CinéGroupe Corporation (or simply CinéGroupe) is a Canadian animation studio and film production studio based in Montreal, Quebec. The company was founded in 1974.[1] Its shows and films have been seen in over 125 countries.[1]
 | |
| Industry | Animation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1974 |
| Founder | Jacques Pettigrew |
| Headquarters | 1010 Rue Sainte-Catherine E, 6th floor, , |
Key people | Jacques Pettigrew (President, CEO) Michel Lemire (Creative Director) Christian Garcia (CGI Supervisor) |
| Owner | Jacques Pettigrew |
Number of employees | 400 (2005) |
| Parent | Lions Gate Entertainment (1998–2002, minority stake) |
Notable franchises from CinéGroupe include: What's with Andy?, The Kids from Room 402, and Pig City (all aired on Fox Family, now known as Freeform); the animated Tripping the Rift (Sci Fi, now known as Syfy); and PBS' Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat. With Sony Wonder, it has produced Mega Babies (also aired on Fox Family), as well as a direct-to-video feature, Lion of Oz (a prequel to both the L. Frank Baum work, and the 1939 movie). In the 2000s, the company produced the animation for a sequel to the 1981 cult classic Heavy Metal for Columbia TriStar Home Video titled Heavy Metal 2000,[2] premiered on Starz in the United States and on Teletoon in Canada from 2001 onwards. In 2004, it made Pinocchio 3000, a sci-fi retelling of the Italian tale.[3] Galidor, a live-action fantasy series for teenagers, has also been produced by the company. The company also cooperated with the toy maker MGA Entertainment in the creation of Bratz: Starrin' and Stylin', a 2D-animated direct-to-video film based on MGA's Bratz line of fashion dolls.
History
editCinéGroupe was founded in 1974 by Jacques Pettigrew.
In August 1998, it was announced that Fox Family Worldwide would purchase a 20% minority stake in the company although CinéGroupe would still be a subsidiary of Lions Gate Entertainment, which owned 40% of the studio.[4][5]
In January 2001, the studio formed a production and distribution joint-venture with Telescene, with the first production under it being the third series of Big Wolf on Campus. CinéGroupe would hold an 80% stake while Telescene would hold 20%.[6] In July 2001, Lions Gate's ownership of the studio was confirmed to have been reduced to 30%, with Lions Gate president Andre Link having 50% of its voting stock, leading to the studio being a partner of Lions Gate instead of a subsidiary.[7] In September 2001, the company formed a division called CinéGroupe Image to expand to live-action programming.[8]
In October 2002, the company united with the music label Les Disques Star Records Inc. to create a home video distributor called CinéGroupe Star.[9] In November 2002, the company announced that it would produce a Britney Spears cartoon;[10] the project never came to fruition.
By December 2003, Lions Gate Entertainment's stake in the studio was reduced further to 29.4%.[11]
In January 2004, the CinéGroupe Star joint venture with Star Records was folded.[citation needed] The same month, in the wake of production cuts, the studio filed for a protection order from its creditors with the Quebec Superior Court.[12]
In 2018, CinéGroupe co-produced Tshakapesh, a 2D-animated series based on an Innu legend, which has aired on APTN and Radio-Canada. Two edutainment IPs are currently being developed by CinéGroupe, aiming at raising awareness about water preservation and environmental protection. CinéGroupe is also viewing revivals and revitalization of their old properties.[13]
Library
editDistribution
editCinéGroupe is currently partnered with HG Distribution (Henry Gagnon Distribution) for the distribution of its library.[14] However, only a portion of CinéGroupe's catalogue is listed for distribution by HG. Several notable titles such as Bad Dog, Daft Planet, and The Tofus are not listed,[15] as are live-action series, such as Big Wolf on Campus.[16]
Series
edit| Title | Year(s) | Co-production(s) | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra 7 | 1985 | CINAR Films, Turner Program Services | TNT | Production services |
| Ovide and the Gang | 1987–89 | Odec Kid Cartoons | Télévision de Radio-Canada | |
| Sharky & George | 1990–92 | Label 35, Les Films de la Perrine | Canal+ (France) Canal Famille (Canada) |
|
| The Little Flying Bears | 1990–91 | Zagreb Film | Family Channel/Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) HRT (Croatia) |
|
| Zoe and Charlie | 1993 | Tele Images | ||
| Spirou | 1993–95 | Dupuis | Family Channel/Canal Famille (Canada) Canal J/TF1 (France) |
|
| Sea Dogs: Adventures on the Seven Seas | 1995 | Les Films de la Perrine | Family Channel (Canada) France 2 (France) |
|
| The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo | 1996 | Tele Images, Ares Films, Hearst Entertainment | Family Channel/Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) France 3 (France) |
|
| Princess Sissi | 1997–98 | Saban International Paris | Rai Uno (Italy) France 3 (France) Das Erste (Germany) Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) |
|
| The Secret World of Santa Claus | 1997 | Marathon Productions | France 3 (France) Télé-Québec (Canada) |
|
| Kit and Kaboodle | 1998 | Les Productions Raggamuffins, MC Producciones | Télévision de Radio-Canada | |
| Team SOS | 1998 | Les Films de la Perrine | Télé-Québec | |
| Bad Dog | 1998–2000 | Saban Entertainment | Teletoon (Canada) Fox Family (US) |
|
| Mega Babies | 1999–2000 | Landmark Entertainment Group, Sony Wonder Television | Teletoon (Canada) Fox Family (US) |
|
| The Kids from Room 402 | 1999–2001 | Saban Entertainment | Teletoon (Canada) Fox Family (US) |
|
| Jim Button | 1999–2000 | Saban International Paris | Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) TF1 (France) Der Kinderkanal (Germany) |
|
| Wunschpunsch | 2000–01 | Saban International Paris | Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) TF1 (France) |
|
| Big Wolf on Campus | 2001–02 | Saban Entertainment | YTV/Vrak.TV (Canada) ABC Family (US) |
season 3 |
| What's with Andy? | 2001–07 | Saban Entertainment (season 1), SIP Animation (season 2) | Teletoon (Canada) ABC Family (US; season 1) Super RTL (Germany; seasons 2–3) |
[17][18] |
| Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat | 2001–02 | Sesame Workshop | PBS Kids (US) TVOKids/Knowledge Network/Télévision de Radio-Canada (Canada) |
|
| The Ripping Friends | 2001–02 | Spümcø, Cambium, Animagic | Fox Kids (US) Teletoon (Canada) |
Distributor |
| Edward | 2002–03 | Teletoon | ||
| Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension | 2002 | Tom Lynch Company, The Lego Group | YTV (Canada) Fox Kids (US) |
|
| Pig City | 2002–04 | AnimaKids, Red Rover Studios | Teletoon (Canada) Fox Kids Europe ProSieben (Germany) |
|
| Daft Planet | 2002 | Teletoon | ||
| Seriously Weird | 2002 | Granada Kids | YTV (Canada) CITV (UK) |
|
| Tripping the Rift | 2004–07 | Film Roman | Sci Fi (US) Space/Teletoon (Canada) |
|
| 11 Somerset | 2004 | Télé-Québec | ||
| The Tofus | 2004–05 | SIP Animation | Jetix France 3 (France) Teletoon (Canada) |
|
| Charlie Jade | 2005 | Space | ||
| Tshakapesh | 2020 | APTN | [13] | |
| Splish Splash | TBA | [13] | ||
| Sharky & George reboot | [13] |
Films
edit| Title | Release date | Co-production(s) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jean-du-Sud autour du monde | 1983 | ||
| Just a Game | May 22, 1983 | Astral Films (distributor) | |
| Heavy Metal 2000 | July 10, 2000 | Columbia Tristar Home Video (distributor) | |
| Lion of Oz | September 26, 2000 | Sony Wonder (distributor) | |
| Edge of Madness | January 1, 2002 | Credo Entertainment, Gregorian Films, Lions Gate Films (distributor) | |
| Pinocchio 3000 | February 9, 2004 | Filmax, AnimaKids, Christal Films (distributor) | |
| Bratz: Starrin' & Stylin' | August 3, 2004 | MGA Entertainment, Toon City Animation, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (distributor) |
TV specials
edit- David Copperfield (1993)
- Eye of the Wolf (1998)
Video games
editIn 2002 and 2003, CinéGroupe developed three video games for the Game Boy Advance.[19]
- Tom and Jerry in Infurnal Escape (2002, published by NewKidCo)
- Dora the Explorer: The Search for Pirate Pig's Treasure (2002, published by NewKidCo)
- Dora the Explorer: Super Spies (2003, published by Gotham Games)
References
edit- ^ a b "Company information for CinéGroupe". Telefilm Canada. 2004. Archived from the original on 2005-04-17.
- ^ Nesselson, Lisa (May 30, 2000). "Heavy Metal 2000". Variety.
- ^ "sous_section_filmo". 15 October 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007.
- ^ "Fox into Ciné-Groupe".
- ^ Tillson, Tamsen (2000-07-17). "Lions Gate takes bite out of loss". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ Kelly, Brendan (2001-01-31). "Telescene inks with CineGroupe". Variety. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ "Quebec grants $9.1m to Lions Gate partner".
- ^ "CinéGroupe Image takes on a live-action production mantle".
- ^ "CINEGROUP". 12 October 2002. Archived from the original on 12 October 2002.
- ^ "Lions Gate snags Britney".
- ^ http://www.curran-connors.com/localversions/online-ar/lg2004/LGF_2004_ARPDF.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "CineGroupe files for credit protection".
- ^ a b c d "MIPCOM 2018 directory of exhibitors" (PDF). SODEC.
- ^ "Series".
- ^ "sous_section_filmo". 10 October 2007. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007.
- ^ "sous_section_filmo". 15 October 2007. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007.
- ^ "Casablanca Media Publishing - Search Results". Casablancamediapublishing.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- ^ "TELETOON: New Shows: Braceface". August 14, 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-08-14.
- ^ "CineGroupe signs on with kids' game developer".