Animal Logic (also known as Animal Logic VFX) was an Australian visual effects and computer animation digital studio based at Disney Studios in Sydney, New South Wales, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Rideback Ranch in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1991, Animal Logic had produced visual effects and animation for feature films such as the Academy Award-winning Happy Feet, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, Walking with Dinosaurs 3D, The Lego Movie and Peter Rabbit. The company was also recognized for its work as lead visual effects vendor on Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, which won Outstanding Achievement in Visual Effects at the 3rd AACTA Awards ceremony. In 2018, Peter Rabbit was presented with a range of accolades, including the AACTA Award for Best Visual Effects or Animation, and Australian Production Design Guild Awards (APDG) in Visual Effects Design and Drawing, Concept Illustration & Concept Models for Screen. Most recently, the company has produced work for the Warner Animation Group's The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and Marvel Studios' Captain Marvel. Animal Logic's animation and effects department was acquired by Netflix in 2022 and the new company was named Netflix Animation Studios in Sydney and Vancouver.
Initially, Animal Logic's core business was the design and production of high-end animation and visual effects for commercials and television programs, and early success within these fields provided a platform for expansion into feature film work. Animal Logic went on to produce visual effects for various large budget feature film projects, including Babe, Babe: Pig in the City, The Matrix, Moulin Rouge!, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Planet of the Apes, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, World Trade Center, Fool's Gold, 300, Knowing, Australia, Sucker Punch, and The Great Gatsby.
History In 1991, Zareh Nalbandian and Chris Godfrey formed and founded a digital studio in Crows Nest, Sydney, Australia. The company was born out of Video Paint Brush Company, which Nalbandian, who had worked there for a few years, and his colleague Godfrey acquired in a management buy-out and renamed Animal Logic.
Animal Logic moved to Fox Studios Australia in Moore Park, Sydney, in 1998. In 2003, Animal Logic began work on its first computer-animated feature film, Happy Feet, for director George Miller. Released in the United States on 17 November 2006, the project saw the company expand significantly, recruiting up to 300 artists and technicians from Australia and around the world. Happy Feet, which was the first computer-animated feature film produced in Australia, went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature as well as the new BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film.
Their full-length feature animation, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, was released on 24 September 2010 and was Australia's first animated feature to be released in 3D. From 2004 to 2007, the company produced the CN City bumpers for Cartoon Network. In 2011, the company produced and animated LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace, a 30-minute TV special. Produced for Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network, the special premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network and was followed by a worldwide DVD and Blu-ray release. In 2012, Animal Logic acquired the assets of fellow Australian visual effects studio Fuel VFX, known for their work on feature films such as Iron Man 3, Prometheus, The Avengers, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Cowboys & Aliens, Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor. Fuel VFX was nominated for a Visual Effects Society Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects for their work on Prometheus. 2012 also saw the release of the Animal Logic-animated "Polar Bowl" campaign, consisting of a 60-second and two 30-second commercials that aired at halftime at the Super Bowl XLVI. The campaign aimed to re-launch the iconic Coca-Cola polar bear characters to a new generation. Following the success of the 3 spots, which were viewed by over 160 million people globally, the company went on to animate a 6-minute short film directed by John Stevenson to headline Coca-Cola's 2013 global campaign. The film was first released through YouTube in December 2012, followed by a worldwide international theater release. In 2013, the company led visual effects and animation work on BBC Earth and Evergreen Films' 3D live-action feature Walking with Dinosaurs 3D.
In 2014, Animal Logic provided animation services for the 2014 film The Lego Movie, which was produced by the Warner Animation Group and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. After the film's huge success, the company was split into three subsidiaries operating under the Animal Logic's group: Animal Logic VFX, Animal Logic Animation, and Animal Logic Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based arm tasked with developing VFX, animation and hybrid feature films for the company. The following year, the company opened a facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The new studio initially produced work for The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, the first in a three-film deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, all of which were to be developed in Canada.
In 2017, Animal Logic and the University of Technology Sydney launched a joint venture named the UTS Animal Logic Academy, offering a one-year accelerated Master of Animation and Visualisation. Taught by industry professionals, the Academy mimics the workflows and processes of a 3D animation/VFX studio to produce two student short films a year, with students specialising in their chosen discipline to the standard of a junior position in the industry. Since 2017, the Academy has also offered various other short courses, and a Technical Direction for 3D Animation and Graphics Projects subject open to all undergraduate students at UTS.
In July 2022, Netflix announced plans to acquire Animal Logic in an all-cash deal. In January 2024, it was announced that the studio would merge with Netflix Animation, with CEO Sharon Taylor resigning and Netflix Animation's Karen Toliver taking her place to lead the studio. Taylor would later return to Netflix Animation as head of production in June 2024.
Filmography Year Production Credit Studio Ref. 2023 Leo Animation Studio Netflix The Magician's Elephant 2022 DC League of Super-Pets Warner Bros. PicturesWarner Animation Group 2021 Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Production Company/Animation Studio Columbia Pictures 2019 Captain Marvel Visual Effects Marvel Studios The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part Production Company/Animation Studio Warner Bros. PicturesWarner Animation Group 2018 Peter Rabbit Columbia PicturesSony Pictures Animation 2017 The Lego Ninjago Movie Warner Bros. PicturesWarner Animation Group The Lego Batman Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Visual Effects Marvel Studios Alien: Covenant 20th Century Fox 2016 The Great Wall Universal PicturesLegendary Pictures Doctor Strange Marvel Studios The Divergent Series: Allegiant Summit Entertainment Captain America: Civil War Marvel Studios The Master Production Company Warner Bros. Pictures 2015 Monk Comes Down the Mountain Visual Effects Columbia Pictures Avengers: Age of Ultron Marvel Studios The Divergent Series: Insurgent Summit Entertainment 2014 Unbroken Universal PicturesLegendary Pictures Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Production Company Walt Disney Pictures The Rover Visual Effects A24 The Lego Movie Production Company/Animation Studio Warner Bros. PicturesWarner Animation GroupVillage Roadshow Pictures X-Men: Days of Future Past Visual Effects 20th Century Fox 2013 Walking with Dinosaurs 3D Animation and Visual Effects Studio The Great Gatsby Visual Effects Warner Bros. Pictures Iron Man 3 Marvel Studios 2012 The Polar Bears Production Company/Animation Studio The Coca-Cola Company 2011 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 3D Digital Services Warner Bros. Pictures Sucker Punch Visual Effects Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace Production Company Lucasfilm 2010 Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole Production Company/Animation Studio Warner Bros. PicturesVillage Roadshow Pictures 2009 Knowing Visual Effects Summit Entertainment 2008 Australia 20th Century Fox The Black Balloon Icon Entertainment International Fool's Gold Warner Bros. Pictures 2007 28 Weeks Later Digital Visual Effects 20th Century Fox Clubland Front Title Design N/A Crocodile Dreaming Special Effects Company 2006 300 Visual Effects Warner Bros. Pictures Charlotte's Web Film Scanning Paramount Pictures Happy Feet Production Company/Animation Studio Warner Bros. Pictures Village Roadshow Pictures David Tench Tonight Animation Network Ten World Trade Center Additional Visual Effects Paramount Pictures The Silence Visual Effects N/A Aquamarine 20th Century Fox 2005 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Warner Bros. Pictures The Cave Additional Previsualization Screen Gems The Great Raid Visual Effects Miramax Films Stealth Columbia Pictures Little Fish Icon Film Distribution 2004 Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars The Jim Henson Company Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid Opening Titles Screen Gems My Sister Digital Film Transfer N/A House of Flying Daggers Visual Effects Sony Pictures Classics 2003 XMA: Xtreme Martial Arts Special Effects Company N/A In the Cut Visual Effects PatheScreen Gems Danny Deckchair Titles and Opticals Lionsgate The Matrix Reloaded Visual Effects Warner Bros. Pictures Swimming Upstream Special Effects Company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Darkness Falls Special Effects Company Revolution StudiosColumbia Pictures 2002 Ang agimat: Anting-anting ni Lolo Digital Tape to Film Transfer Imus Productions Hero Special Effects Company Sil-Metropole Organisation Garage Days Fox Searchlight Pictures The Quiet American Miramax Films Mano Po Digital Tape To Film Transfer Regal Entertainment The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course VFX and CG Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Rabbit-Proof Fence Visual Effects Becker Entertainment 2001 Charlotte Gray Special Effects Company Working Title Films The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Visual Effects New Line Cinema Planet of the Apes Special Effects Company 20th Century Fox Moulin Rouge! South Pacific Visual Effects ABC 2000 Chopper Special Effects Company Mushroom Pictures Devi Putrudu Scanning Sumanth Art Productions Mr. Accident Visual Effects United Artists 1999 Me Myself I Visual Effects and CG Sony Pictures Classics Holy Smoke! Special Effects Company Miramax Films The Incredible Genie Digital Effects N/A Strange Planet Title Design and Production, Visual Effects New Vision Films The Matrix Special Effects Company Warner Bros. Pictures Farscape Visual Effects The Jim Henson Company 1998 The Thin Red Line Special Effects Company 20th Century Fox Babe: Pig in the City Universal Pictures In the Winter Dark Goalpost Pictures 1997 Mouse Hunt Additional Visual Effects DreamWorks Pictures Heaven's Burning Digital Opticals N/A Thank God He Met Lizzie Title Design Face/Off Additional Visual Effects, Titles Paramount PicturesTouchstone Pictures Blackrock Special Effects Company PolyGram Filmed Entertainment 1995 Babe Universal Pictures 1994 Little Women Title Design Columbia Pictures 1991 The Girl From Tomorrow Visual Effects Film Australia
Awards Film