Titmouse, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Los Angeles, California founded in 1999 that develops and produces animated television programming, feature films, music videos, title sequences, commercials, and short films. The name is derived of the titmouse, which serves as the company's mascot.
 | |
| Company type | Privately |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 1999 |
| Founders | Chris Prynoski Shannon Prynoski |
| Headquarters | , U.S.[1] |
Key people | |
Number of employees | over 700[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Titmouse New York Titmouse Canada |
| Website | titmouse |
History
Founder and CEO Chris Prynoski began working at MTV in New York on shows such as Daria, Beavis and Butt-Head, and his own creation, Downtown, which was nominated for a primetime Emmy Award.[3] In the early 2000s, Prynoski opened a small T-shirt company with his wife, Shannon Prynoski. However, upon getting more requests for cartoons than for T-shirts, they decided to abandon screen-printing in favor of animation. The Prynoskis moved to California, and opened the revamped Titmouse, Inc., an animation studio. Antonio Canobbio, who had worked with Chris Prynoski at MTV and both Prynoskis at Cartoon Network in L.A., was hired as creative director.[4] Titmouse opened a games division in 2009.[5]
Due to projects like Cartoon Network's Metalocalypse, Superjail! and The Venture Bros.[6][7] the company expanded and opened a sister studio in New York City in 2010.[8] The California studio later added a wholly owned subsidiary, Robin Redbreast, which was then unionized in order to produce Motorcity for Disney XD.[9]
The company has a YouTube channel, Rug Burn, launched in December 2012 with 6 Point Harness. Rug Burn was launched with a handful of shows.[10]
In April 2016, Titmouse released its first feature-length film, the R-rated Nerdland, which stars Paul Rudd and Patton Oswalt.[11] Two years later, in 2018, Titmouse became the studio behind the Disney and Lucasfilm YouTube series of one-minute shorts, Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures. The series is directed by Titmouse’s Barry Kelly.[12]
Unionizing
In October 2020, Titmouse Vancouver became the first animation studio in Canada to join a union. Following a vote that captured 87% of the workforce, 98% of Titmouse Vancouver's workforce voted to join the newly founded Animation Guild IATSE Local 938.[13] In response to this, some said that the issues raised by the workers of Titmouse were the same ones heard "from unrepresented animation workers everywhere" and that the unionization of the Titmouse workers acknowledges the contributions by animation workers to the industry.[14][15][lower-alpha 1]
In January 2022, the employees of Titmouse New York formed a union with Animation Guild IATSE Local 839, the first to do so outside of Los Angeles County in more than 70 years. In the card check process, Titmouse NY employees showed more than 90% of support for the organizing effort. Following the union becoming public, Titmouse management chose to voluntarily recognize the union and agreed to negotiate with the Animation Guild in good faith.[16]
Partnerships
Titmouse has been the animation studio for the Paramount+ comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks since 2020.[17][18] In early 2020, Titmouse signed a multiyear production deal with Netflix.[19] Titmouse and Netflix co-produced the Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell-created series The Midnight Gospel, which aired the same year.[20] Also for Netflix, Titmouse animated an episode of Blur Studio's sci-fi anthology series Love, Death & Robots titled "Kill Team Kill".[21][22]
Titmouse worked with Critical Role and Amazon MGM Studios to co-produce and serve as the animation studio for the Amazon Prime Video series The Legend of Vox Machina.[23][24]
Titmouse also co-produced the Emmy-nominated spinoff series, The Boys Presents: Diabolical for Amazon Prime Video,[25] and produced the adult animated science fiction television series Scavengers Reign with Green Street Pictures in 2023, with Chris Prynoski serving as an executive producer.[26]
Filmography
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024) |
Television
Feature films
Music videos
| Title | Year | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in da Club) | 2001 | Redman | Animation |
| Breaking the Habit | 2004 | Linkin Park | With Gonzo Digimation |
| Dirty Little Thing | Velvet Revolver | Animation (produced for ka-chew!) | |
| Heartless | 2009 | The Fray | |
| Black Rain | Soundgarden | ||
| The Wind | 2012 | Zac Brown Band | |
| Miss Atomic Bomb | The Killers | Animation | |
| The Story of O.J. | 2017 | Jay-Z | Character animation |
| Hallucinate | 2020 | Dua Lipa | |
| Don't Cry | MorMor | ||
| Yankee and the Brave | Run the Jewels | ||
Area21
|
2021 | Area21 |
Short films
Video games
| Title | Year | Production company | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock | 2007 | Neversoft | Cinematics[68] |
| Guitar Hero Aerosmith | 2008 | Intro and outro cinematics | |
| Guitar Hero World Tour | Cinematics[68] | ||
| Guitar Hero: Metallica | 2009 | Cinematics[69] | |
| Guitar Hero Smash Hits | Cinematics | ||
| Marvel Heroes | 2013 | Gazillion Entertainment | Opening cinematic |
| The Legend of Korra | 2014 | PlatinumGames | Cinematics[70] |
| Soundfall | 2018 | Drastic Games | Trailer |
| Indivisible | Lab Zero Games | Opening cinematic (co-animated with Trigger) | |
| Speed Brawl | Double Stallion | Animated launch trailer | |
| Apex Legends | 2019 | Respawn Entertainment | "Stories from the Outlands: A Father's Letter" |
| SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated | Purple Lamp Studios | Teaser | |
| Hi-Fi Rush | 2023 | Tango Gameworks | Cinematics |
| Spectre Divide | 2024 | Mountaintop Studios | Animated launch trailer |
Notes
- A related union is The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839, formerly named the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, located in Burbank, California
References
External links
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