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51-452: Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American visual effects and computer animation studio based in Greenwich, Connecticut . It was founded on February 22, 1987, by Chris Wedge , Michael Ferraro, Carl Ludwig, Alison Brown, David Brown, and Eugene Troubetzkoy after their employer, MAGI , one of the visual effects studios behind Tron (1982), shut down. Using its in-house rendering software,
102-400: A Ph.D in theoretical physics and was one of the first computer animators . Using his background in character animation, Wedge helped MAGI produce animation for television commercials, which eventually led to an offer from Walt Disney Productions to produce animation for the film Tron (1982). After Tron , MAGI hired Carl Ludwig, an electrical engineer , and Mike Ferraro transferred to
153-410: A buyer for the film and the studio. Instead, Ice Age was released by 20th Century Fox on March 15, 2002, and was a critical and commercial success, receiving a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003. The film established Blue Sky as the third studio, after Pixar and DreamWorks Animation , to launch a successful CGI franchise. In January 2009,
204-567: A few commercials. It was not until 1996 when Nina Rappaport, a producer at Blue Sky Studios, assigned Wedge to complete the Bunny project, which required CGI Studio to render fur, glass, and metal from multiple light sources, such as a swinging light bulb and an "ethereal cloudscape". In the initial stages of the Bunny project, Carl Ludwig modified CGI Studio to simulate radiosity , which tracks light rays as they reflect off of multiple surfaces. Blue Sky Studios released Bunny in 1998, and it received
255-462: A moth. The moth subsequently leads the rabbit into "a heavenly glow, reuniting her with her husband." At the time, Wedge had been the thesis advisor for Carlos Saldanha while Saldanha was a graduate student at the School of Visual Arts ; Wedge shared storyboard panels for Bunny with Saldanha during this time. After Saldanha's graduation, Blue Sky Studios hired him as an animator, and he later directed
306-470: A movie's story and appeal. Although most visual effects work is completed during post-production , it usually must be carefully planned and choreographed in pre-production and production . While special effects such as explosions and car chases are made on set , visual effects are primarily executed in post-production with the use of multiple tools and technologies such as graphic design, modeling, animation and similar software. A visual effects supervisor
357-478: A partial summary judgment from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in a reverse suit, Fox Entertainment Group and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation v. Ivy Silberstein (her real name), in which Fox had tried to prevent her from registering the trademark "SQRAT". Rumors originally circulated in 2020 that Disney lost the rights to the character following the trademark dispute and later circulated as Scrat
408-455: A reenactment of the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots , Clark instructed an actor to step up to the block in Mary's costume. As the executioner brought the axe above his head, Clark stopped the camera, had all the actors freeze, and had the person playing Mary step off the set. He placed a Mary dummy in the actor's place, restarted filming, and allowed the executioner to bring the axe down, severing
459-425: A script for a comedy feature film titled Ice Age . Studio management pressured staff to sell their remaining shares and options to Fox on the promise of continued employment on feature-length films. The studio moved to White Plains NY and started production on Ice Age . As the film wrapped, Fox feared that it might bomb at the box office. They terminated half of the production staff and tried unsuccessfully to find
510-667: A street scene in Paris. When he screened the film, he found that the "stop trick" had caused a truck to turn into a hearse, pedestrians to change direction, and men to turn into women. Méliès, the director of the Théâtre Robert-Houdin , was inspired to develop a series of more than 500 short films, between 1896 and 1913, in the process developing or inventing such techniques as multiple exposures , time-lapse photography , dissolves , and hand-painted color. Because of his ability to seemingly manipulate and transform reality with
561-642: A supervising role. Spies in Disguise was released by 20th Century Fox on December 25, 2019. It ended up as the final feature film released under the Blue Sky name, and the only feature film produced by Blue Sky that Disney released. On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that it was closing Blue Sky Studios in April 2021. A spokesperson for the company explained that in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic 's continued economic impact on all of its businesses, it
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#1732772784509612-464: A third film in the Rio franchise was revealed to be in development for Disney+. Days after the release of The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild , it was reported that Disney had lost the rights of Scrat to fashion designer and artist Ivy Supersonic . She was said to have originally created Scrat under the name "Sqrat" and pitched the character to Fox, only to get turned down by the studio. Supersonic claims
663-647: Is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production . The integration of live-action footage and other live-action footage or CGI elements to create realistic imagery is called VFX. VFX involves the integration of live-action footage (which may include in-camera special effects) and generated-imagery (digital or optics, animals or creatures) which look realistic, but would be dangerous, expensive, impractical, time-consuming or impossible to capture on film. Visual effects using computer-generated imagery (CGI) have more recently become accessible to
714-489: Is usually involved with the production from an early stage to work closely with production and the film's director to design, guide and lead the teams required to achieve the desired effects. Many studios specialize in visual effects; among them are Digital Domain , DreamWorks , DNEG , Framestore , Weta Digital , Industrial Light & Magic , Pixomondo , Moving Picture Company and Sony Pictures Imageworks & Jellyfish Pictures . Capsule (pharmacy) In
765-602: The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film . Bunny' s success gave Blue Sky Studios the opportunity to produce feature-length films. In March 1999, Fox decided to sell VIFX to another visual effects house, Rhythm & Hues Studios , while Blue Sky Studios would remain under Fox. According to Chris Wedge, Fox considered selling Blue Sky as well by 2000 due to financial difficulties in the visual effects industry in general. Instead, Wedge, film producer Lori Forte, and animation executive Chris Meledandri presented Fox with
816-518: The Ice Age franchise, was the studio's mascot. In the late 1970s, Chris Wedge , then an undergraduate at Purchase College studying film, was employed by Mathematical Applications Group, Inc. (MAGI). MAGI was an early computer technology company which produced SynthaVision, a software application that could replicate the laws of physics to measure nuclear radiation rays for U.S. government contracts. At MAGI, Wedge met Eugene Troubetzkoy, who held
867-510: The United States Marines . They made a cartoon bumper for Nicktoons that features an orange blob making a dolphin, a dinosaur, and a walking person. In 1996, MTV collaborated with Blue Sky Studios on the film Joe's Apartment , for which Blue Sky animated the insect characters. Other clients included Bell Atlantic , Rayovac , Gillette and Braun . The Braun commercial was awarded a CLIO Award for Advertising . Recalling
918-654: The cinematograph , the prolific Méliès is sometimes referred to as the "Cinemagician." His most famous film, Le Voyage dans la lune (1902), a whimsical parody of Jules Verne 's From the Earth to the Moon , featured a combination of live action and animation , and also incorporated extensive miniature and matte painting work. thumb VFX today is heavily used in almost all movies produced. Other than films, television series and web series are also known to utilize VFX. àÁ' Bold text' Visual effects are often integral to
969-529: The collagen of animal skin or bone. Vegetable capsules , introduced in 1989, are made from cellulose , a structural component in plants. The main ingredient of vegetarian capsules is hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose . In the 21st century, gelatin capsules are more broadly used than vegetarian capsules because the cost of production is lower. The process of encapsulation of hard gelatin capsules can be done on manual, semi-automatic, and automatic capsule filling machines. Hard gelatin capsules are manufactured by
1020-475: The award, Carl Ludwig stated that the judges had initially mistaken the commercial as a live action submission as a result of the photorealism of the computer-animated razor. In August 1997, 20th Century Fox 's Los Angeles-based visual effects company, VIFX, acquired majority interest in Blue Sky Studios to form a new visual effects and animation company, temporarily renamed "Blue Sky/VIFX". Following
1071-542: The capsule or by filling one half of the capsule with loose powder) and the other half of the capsule is pressed on. With the compressed slug method, weight varies less between capsules. However, the machinery required to manufacture them is more complex. The powder or spheroids inside the capsule contains the active ingredients and any excipients , such as binders , disintegrants, fillers , glidant , and preservatives. Gelatin capsules , informally called gel caps or gelcaps , are composed of gelatin manufactured from
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#17327727845091122-452: The capsules individually with a medicine dropper. Later on, methods were developed that used sets of plates with pockets to form the capsules. Although some companies still use this method, the equipment is no longer produced commercially. All modern soft-gel encapsulation uses variations of a process developed by R. P. Scherer in 1933. His innovation used a rotary die to produce the capsules. They were then filled by blow molding . This method
1173-550: The company, such as serving as an executive producer. Ownership of Blue Sky Studios was assumed by The Walt Disney Company as part of their acquisition of 21st Century Fox , which concluded on March 20, 2019. On March 21, Disney announced that Blue Sky Studios and its parent company 20th Century Fox Animation (now 20th Century Animation ) would be integrated as units within the Walt Disney Studios with co-presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird continuing to lead
1224-480: The dipping method which is dipping, rotation, drying, stripping, trimming, and joining. Softgels are filled at the same time as they are produced and sealed on the rotary die of a fully automatic machine. Capsule fill weight is a critical attribute in encapsulation and various real-time fill weight monitoring techniques such as near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and vibrational spectroscopy are used, as well as in-line weight checks, to ensure product quality. Volume
1275-588: The dose is <100 μg), where the highly reproducible filling process helps ensure each softgel has the same drug content, and because the operators are not exposed to any drug dust during the manufacturing process. In 1949, the Lederle Laboratories division of the American Cyanamid Company developed the "Accogel" process, allowing powders to be accurately filled into soft gelatin capsules. James Murdoch of London patented
1326-447: The dummy's head. Techniques like these would dominate the production of special effects for a century. It was not only the first use of trickery in cinema, it was also the first type of photographic trickery that was only possible in a motion picture, and referred to as the " stop trick ". Georges Méliès , an early motion picture pioneer, accidentally discovered the same "stop trick." According to Méliès, his camera jammed while filming
1377-509: The film division from the Cad Cam division of MAGI. As MAGI's success began to decline, the company employed David Brown from CBS/Fox Video to be a marketing executive and Alison Brown to be a managing producer. After MAGI was sold to Vidmax (Canada), the six individuals—Wedge, Troubetzkoy, Ferraro, Ludwig, David Brown, and Alison Brown—founded Blue Sky Studios in February 1987 to continue
1428-531: The film's LGBT themes and a same-sex kiss. Initially, Blue Sky leadership removed the same-sex kiss from "presentations to Disney, despite hoping to ultimately include it in the film, the sources said. [...] Blue Sky leadership eventually showed reels to staffers that included the kiss, the sources said, but the studio was shut down soon after". Nimona was picked up by Annapurna Pictures on April 11, 2022, with DNEG Animation taking over production, for release on Netflix on June 30, 2023. Ice Age: Scrat Tales ,
1479-407: The gelling agent solution including plasticizers such as glycerin or sorbitol to decrease the capsule's hardness, coloring agents , preservatives , disintegrants, lubricants and surface treatment . Since their inception, capsules have been viewed by consumers as the most efficient method of taking medication. For this reason, producers of drugs such as OTC analgesics wanting to emphasize
1530-438: The independent filmmaker with the introduction of affordable and relatively easy-to-use animation and compositing software. In 1857, Oscar Rejlander created the world's first "special effects" image by combining different sections of 32 negatives into a single image, making a montaged combination print . In 1895, Alfred Clark created what is commonly accepted as the first-ever motion picture special effect. While filming
1581-405: The last official Blue Sky production, was released as scheduled on April 13, 2022. The final episode of the series, "Nut The End", concluded its ending credits with a parting message from the company: Unfortunately it's not possible to hold on to anything forever. We've had more fun bringing our movies to life than anyone should be allowed. We hope you've been able to feel some of that joy. On
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1632-577: The manufacture of pharmaceuticals, encapsulation refers to a range of dosage forms —techniques used to enclose medicines—in a relatively stable shell known as a capsule , allowing them to, for example, be taken orally or be used as suppositories . The two main types of capsules are: Both of these classes of capsules are made from aqueous solutions of gelling agents , such as animal protein (mainly gelatin ) or plant polysaccharides or their derivatives (such as carrageenans and modified forms of starch and cellulose ). Other ingredients can be added to
1683-447: The ocean in front of a sunset." In order to receive the commission, Blue Sky spent two days rendering a single frame and submitted it to the prospective client. However, once the client accepted their offer, Blue Sky found that they could not produce the entire animation in time without help from a local graphics studio, which provided them with extra computer processors. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Blue Sky Studios concentrated on
1734-418: The physical properties of light in order to produce lighting effects automatically. To accomplish this, Ludwig examined how light passes through water, ice, and crystal, and programmed those properties into the software. Following the stock market crash of 1987 , Blue Sky Studios did not find their first client until about two years later: a company "that wanted their logo animated so it would be seen flying over
1785-480: The production of television commercials and visual effects for film. The studio began by animating commercials that depicted the mechanisms of time-release capsules for pharmaceutical corporations. The studio also produced a Chock Full O' Nuts commercial with a talking coffee bean and developed the first computer-animated M&M's . Using CGI Studio, the studio produced over 200 other commercials for clients such as Chrysler , General Foods , Texaco , Pepsi , and
1836-470: The same day, a short video was uploaded to YouTube by an unlisted channel known as Finale, titled "The End", which featured Scrat finally capturing his acorn and eating it before scurrying away. The description revealed this was the final piece of animation made by Blue Sky Studios, done in their final days of operation by a small team of artists as "a farewell, a send-off, on our own terms." Visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX )
1887-466: The software design and produce computer animation. At Blue Sky, Ferraro and Ludwig expanded on CGI Studio, the studio programming language they started at MAGI and began using it for animation production. At the time, scanline renderers were prevalent in the computer graphics industry, and they required computer animators and digital artists to add lighting effects in manually; Troubetzkoy and Ludwig adapted MAGI's ray tracing , algorithms which simulate
1938-481: The strength of their product developed the "caplet", a portmanteau of "capsule-shaped tablet", to tie this positive association to more efficiently produced tablet pills, as well as being an easier-to-swallow shape than the usual disk-shaped tablet medication. In 1833, Mothes and Dublanc were granted a patent for a method to produce a single-piece gelatin capsule that was sealed with a drop of gelatin solution. They used individual iron molds for their process, filling
1989-412: The studio created visual effects for commercials and films before dedicating itself to animated film production. It produced 13 feature films , the first being Ice Age (2002), and the final one being Spies in Disguise (2019). Blue Sky Studios was a subsidiary of 20th Century Animation until its acquisition by Disney , as part of their acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets in 2019. Blue Sky
2040-504: The studio moved from White Plains, New York to Greenwich, Connecticut , taking advantage of the state's 30 percent tax credit and having more space to grow. The studio stated in April 2017 that it intended to stay in Connecticut until 2025. In 2013, Chris Wedge took a leave of absence to direct Paramount Animation 's live-action/animated film Monster Trucks . He then returned to Blue Sky Studios and worked on multiple projects for
2091-406: The studio's expansion, Blue Sky produced character animation for the films Alien Resurrection (1997), A Simple Wish (1997), Mouse Hunt (1997), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) and Fight Club (1999). Meanwhile, starting in 1990, Chris Wedge had been working on a short film named Bunny , intended to demonstrate CGI Studio. The film revolves around a rabbit widow who is irritated by
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2142-412: The studio's own documents actually identified the character in Ice Age as "Sqrat", though her creation was not saber-toothed. Supersonic was offered a $ 300,000 settlement by Fox, but she turned it down and subsequently lost in court. The case later went to appeal (Case # 04401 Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, NYC). Supersonic still had hopes of receiving damages for her claimed infringement, later winning
2193-411: The studio, while reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn . In July 2019, Miloro announced that she would be stepping down from her role as co-president, thus leaving Baird as sole president. In August 2019, former Walt Disney Animation Studios head Andrew Millstein was named as co-president of Blue Sky Studios alongside Baird, while Pixar Animation Studios president Jim Morris also took
2244-443: The titular Scrat , who discovers that he has a son. Footage of the series was later leaked onto YouTube , with former Blue Sky animators revealing that the series would be coming to Disney+ in 2022 after The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild . On February 22, 2022, Disney officially announced the series, with a release date for April 13, 2022. A spin-off film in the Ice Age franchise, titled The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild ,
2295-439: The two-piece telescoping gelatin capsule in 1847. The capsules are made in two parts by dipping metal pins in the gelling agent solution. The capsules are supplied as closed units to the pharmaceutical manufacturer. Before use, the two halves are separated, and the capsule is filled with powder or more normally pellets made by the process of extrusion and spheronization (either by placing a compressed slug of powder into one half of
2346-465: Was closed down in April 2021 by Disney due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business operations. Ice Age and Rio were the studio's most commercially successful franchises, while Robots (2005), Horton Hears a Who! (2008), The Peanuts Movie (2015), and the aforementioned Spies in Disguise were among its most critically praised films. Scrat , a character from
2397-457: Was high-yield, consistent, and reduced waste. Softgels can be an effective delivery system for oral drugs, especially poorly soluble drugs. This is because the fill can contain liquid ingredients that help increase the solubility or permeability of the drug across the membranes in the body. Liquid ingredients are difficult to include in any other solid dosage form, such as a tablet. Softgels are also highly suited to potent drugs (for example, where
2448-478: Was no longer sustainable for them to run a third feature animation studio. In addition, production on a film adaptation of the webcomic Nimona , originally scheduled to be released on January 14, 2022, was cancelled as a result of its closure. The studio's film library and intellectual properties are retained by Disney. Although Disney did not give an exact date as to when the studio would be closing down initially, former animator Rick Fournier confirmed on April 10 it
2499-725: Was not featured in The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild . However, after the unveiling of Scrat Tales , it was revealed that Disney did not lose the rights to Scrat. In March 2022, amid the controversy of Disney's involvement in Florida House Bill 1557 , referred to by some as the Don't Say Gay bill, and lack of criticism from CEO Bob Chapek until after the bill had passed , Insider reported that three former Blue Sky staff members stated Nimona received pushback from Disney leadership in mid-2020, centered around
2550-568: Was produced by Walt Disney Pictures , and without the involvement of Blue Sky Studios. Although Blue Sky was not involved with the film before closure, the film was originally produced by 20th Century Studios and 20th Century Animation before being moved to Walt Disney Pictures during production for unknown reasons. It was animated by Canadian animation studio Bardel Entertainment and was released on Disney+ on January 28, 2022, to generally negative reviews from critics. Additionally, in January 2022,
2601-405: Was their last day of operation, three days after co-founder Chris Wedge released a farewell letter on social media. As of June 19, 2021, Blue Sky Studios' website now redirects to Disney.com . On May 4, 2021, fan site Disney Television Animation News reported that it was rumored that a short series produced by Blue Sky known as Scrat Tales would be coming to Disney+ . The series would follow
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