Locksmith Animation (also known as Locksmith) is an independent computer animation feature film studio owned by Sister Group and based in London, England and Los Angeles, California. Locksmith is best known for producing and developing independent computer-animated feature films for kids and adults of all ages.[2]
 The new logo of Locksmith Animation in 2024 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer animation |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Sarah Smith Julie Lockhart Elisabeth Murdoch (financial backing)[1] |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | London, England and Los Angeles, California |
Key people | Julie Lockhart (President of Prod.) Natalie Fischer (CEO) Mary Coleman (CCO) Britt Gardiner (COO) Daphne Mather (Head of Culture) Doug Ikeler (CTO/SVP Digital Prod.) Shelley Page (Head of Talent) |
| Products | Feature films |
| Owner | Sister Group |
Number of employees | 60 (2022) |
| Parent | Sister Pictures |
| Website | www |
Locksmith Animation's first film, Ron's Gone Wrong, was released on 22 October 2021, distributed by 20th Century Studios (which had recently been acquired by Disney two years prior) with positive reviews. Its next films are: That Christmas, a holiday film based on the children's Christmas book trilogy That Christmas and Other Stories by British filmmaker Richard Curtis, to be released by Netflix on 4 December 2024; Bad Fairies, a subversive original musical-comedy film set in contemporary London, to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures on 23 July 2027, and The Lunar Chronicles, an animated feature film adaptation project based on the author Marissa Meyer's four young adult science fiction fantasy novels by the same name.
History
editLocksmith Animation was founded in 2014 by media executive businesswoman Elisabeth Murdoch and two Aardman Animations collaborators Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart. Locksmith was named after Lockhart and Smith's surnames.[3] In April 2014, visual effects studio Double Negative (now known as DNEG) formed a deal with Locksmith to provide the computer animation for Locksmith's films, this led DNEG to found their own animation department, DNEG Feature Animation (now known as DNEG Animation).[4]
In May 2016, Locksmith formed a production deal with Paramount Pictures, with Paramount acting as the distributor for Locksmith's films to be produced under the Paramount Animation label.[3] The following year, however, Paramount abandoned its deal with Locksmith when Paramount chairman and CEO Brad Grey was replaced by Jim Gianopulos.[5]
In September 2017, Locksmith formed a multi-year production deal with 20th Century Fox, which would distribute Locksmith's films; 20th Century Fox Animation was brought in to oversee the deal, as Locksmith was aiming to release a film every 12–18 months.[5][6] The first film to be produced by Locksmith Animation was Ron's Gone Wrong which was released on 22 October 2021 by 20th Century Studios.[5][7] In February 2018, it was announced that Locksmith was developing Wed Wabbit, a live-action/animated hybrid film based on Lissa Evans' children's book, serving as the first live-action/animated hybrid film from Locksmith.[8] In October 2019, while Disney took over 20th Century Animation, Locksmith formed a new multi-year production deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, which will distribute three Locksmith films under the Warner Animation Group label after the release of Ron's Gone Wrong, which was now the only theatrical Locksmith film to be distributed by 20th Century Studios.[1]
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With the release of Ron's Gone Wrong in October 2021, Sister Pictures is Locksmith Animation's parent company that Elisabeth Murdoch works for.
In June 2021, it was announced that Natalie Fischer, the former COO of Illumination Entertainment, would step in as CEO. Locksmith co-founder Sarah Smith exited the company to pursue her own creative endeavours. It was also announced that Locksmith is currently in production on That Christmas,[9] a holiday film based on the children's Christmas book trilogy That Christmas and Other Stories by British filmmaker Richard Curtis, and they are working on an original musical-comedy film.[10] That Christmas was unveiled in June 2022 as part of Netflix's slate of animated films.[11]
In January 2022, Locksmith had optioned to adapt Marissa Meyer's fantasy novel series The Lunar Chronicles.[12]
In April 2023, Locksmith rebranded with a new logo, location and colours being orange and blue (sometimes white, maroon, or yellow).
In June 2023, as part of the rebranding of WAG (now called Warner Bros. Pictures Animation), it was announced that the studio had signed a first-look deal with Locksmith to develop and produce three animated feature films (Bad Fairies, The Lunar Chronicles and Wed Wabbit) for Warner Bros. Pictures.[13]
In December 2023, Locksmith updated their new website.
Filmography
editFeature films
editReleased
edit| Title | Release date | Director(s) | Distributor | Co-production with | Animation service(s) | Budget | Gross | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron's Gone Wrong | 22 October 2021 | Sarah Smith Jean-Philippe Vine Co-director: Octavio E. Rodriguez |
20th Century Studios[a] | 20th Century Animation TSG Entertainment |
DNEG Animation | N/A | $60.6 million | 81% (103 reviews)[14] | 65 (23 reviews)[15] | A[16] |
Upcoming
edit| Title | Release date | Director(s) | Distributor | Co-production with | Animation service(s) | Production status | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| That Christmas | 4 December 2024 | Simon Otto | Netflix | Netflix Animation | DNEG Animation | Completed | [17][18][19][20] |
| Bad Fairies | 23 July 2027 | Megan Nicole Dong | Warner Bros. Pictures | Warner Bros. Pictures Animation | In development | [21][22] | |
| The Lunar Chronicles | TBA | Noëlle Raffaele | TBA | [12] | |||
| Wed Wabbit[b] | TBA | [8] |
Accolades
edit| Year | Film | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Ron's Gone Wrong | Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in a Feature Production |
Julien Bizat | Nominated |
| Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production |
Aurélien Predal, Till Nowak and Nathan Crowley |
British Animation Awards
edit| Year | Film | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Ron's Gone Wrong | Best Long Form | Sarah Smith, Jean-Philippe Vine and Octavio E. Rodriguez | Won |
| Best Design | ||||
| Writers Award | Sarah Smith and Peter Baynham | Nominated |
Notes
edit- ^ through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- ^ Combines live-action with animation
References
edit- ^ a b Clarke, Stewart (31 October 2019). "Warner Signs Multi-Picture Deal With Elisabeth Murdoch's Locksmith Animation". Variety. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ "About | Locksmith Animation". locksmithanimation.com. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Paramount and Locksmith Animation Enter Exclusive Multi-Pic Deal". Animation Magazine. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ Emmett, Neil (11 April 2014). "British Studios Locksmith and Double Negative Plan To Make CG Features". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ a b c Lang, Brent (20 September 2017). "Fox, Locksmith Animation Ink Multi-Year Production, Development Deal (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety Magazine. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ Amidi, Amid (20 September 2017). "UK's Locksmith Animation Announces Production Agreement with 20th Century Fox". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ N'Duka, Amanda (12 October 2017). "20th Century Fox & Locksmith Animation Slate 'Ron's Gone Wrong' As First Project". Deadline. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ a b White, Peter (29 January 2018). "Locksmith Animation Sets Up Animated Feature Based On 'Wed Wabbit' Kids' Books". Deadline. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (6 November 2019). "Locksmith Teams with Richard Curtis for Christmas Movie". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
- ^ Yossman, K.J. (10 June 2021). "Liz Murdoch's Locksmith Animation Hires Natalie Fischer as CEO, Co-Founder Sarah Smith Exits". Variety. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (9 June 2022). "Netflix Sets Bold Slate of Animation from Europe Ahead of Annecy". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ a b Grobar, Matt (25 January 2022). "The Lunar Chronicles: Locksmith Animation Options Marissa Meyer's New York Times Bestselling Novel Series For Film". Deadline. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (9 June 2023). "Warner Bros Pictures Animation Inks First-Look Deal With Locksmith Animation; First Pics Are Bad Fairies & The Lunar Chronicles". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "Ron's Gone Wrong". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ "Ron's Gone Wrong Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ El-Mahmoud, Sarah (27 October 2021). "Could Ron's Gone Wrong Get A Sequel? Here's What The Filmmakers Say". Cinemablend.
- ^ Motayor, Rafael (14 June 2021). "Simon Otto to Helm Animated 'That Christmas' Adaptation, Based on Books by 'Love Actually' Writer". Collider. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ Tasha Robinson (25 April 2023). "Netflix reveals every original animated movie set for release in the next two years". Polygon. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (9 June 2022). "Netflix Sets Bold Slate of Animation from Europe Ahead of Annecy". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ Ramachandran, Naman (7 August 2024). "Ed Sheeran Records Original Song for Netflix's Richard Curtis Film 'That Christmas' – Global Bulletin". Variety. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ Yossman, K.J. (10 June 2021). "Liz Murdoch's Locksmith Animation Hires Natalie Fischer as CEO, Co-Founder Sarah Smith Exits". Variety. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
- ^ Gajewski, Ryan (16 July 2024). "Warner Bros. Sets Animated Musical 'Bad Fairies' for 2027 Release". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 July 2024.