Augenblick Studios is an American animation studio founded in 1999 by Aaron Augenblick, and located in Brooklyn, New York City. The company has created a wide array of animated shorts for television, film, and the Internet, with the target audience typically being adults. Their clients include Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Adult Swim, the TED conference, PBS, MTV, and Nickelodeon. Their logo features a moonshine bottle with wings.
History Aaron Augenblick studied animation at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. After graduating in 1997, Augenblick worked at MTV Animation on shows such as Daria, Downtown, and Cartoon Sushi.
In 1999, Augenblick opened Augenblick Studios in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn. The first cartoon produced by the company was "Ramblin' Man", an independent short film based on the Hank Williams song. "Ramblin' Man" was released to critical acclaim and was a 2001 SXSW award winner. Several other independent shorts followed, including "Drunky" (2001) and "Plugs McGinniss" (2003).
The first television production from Augenblick Studios was Shorties Watchin' Shorties on Comedy Central in 2004. The show featured animated interpretations of stand up comedy segments from comedians including Denis Leary, Patton Oswalt, Louis C.K., Dane Cook, and Mitch Hedberg. In 2004, Augenblick Studios produced the animated content for two seasons of PFFR's Wonder Showzen on MTV2. Augenblick created short segments, motion graphics, and illustrations for the show.
In 2006, they created the faux-documentary Golden Age for Comedy Central, which was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival. In 2007, Augenblick Studios animated the short "Lying Rhino" for the feature film comedy The Ten. In 2008, the studio completed 11 episodes of Superjail! for the Adult Swim programming block on Cartoon Network. They also created several short cartoons for Yo Gabba Gabba on Nickelodeon.
Augenblick Studios created 31 episodes of the Comedy Central series Ugly Americans which aired between 2010 and 2012. In 2011, the studio also created a video for the track "Another Tattoo" on Weird Al Yankovic's album Alpocalypse. In 2013, they worked on a cartoon short for Saturday Night Live, with SNL writer Zach Kanin. In 2015, Augenblick Studios collaborated with Animation Domination High Def on Golan the Insatiable, a primetime half-hour series for Fox. In 2015, Augenblick Studios animated a new TV series written and created by Tyler, the Creator called The Jellies! which premiered in 2017. Augenblick Studios also did additional animation for the Cartoon Network animated series MAD. The Netflix series Losers, released in March 2019, features animated segments created by Augenblick Studios.
In January 2016, Augenblick Studios announced it is producing its first animated feature film, The Adventures of Drunky. The R-rated comedy stars Sam Rockwell, Jeffrey Tambor, Steve Coogan, and Nina Arianda. Its release date was slated to be 2018, but production was stalled due to sexual harassment allegations being leveled against Jeffrey Tambor. On September 24, 2021, it was stated that the film would be completed in 2022, with the announcement of a new release date still pending.
Death Hacks, was released on Snapchat on August 29, 2020. The company produces Teenage Euthanasia which started airing on Adult Swim in September 2021.
In 2021, was established as a children's animation division with Augenblick and Daniel Powell as co-founders. The company has produced two seasons of City Island on PBS Kids.
Filmography Television Year Title Notes Client 2004 Shorties Watchin' Shorties Comedy Central 2005–06 Wonder Showzen animated segments MTV2 2007 Sesame Street: Kids' Favorite Country Songs "Tall Tale" segment Sesame Workshop 2007–08 Superjail! pilot and season 1 only Adult Swim 2009 Xavier: Renegade Angel animated contest entry Adult Swim 2010–12 Ugly Americans season 1 and 5 episodes of season 2 Comedy Central 2012–13 Mad additional animation Cartoon Network 2012 Saturday Night Live animation ("Cool Drones", "Faberge Egg Cop" segments) NBC 2013–15 Golan the Insatiable Fox 2013–14 The Heart, She Holler animated segments Adult Swim 2013 T.I. & Tiny: The Holiday Hustle VH1 2017–19 The Jellies! Adult Swim 2019 Losers Netflix 2021 Headspace Guide to Meditation animation 2021 Teenage Euthanasia season 1 only Adult Swim 2021 Cake season 5 (Swan Boy segments) FXX 2022–24 City Island produced by Future Brain Media PBS Kids 2023 One Piece 2nd-key animation; ep 1066 Toei Animation 2024 House On The Outlands animation YouTube
Feature films +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released Year Title Co-production with Note 2007 The Ten ThinkFilm animation services for "The Lying Rhino" segment for the story "Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness" 2016 Zoolander: Super Model CBS All Access animation 2019 Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story Bonded By Blood animation 2020 Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics Netflix animation 2022 Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Funny or Die animated sequence TBA Toad Muse Entertainment in-camera animation The Adventures of Drunky Cartuna animation and post-production
Short films Year Title Client Notes 2000 Ramblin' Man animation 2002 Moomie's Garage Nickelodeon one-shot interstitial 2003 The Man with the Smallest Penis in Existence and the Electron Microscope Technician Who Loved Him animation 2007 Golden Age Comedy Central animation 2013–14 DC Nation Shorts Warner Bros. Animation Metal Men shorts 2013 Cookie Chemistry TED-Ed What Is JASH? Jash Spacemen From Brookstonia Ottawa Animation Festival 2017 ASAP Fables: The Snake With No Manners Topic animation 2017–18 The Nib Topic 2018–19 Monologue Topic animation; 3 episodes 2020 Death Hacks Snapchat animation NYS COVID PSA Tribeca Film Institute animation
Music videos YearTitleArtist 2011 "Another Tattoo" "Weird Al" Yankovic 2013 "Tiny Anthem" The M Machine 2014 "Far Away" Feed Me & Kill the Noise 2015 "Rubble Kings Theme" Run the Jewels 2019 "Expensify This" 2 Chainz x Adam Scott 2020 "Ultraviolent" Kill the Noise 2023 "Your Horoscope for Today" "Weird Al" Yankovic 2024 "Polkamania!" ("Hello" segment) "Weird Al" Yankovic
References
God v. Devil v. ‘Drunky' In New R-Rated Animated Feature Augenblick Studios and Tyler the Creator Launch "The Jellies" Augenblick Studios Animates "The Ten"
External links
Aaron Augenblick interview on Cartoon Brew