Sunbow Entertainment

History

Beginnings and partnerships with Hasbro and Marvel Productions (1980–1992)

Sunbow is noted for many cartoons aired during the 1980s. Most of their work was co-produced with Marvel Productions. Although it is not limited to Hasbro's various toy lines its reputation is linked to the cartoon series tied to them. Its animation was initially produced by the Japanese animation studio Toei Animation, supplemented by the South Korean animation studio AKOM later on. Sunbow also worked with TMS Entertainment on Hasbro's Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.

By 1987, most of Hasbro's toy lines were losing money and internal struggles forced the company to end popular series such as Jem, G.I. Joe and Transformers. Two of Sunbow's animated movies, The Transformers: The Movie and My Little Pony: The Movie, flopped at the box office, forcing a third project, G.I. Joe: The Movie, to be released directly to video. It also led to the end of the partnership with Marvel Productions in the late-1980s.

Troubles with original material (1992–1998)

In a bid to produce original material, Sunbow produced several cartoons through the early 1990s such as The Tick and Conan the Adventurer. Only The Tick managed to gain popularity and critical acclaim.

Sony Wonder ownership (1998–2000)

On May 4, 1998, Sony Wonder, a division of Sony Music, bought Sunbow Productions in order to expand to more original programming for their television division. On May 1, 1999, Sunbow took over European distribution of Sony Wonder's TV IPs.

TV-Loonland ownership, dormancy and closure (2000–2009)

On October 3, 2000, German-based company TV-Loonland AG purchased Sony Wonder's television business assets including Sunbow Entertainment. In exchange for the purchase, Sony Wonder retained US distribution rights to the Sunbow catalogue. Previously, Rhino Entertainment owned the U.S. home video distribution rights to the Sunbow catalogue. The rights then changed hands to Sony Wonder with its acquisition of the catalogue.

On September 5, 2001, the company announced a co-production deal with Rumpus Toys to produce Kappa Mikey, with TV-Loonland holding worldwide and home video distribution rights. On May 29, 2002, the project was picked up by Noggin for its teen-oriented programming block The N. Noggin/The N signed a co-development deal for the series, For unknown reasons, Sunbow and TV-Loonland would later silently pull out of the deal, with the final produced show having no involvement with the two companies.

On October 12, 2001, Sunbow announced a co-development deal with Nickelodeon to produce Skeleton Key, an animated series based on a comic book of the same name for an initial run of 13 episodes. However, the series never materialized. On November 6, production on TV special Donner was completed (originally started in June 2001), and aired as planned on December 1, on ABC Family.

On April 10, 2002, the studio announced two additional projects - The Many Adventures of Johnny Mutton, and Mr Stick & Slug Boy. Another pickup came on October 8 with a television adaptation of the book The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish in development; however, none of these projects would come into fruition.

After the announcement that The Cramp Twins' second season would be produced by fellow-Loonland owned studio Telemagination on October 23, 2002, Sunbow later became dormant after their existing projects were shelved, although they still remained as a company until at least 2009.

On March 29, 2007, Sony Music Entertainment announced they would shut down Sony Wonder, leaving the US deal under limbo. However, on June 20, 2007, it was announced that Sony Wonder had been moved into Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which eventually it renamed as Sony Pictures Family Fun in 2015. However, the Sunbow licenses were not included in the purchase.

On May 14, 2008, Hasbro announced that it had obtained the rights to all the Sunbow Productions animated series based on Hasbro properties for $7 million. This includes Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, Jem and the Holograms, and many more. These titles are currently managed as part of the Hasbro Entertainment library.

TV-Loonland filed for bankruptcy on December 9, 2009; its catalogue was acquired by German distributor Made 4 Entertainment on April 5, 2011. In February 2017, Belgian production company Studio 100 purchased a majority stake in m4e.

Filmography

Television series

Specials

• G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra (1984) (co-production with Marvel Productions)
• The GLO Friends Save Christmas (1985)
• Transformers: Five Faces of Darkness (1986) (co-production with Marvel Productions and AKOM)
• Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light (1987) (co-production with TMS Entertainment)
• Transformers: The Return of Optimus Prime (1986) (co-production with Marvel Productions)
• Transformers: The Rebirth (1987) (co-production with Marvel Productions)
• Sgt. Savage and his Screaming Eagles (1994) (G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero spin-off) (co-production with Graz Entertainment)

Original specials

Hasbro properties : Note: All programs based on Hasbro properties are co-productions with Marvel Productions. These programs are owned by Hasbro Entertainment.

Theatrical films

TV specials

• The Secret World of the Very Young (1984)
• Donner (2001, in cooperation with Rainbow Studios and TV-Loonland AG)

References

References

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3. (May 1998). "Sony Wonder gets animated". Electronic Media.
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5. (May 4, 1998). "Sony buys Sunbow". Broadcasting Publications, Inc..
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7. Variety Staff. (2000-10-03). "TV Loonland buys up Sony Wonder units". Variety.
8. "Sunbow and Rumpus to Produce Kappa Mikey Series".
9. Godfrey, Leigh. (May 29, 2002). "Sunbow and Noggin's The N to Co-Develop Kappa Mikey". [[Animation World Network]].
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12. "Ninth Art - Hold the Front Page: An interview with Andi Watson".
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20. Variety Staff. (2007-06-20). "SPHE absorbs Wonder label". Variety.
21. (2007-06-21). "Sony Home Ent. Takes Over Sony Wonder | Animation World Network". Awn.com.
22. (May 15, 2008). "Hasbro Reacquires Sunbow Cartoons". ign.com.
23. Arnold, Thomas K.. (2007-03-13). "Kids label Sony Wonder going under: sources". Reuters.
24. Arnold, Thomas K.. (2007-03-14). "Sony ceases Wonder label". Hollywood Reporter.
25. Ryan Ball. (2007-03-15). "Sony Wonder Closing Shop?". Animation Magazine.
26. Scott Roxborough, AP. (9 December 2009). "TV Loonland files for bankruptcy protection". The Hollywood Reporter.
27. "M4e acquires TV Loonland content library".
28. (6 April 2018). "Studio 100 Takes Stake in m4e".
29. (September 17, 1986). "Sunbow Takes To Marvel Like Duck To Water In Animation". Cahners Business Information.
30. (December 22, 1987). "Cartoon Character Puts Singer Into Spotlight". Tribune Publishing.
31. (December 10, 2016). "15 Cartoon Superheroes Who Jumped To Comic Books".
32. (May 5, 2017). "15 CLASSIC Cartoons Marvel SECRETLY Produced".
33. (September 1, 2016). "15 Animated Superhero TV Shows You Completely Forgot About".