Did Blue Sky Shut Down? Yes, Blue Sky shut down. It’s been 2 years since Blue Sky shut down its door. Several studios come and go, but the Blue Sky Studio was of different artistry. This is the only similar studio that has been found.
Blue Sky Studio was established in 1987 and started working on visual effects for commercials and films. Later, the business was expanded, and Blue Sky devoted itself entirely to animation.
The Blue Sky studio worked only on animation projects for seventeen years, from 2002 to 2019.
It filmed incredible animated movies and created a list of well-known movies. Mascot Scrat is included in the list of well-known movies.
Ice Age, Spies in Disguise, Dr. Suess’ Horton Hears a Who!, and The Peanuts Movie are enlisted on top.
Do you want to know more about Blue Sky Studio and its closures? If you are curious to know more about it, we recommend reading this blog post…
This captivating blog will delve into Blue Sky’s shutdown; when did it shut down? What were the reasons behind it? Will Blue Sky reopen?
Look no further! This blog is specially created for you… We’ll come up with answers related to your Blue Sky Shut Down queries!!!
About Blue Sky Studios
Blue Sky Studios Inc. was founded on February 22, 1987; it was a computer animation studio. It was headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut. Before dedicating itself completely to animation, the studio started to create visual effects for commercials and films.
It was founded by Chris Wedge, Carl Ludwig, Alison Brown, Michael Ferraro, and David Brown. Tron was the best visual effects studio in 1982; in second place, there was MAGI. Both were shut down, and Blue Sky came into the pitcher using its in-house rendering software.
Later, it became one of the biggest studios in animation, producing films. It released almost 13 featured movies. In 2002, it introduced its first feature film, Ice Age. The last feature film released in 2019 was Spies In Disguise.
Blue Sky Studios produced films distributed and marketed by 20th Century Fox. Therefore, it was a part of 20th Century Fox Animation. Later in 2019, it was acquired by Disney. A couple of years after its acquisition, Disney announced it shut down Blue Sky in 2021.
Blue Sky Studios’ most praised and well-known films were Ice Age and Rio. While most critically praised feature films of the Blue Sky Studios were:
Robots, The Peanuts Movie, Horton Hears a Who!, and Spies in Disguise.
13 Feature Films Of Blue Sky Studios
- Ice Age was released on March 15, 2002
- Robots released on March 11, 2005
- Ice Age: The Meltdown released on March 31, 2006
- Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who! released on March 14, 2008
- Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs released on July 1, 2009
- Rio was released on April 15, 2011
- Ice Age: Continental Drift was released on July 13, 2012
- Epic was released on May 24, 2013
- Rio 2 was released on April 11, 2014
- The Peanuts Movie was released on November 6, 2015
- Ice Age: Collision Course released on July 22, 2016
- Ferdinand was released on December 15, 2017
- Spies In Disguise, released on December 25, 2019
When Did Blue Sky Shut Down?
In 2019, Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and all the companies along with Blue Sky Studios.
Blue Sky was acquired by Disney in 2019, and after a couple of years, Disney announced to shut down Blue Sky.
In February 2021, this announcement was made public, and we decided to shut down by the end of March 2021. Due to some reason, it was delayed and finally shut down on April 10, 2021. It was shut down permanently because of the spread of COVID-19.
Highlights:
- Type: Subsidiary
- Predecessors: MAGI and Fox Animation Studios
- Established On: February 22, 1987
- Shut Down: April 10, 2021
- Successor: 20th Century FOX
- Headquartered In: Greenwich American Center, Greenwich, Connecticut
- Products: Animation Production, Animated Films
- No. Of Employees: 450 by 2021
- Parent Company: 20th Century animation
Why Did Blue Sky Shut Down?
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, many people fell ill. The economy also declined alongside people’s health. That pandemic stung the entire world and forced big ventures to make difficult decisions. No gathering allowed, lockdown was there. It was like a full stop all over the world. No growth was seen during that period.
Due to the lockdown, no one was allowed to go outside and join work as usual. Companies were struggling with huge losses and losing business and money. Nothing could be figured out during COVID-19.
Companies were at a massive loss, employers lost their jobs, and thousands of companies planned to close. There was no hope left; people were dying. Companies shut down their doors.
Blue Sky Studio could not survive in that jeopardy state. The entire shutdown plan started when Disney Studios acquired 21st Century Fox. Not only this, but it bought all its companies, including Blue Sky Studios, in March 2019.
After purchasing it, COVID-19 spread. Disney Studio was losing money.
At that time, the company tried to maintain animation studios but decided to close them.
Disney was struggling with a financial battle. Even though, during and after the post-COVID-19 pandemic, Disney tried to set up three separate animation studios.
Will Blue Sky Reopen?
Actually, we are still determining whether Blue Sky will reopen. Because the production has ceased. When Disney bought 21st Century Fox. At the same time, the issues related to the LGBTQ+ theme of the animated movie came up.
That time Florida’s Don’t Say Gay was released and in that animated movie. There was a same-sex kiss scene to which Disney did not respond. But later, it was picked up by Annapurna Pictures and Netflix.
In 2021, Blue Sky Studios was working on a Disney + Exclusive, which was expected to arrive in 2022.
That series titled “The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild” was the last series about to be released. The animated movie “Nimona” was also canceled.
No, there is no future for Blue Sky. Disney, which acquired it 5 years back, is now a leader in the animation world. It has earned two Oscars for its animation studios. One for Pixar Animation and another for Walt Disney Animation for movies. For Television shows, Disney got 3 Emmy awards:
One for 20th Television Animation
The second is for Lucasfilm Animation
The third is for Disney Television Animation.
We are not considering that Disney will reopen Blue Sky Studio in the future.
Blue Sky Alternatives/ Competitors
Here is a list of a few competitors of Blue Sky Studios. You can check them. We’ve also mentioned the total revenue generated by the studio along with its names.
- Digital Domain (Revenue: 1.0M US dollars)
- Industrial Light & Magic (Revenue: 13.0M US dollars)
- Titmouse (Revenue: 21.7M US dollars)
- Pixar Animation Studios (Revenue: 76.0M US dollars)
- DreamWorks Animation (Revenue: 770.0M US dollars)
- Bento Box Entertainment (Revenue: 915.9M US dollars)
- Turner Studios (Revenue: 6.7M US dollars)
- Film Roman (Revenue: 37,000 US dollars)
- Moving Picture Company (Revenue: 21.0 M US dollars)
- The Famous Group (Revenue: 390,000 US dollars)
- Animated Storyboards (Revenue: 2.6M US dollars)
- Video Production Company (Revenue: 14.0M US dollars)
- Ntropic (Revenue: 160,000M US dollars)
- Starburns Industries (Revenue: 7.8M US dollars)
- The PPS Groups (Revenue: 540,000 US dollars)
- Studio Now (Revenue: 3.6M US dollars)
- FOX Sports
- Mills James (Revenue: 1.1M US dollars)
Is Blue Sky Still Forever
When people heard about the closure of Blue Sky Studio, they turned up and started to post on Reddit. Let’s see what they have chimed in:
One user stated, “What are we hearing? Is Blue Sky closing? Is it true? So sad to see. Let it go. “
Another said, “I used to work here, and it is so disappointing the world will not be able to see Nimona.”
While one said, “Blue Sky was a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox. But it was bought by Disney in 2019. Everything was on track. But COVID-19 affected Disney to a greater extent. Because they were unable to operate their theatres, parks, and other operations. Due to this, they indulged in financial issues and decided to close Blue Sky.”
Wrapping Up – Blue Sky Shut Down
As we all know, Animated movies are not only meant for children, and plenty of animation studios have served this for several decades.
Blue Sky was one of them, but we’re sad to bid farewell to Blue Sky Studios. Disney acquired Blue Sky in 2019 and announced it would shut down in 2021.
When one of the spokespeople of Blue Sky Studios conversed with organizations. It revealed that they were closing it in 2021.
“After profoundly reviewing the current economic realities, we’ve come to this decision.”
Also added, “We know this might be a difficult decision, but we’re forced to do so. We’re closing filmmaking operations at Blue Sky Studios.”
Also explained, “In 2019, it acquired Disney and other companies, including Blue Sky. Before 2019, it was a part of 20th Century Fox.”
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, everything has been affected to a greater extent worldwide.
It also affected the release of movies because all the theatres shut down.
All good things end immediately, and Blue Sky is among them.
It has gone forever, and there is no hope of its coming back.
