Blue Zoo Animation Studio has expanded its presence by opening up another dedicated animation studio right across its head office in London. More than 60 new creative roles have been created in the process, helping itself in its ambition to encourage 2D animation.
The studio will be based around a ToonBoom Harmony pipeline, creating episodic TV series for major broadcasters across the world, as well as building on our own IP catalogue. With this expansion, it’s set to become the biggest independent 2D and 3D animation studio in the UK.
Blue Zoo also announced that the first project for the new studio will be Pony, a new 2D animated comedy for an international broadcaster conceived by Ant Blades.
Pony follows the story of an average girl, Annie, her (almost) average family and her excitable, loveable pony who comes to live with them in their city apartment. Ant will be directing the 20 half-hour episodes, with the characters and stories already under development.
“Blue Zoo is a great home for Annie and Pony and it’s incredibly exciting to see the show develop. There’s such a wealth of enthusiasm and talent surrounding the project it can only be fantastic,” beamed Blade.
The new studio is set to open its doors in 2019 creating several animation jobs in the process. “Our passion is for great storytelling with great characters, and it’s been a long-term ambition to diversify into a fully fledged 2D studio. Blue Zoo is already internationally recognised for 3D animation and having even more freedom to animate in whichever medium is best suited suddenly creates many more exciting opportunities – for projects and for attracting the best and brightest 2D talent.
“We love the idea of combining our amazing pipelines to make a hybrid show playing to the strengths of 2D and 3D – so watch this space!” said Blue Zoo co-founder and director Adam Shaw.
