Crest Animation Productions


Crest Animation Productions, and was an Indian-American animation studio located in Burbank, California, United States. The studio's most well known work include Alpha and Omega and The Swan Princess.

History

The studio was founded by film director Richard Rich in 1986, who previously worked at Walt Disney Productions. In 1987, the studio was owned by Nest Family Entertainment to produce and distribute educational animated Christian and historical videos for children such as Animated Stories from the New Testament, Animated Hero Classics and Animated Stories from the Bible. In 1994, the two studios produced and released their first and most famous collaborated feature film called The Swan Princess, based on the classic ballet Swan Lake, it was distributed for New Line Cinema. The film was rather successful on its first opening weekend. It also spawned two sequels, ' and ', neither of which did a good performance. In 1999, the two studios teamed up with Morgan Creek Productions and Rankin/Bass Productions to produce an animated adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I for Warner Bros.. However, the film bombed at the box office and received very negative reviews, which forced Nest Family Entertainment to sell off the studio to Crest Animation Studios in 2000 to form RichCrest Animation Studios. In 2001, the studio produced and released its last collaborated feature film with Nest Family Entertainment, The Trumpet of the Swan, based on E.B. White's 1970 novel of the same name. It was distributed by TriStar Pictures and also performed poorly. RichCrest Animation Studios continued to produce Bible videos for Nest Family Entertainment until 2005. In February 2007, it was renamed to Crest Animation Productions and announced that it was "expanding its business to become a full-service animation studio specializing in the development and production of CGI-animated properties for theatrical, television, home entertainment and interactive distribution". The studio was finally shut down in 2013, after failing to make a profit. Many of its productions contracts were handed over to other studios for completion. For example, Norm of the North, a film that was in production at Crest before closing, along with future Alpha and Omega sequels were handed over to be finished at Splash Entertainment.

Filmography

Theatrical Features

Rich era
TitleRelease DateNotes
The Swan PrincessCo-production with Nest Family Entertainment
The King and ICo-production with Morgan Creek Productions, Rankin/Bass Productions and Nest Family Entertainment

RichCrest era
TitleRelease DateNotes
The Trumpet of the SwanCo-production with Nest Family Entertainment
'

Crest era'
TitleRelease DateNotes
Alpha and Omega''Co-production with Lionsgate Films; and produced in CGI.

Direct-to-Video

Rich era
TitleRelease DateNotes
Animated Stories from the New Testament1987-2004Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
Animated Hero Classics1991-97, 2004Co-Production with Living History Productions, Nest Family Entertainment and Warner-Nest Animation
Animated Stories from the Bible1992-95Co-Production with Nest Family Entertainment
'
'
The Scarecrow

RichCrest era
TitleRelease DateNotes
'2003Co-production with TLC Entertainment and SMEC Media
Arthur's Missing Pal Co-production with WGBH-TV, Mainframe Entertainment and Marc Brown Studios

Crest era
Note: All films CGI.
TitleRelease DateNotes
The Little Engine That CouldCo-production with Universal Animation Studios
The Swan Princess ChristmasCo-production with Nest Family Entertainment
'

Films originally slated for production at Crest
TitleRelease DateNotes
'Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
'
'
'
Norm of the NorthCo-produced by Splash Entertainment and Assemblage Entrainment
'May 10, 2016
'Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
'November 8, 2016
'Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
'May 9, 2017
'Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment

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