Cartoon Pizza was an American independent animation studio located in Nashville, Tennessee. It was co-founded by Jim Jinkins and David Campbell, and served as the successor to Jinkins' former company, Jumbo Pictures.
The studio partnered with several studios to help produce their shows, including Disney and Nickelodeon in 2001, Sesame Workshop in 2006, and Cuppa Coffee Studios. The studio was formerly headquartered in New York City until 2011, when the company was relocated to Nashville, Tennessee. Wayback Machine Retrieved on July 27, 2015. Wayback Machine Retrieved on July 27, 2015.
History In February 1996, Jim Jinkins' former company Jumbo Pictures was bought by the Walt Disney Company, which produced Doug's 1st Movie (1999) and integrated the studio into its subsidiary Walt Disney Television Animation.
In 2001, a year after Jumbo Pictures was closed by The Walt Disney Company, Jinkins and David Campbell formed Cartoon Pizza as a successor company. Jinkins was president, Campbell was CEO, Jack Spillum was president of animated productions, Ellie Copeland was vice president of finances and operations, and Beldeen Fortunato was vice president of administration. Wayback Machine Retrieved on 27-07-15.
In December 2001, Cartoon Pizza agreed to a two-year nonexclusive production deal with Sesame Workshop, the creators of Sesame Street, Dragon Tales, and Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat. Sesame Workshop agreed to house the company at their New York City office and handle international distribution. They would co-produce a minimum of six new kids' properties.
The company became a co-production partner in Tiger Aspect Productions' animation division to develop a series titled Earth Kid. Gullane Entertainment became an equal partner in Earth Kid as the show's international distributor in April 2002 until it was acquired by HIT Entertainment that September. Gullane and HIT also had three other projects in the works with Cartoon Pizza.
The company operated two separate subsidiaries, Cartoon Cola and Cartoon Candy.
In 2015, the company was dissolved after five years of dormancy.
Productions TitleRelease dateChannel/block NotesStanley2001–2004Playhouse DisneySesame Street shorts2003PBS KidsCo-production with Sesame WorkshopMonster Monster TrucksUnaired TV pilotCo-production with IDT EntertainmentJoJo's Circus2003–2007Playhouse Disney Co-production with Cuppa Coffee StudiosHoop Dogz2004Direct-to-DVDFeeling Good with JoJo2006–2008Playhouse Disney Co-production with Cuppa Coffee StudiosPinky Dinky Doo2006–2010Noggin/Nick Jr.Co-production with Sesame Workshop
References
External links Cartoon Pizza's website via the Wayback Machine