Development. Garfield and Friends was expanded to an hour on CBS' number one rated Saturday Morning block and the studio grew to increase its capacity.

In 1988, the new management team developed, sold and produced a new series, Bobby's World, to the brand new Fox Kids Network, headed up by former Marvel Productions president Margaret Loesch. In 1992 to 2016, Film Roman took over the source production of 20th Century Fox's The Simpsons from Klasky-Csupo who had produced the one-minute teaser cartoon shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show as well as the animation for the first three seasons and the first two episodes of the fourth season (in total 61 episodes). The studio went on to grow and produce many popular animated series now seen all around the world.

Waterman Entertainment ownership

In 2015, Film Roman was acquired from its parent company Starz Distribution by Waterman Entertainment, the production company of executive producer Steve Waterman. As such, it now does business with Starz, which owns the company's catalogue.

On November 22, 2016, the company formed a joint venture based in Tijuana, called Film Roman Baja J.V. (also known as Film Roman Baja Productions), with Boxel Studios, a Baja California-based animation facility.

Location

The original studio was located on Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, California, where Roman was also joined by Melendez producer Lee Mendelson. Years later, the studio moved to a new location on Chandler Blvd. in Studio City, before settling into another location at Starz Plaza on Hollywood Way in Burbank, which it shares with the former Hub Network and Hasbro Studios, and finally settling into its present location in Woodland Hills.

Television series

Title	Premiere date	End date	Production partners	Network	Notes
Garfield and Friends	September 17, 1988	December 10, 1994	United Media (season 1) United Media\Mendelson (seasons 2-3) United Media\Lee Mendelson Productions (seasons 4-6) Lee Mendelson Productions (season 7) Paws, Inc.	CBS	Based on the Garfield comic strips by Jim Davis
The Simpsons	December 17, 1988	present	Klasky Csupo (seasons 1-3; animation) Gracie Films 20th Century Fox Television The Curiosity Company (2015-present; uncredited) Fox Television Animation (2016-present; animation)	FOX	Animation for seasons 4-27 (1992-2016) only
Bobby's World	September 8, 1990	February 23, 1998	Alevy Productions 20th Century Fox Television	FOX
Zazoo U	September 8, 1990	January 19, 1991	Fox Children's Productions	FOX
Animated Classic Showcase	1993	1994		N/A
Beavis and Butt-Head	March 8, 1993	December 29, 2011	J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc. (season 1) Tenth Annual Industries (seasons 2-7) Ternion Pictures (season 8) MTV Animation Inbred Jed's Homemade Cartoons (pilot) Judgemental Films MTV Production Development	MTV	Animation for season 8 (2011) only
Cro	September 18, 1993	October 22, 1994	Children's Television Workshop	ABC (U.S. TV channel)
Mighty Max	September 12, 1993	December 2, 1994		Syndication
The Critic	January 26, 1994	September 2001	Gracie Films Columbia Pictures Television Sony Pictures Digital (2000-2001; webisodes) Unbound Studios(2000-2001; webisodes)	ABC (U.S. TV channel) (1994) FOX (1995) AtomFilms/Shockwave (2000-2001)	Animation only
The Baby Huey Show	September 17, 1994	December 9, 1995	Carbunkle Cartoons (season 1) Harvey Entertainment	Syndication UPN Kids	Based on the characters created by Martin Taras; season 2 (1995) only
The Mask: Animated Series	August 12, 1995	August 30, 1997	Dark Horse Entertainment Sunbow Entertainment New Line Television	CBS	Based on the Dark Horse Comics comic book character and 1994 film of the same name
Klutter	September 9, 1995	February 8, 1996	Nelvana Savage Studios Fox Children's Productions	FOX	Aired as part of Eek! Staravaganza's fourth season
The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat	September 16, 1995	November 2, 1997	Felix the Cat Productions	CBS	Based on the characters created by Pat Sullivan and Otto Mesmer
C Bear and Jamal	February 3, 1996	February 22, 1997	Taurus Film	FOX
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm	September 21, 1996	December 14, 1996	Threshold Entertainment USA Studios New Line Television	USA Network	Based on the Mortal Kombat video game series and 1995 film
Richie Rich	September 14, 1996	December 7, 1996	Jeffrey A. Montgomery Productions Harveytoons	Syndication	Based on the Harvey Comics characters created by Warren Kremer
Bruno the Kid	September 23, 1996	September 1, 1997	Active Entertainment Flying Heart	BKN
King of the Hill	January 12, 1997	May 6, 2010	Anivision 3 Arts Entertainment Deedle-Dee Productions Judgemental Films 20th Century Fox Television	FOX	Animation only
The Mr. Potato Head Show	September 12, 1998	February 16, 1999	Hasbro 20th Century Fox Television	FOX	Live-action/puppet series based on the Mr. Potato Head toyline by Hasbro
Family Guy	January 31, 1999	present	Fuzzy Door Productions Fox Television Animation 20th Century Fox Television	FOX	Animation for season 1 (1999-2000) only
Mission Hill	September 24, 1999	August 11, 2002	Bill Oakley/Josh Weinstein Productions Castle Rock Entertainment	The WB (1999-2000) Adult Swim (2002)	Animation only
X-Men: Evolution	November 4, 2000	October 25, 2003	Marvel Studios	The WB
The Oblongs	April 1 2001	October 20, 2002	Jobsite Productions Mohawk Productions Warner Bros. Television	The WB (2001) Adult Swim (2002)	Animation only
Free For All	July 11, 2003	September 12, 2003		Showtime (TV channel)
Tripping the Rift	March 4, 2004	December 13, 2007	CinéGroupe Teletoon Original Production (season 3)	Sci Fi Channel Space Teletoon (season 3)
Eloise: The Animated Series	October 8, 2006	November 12, 2006	HandMade Films Anchor Bay Entertainment	Starz	Based on the Eloise children's book series drawn and written by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!	August 28, 2006	February 21, 2010	Frederator Studios Bolder Media IDT Entertainment (2006-2007) Starz Media (2007-2010) Nickelodeon Animation Studio	Nickelodeon Nick Jr.
Slacker Cats	August 13, 2007	January 23, 2009	Laika ABC Family Original Productions	ABC Family
The Goode Family	May 27, 2009	August 7, 2009	Ternion Pictures 3 Arts Entertainment Media Rights Capital	ABC	Animation only
The Super Hero Squad Show	September 14, 2009	October 14, 2009	Marvel Animation Ingenious Media	Cartoon Network
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes	September 22, 2010	May 5, 2013	Marvel Animation Ingenious Media	Disney XD
Dan Vs.	January 1, 2011	March 9, 2013	The Hatchery	The Hub
Ultimate Spider-Man	April 1, 2012	January 7, 2017	Marvel Animation	Disney XD
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.	August 11, 2013	June 28, 2015	Marvel Animation	Disney XD
Mega Man	2018	TBA	Capcom Man of Action Studios Dentsu Entertainment USA DHX Media Vancouver	Cartoon Network	Based on the video game franchise of the same name by Capcom
This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow	TBA	TBA		TBA	Based on the comic strips of the same name by Tom Tomorrow
What Do You Do With an Idea?	TBA	TBA		TBA	Based on the book of the same name written by Koji Yamada and illustrated by Mae Besom
Fake News	TBA	TBA		TBA
Heathcliff	TBA	TBA		TBA	CGI animated series based on the comic strips by George Gately and Peter Gallagher
Spawn: The Animation	TBA	TBA	Todd McFarlane Productions	TBA	Based on the Image Comics character by Todd McFarlane
The Untamed	TBA	TBA		TBA	Based on the Stranger Comics comic book and graphic novel series of the same name by Sebastian A. Jones and Andrew Cosby
Uncanny Valley	TBA	TBA		TBA

Television specials

Garfield specials

• Garfield in the Rough (1984, the studio's inaugural production)
• Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1985)
• Garfield in Paradise (1986)
• Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987)
• A Garfield Christmas (1987)
• Happy Birthday, Garfield (1988)
• Garfield: His 9 Lives (1988)
• Garfield's Babes and Bullets (1989)
• Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989)
• Garfield's Feline Fantasies (1990)
• Garfield Gets a Life (1991)

Other specials

• Nick and Noel (1993)
• A Cool Like That Christmas (1994)
• The Bears Who Saved Christmas (1994)
• Izzy's Quest for Olympic Gold (1995)
• The Story of Santa Claus (1996) (co-production with Arnold Sharpio and CBS Productions)
• The Magic Pearl (1997)
• Puss in Boots (1997)
• Johnny Tsunami (1999) (live-action)
• Hairballs (2000) (Unsold TV series pilot created by Mr. Lawrence)
• Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000)
• Motocrossed (2001) (live-action)
• The Santa Claus Brothers (2001)

Films

Direct-to-video

• The Happy Elf (2005, co-production with IDT Entertainment)
• Weebles: Welcome to Weebleville! (2005)
• Weebles: Sharing in the Fun! (2005)
• Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006)
• Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007)
• Turok: Son of Stone (2008, co-production with Classic Media and Starz Media)
• Dead Space: Downfall (2008, co-production with Electronic Arts)
• The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) (Planned for theatrical release)
• Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic "Prologue", "The Arrival", "Entry to Hell" (2010, co-production with Electronic Arts)
• Dead Space: Aftermath (2011, co-production with Electronic Arts)

Theatrical features

• Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992, co-production with Turner Entertainment Co. and WMG, distributed by Miramax Films¹ and LIVE Entertainment)
• The Simpsons Movie (2007, co-production with 20th Century Fox and Gracie Films, co-animation with Rough Draft Studios)

Special effects for other movies

• I, Robot (2004)
• Illegal Tender (2007)
• The Great Buck Howard (2008)
• Speed Racer (2008)

Miscellaneous

• The Simpsons Game (2007, produced by Electronic Arts) (cutscenes only)
• The Simpsons Ride (2008, amusement simulator ride film produced for the attraction of the same name at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood)
• The Simpsons: Tapped Out (2012, freemium mobile game produced for Fox Digital Entertainment and Electronic Arts) (cutscenes only)

Web series

• Camp WWE

Footnotes

1. ^ The film's distribution rights were transferred to Warner Bros. in 1996 via its acquisition of Turner Entertainment.

External links

• Template:IMDb company
• Template:Bcdb