Crest Animation Productions

Crest Animation Productions (formerly RichCrest Animation Studios, Rich Animation Studios and originally Rich Entertainment) was an Indian-American animation studio located in Burbank, California, United States. The studio's most well known work include Alpha and Omega and The Swan Princess.

Crest Animation Productions
FormerlyRich Entertainment
(1986–1993)
Rich Animation Studios
(1993-2000)
RichCrest Animation Studios
(2000–2007)
FoundedMarch 15, 1986; 37 years ago (1986-03-15)
FounderRichard Rich
DefunctJune 19, 2013; 10 years ago (2013-06-19)
FateClosed
SuccessorStreetlight Animation
Headquarters,
United States
Key people
Terry L. Noss
OwnerNest Family Entertainment (1993–2000)
Crest Animation Studios (2000–13)

History edit

The studio was founded by film director Richard Rich in 1986, who previously worked at Walt Disney Productions. He initially had 26 employees, most of them coming from Disney such as former marketing chief Matt Mazer.[1] Around that time, Rich was contacted by Jared F. Brown to produce half-hour animated videos based on audio cassettes of the Book of Mormon for his Living Scriptures firm.[2] They subsequently expanded to educational animated Christian and historical videos for children through a sister company Family Entertainment Network.[citation needed]

In 1993, Rich Animation Studios was fully acquired by Nest Entertainment,[3] a holding company that also combined Family Entertainment Network and Cassette Duplicators Inc., a cassette-duplicator in West Valley City.[2] On the heels of the videos' success, the two studios produced The Swan Princess in 1994, based on the classic ballet Swan Lake. Despite being a box-office disappointment, it sold well on video and spawned two sequels, The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain and The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom.

In 1999, the two studios teamed up with Morgan Creek Productions and Rankin/Bass Productions to produce an animated adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I for Warner Bros. However, the film bombed at the box office and received very negative reviews, which forced Nest Family Entertainment to sell off the studio to Crest Animation Studios on New Year's Day 2000.[citation needed] The studio was renamed to RichCrest Animation Studios, and they continued to produce Bible videos for Nest until 2005.

In February 2007, RichCrest was renamed to Crest Animation Productions and announced that it was "expanding its business to become a full-service animation studio specializing in the development and production of CGI-animated properties for theatrical, television, home entertainment and interactive distribution".[4]

The studio was finally shut down in 2013, after failing to make a profit.[5] Many of its productions contracts were handed over to other studios for completion. Norm of the North, a film that was in production at Crest before closing, along with future Alpha and Omega sequels were handed over to Splash Entertainment while future Swan Princess installments were handled by Streetlight Animation, which Rich also formed.[citation needed]

Filmography edit

Theatrical Features edit

Rich era

Title Release Date Notes
The Swan Princess November 18, 1994 (1994-11-18) Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
The King and I March 19, 1999 (1999-03-19) Co-production with Morgan Creek Productions, Rankin/Bass Productions and Nest Family Entertainment

RichCrest era

Title Release Date Notes
The Trumpet of the Swan May 11, 2001 (2001-05-11) Co-production with TriStar Pictures and Nest Family Entertainment
Muhammad: The Last Prophet November 8, 2002 (2002-11-08)

Crest era

Title Release Date Notes
Alpha and Omega September 17, 2010 (2010-09-17) Co-production with Lionsgate Films; and produced in CGI.

Direct-to-Video edit

Rich era

Title Release Date Notes
Animated Stories from the Book of Mormon 1987-1992 Co-production with Living Scriptures
Animated Stories from the New Testament 1987-2004 Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
Animated Hero Classics 1991–97, 2004 Co-production with Living History Productions, Nest Family Entertainment and Warner-Nest Animation
Animated Stories from the Bible 1992-95 Co-Production with Nest Family Entertainment
The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain July 18, 1997 (1997-07-18)
The Swan Princess III: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure August 4, 1998 (1998-08-04)
The Scarecrow August 22, 2000 (2000-08-22)

RichCrest era

Title Release Date Notes
K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments 2003 Co-production with TLC Entertainment and SMEC Media
Arthur's Missing Pal (CGI) August 22, 2006 (2006-08-22) Co-production with WGBH-TV, Mainframe Entertainment and Marc Brown Studios

Crest era Note: All films CGI.

Title Release Date Notes
The Little Engine That Could March 22, 2011 (2011-03-22) Co-production with Universal Animation Studios
The Swan Princess: Christmas November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
Alpha and Omega 2: A Howl-iday Adventure October 8, 2013 (2013-10-08)
The Swan Princess: A Royal Family Tale February 25, 2014 (2014-02-25) Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
Alpha and Omega 3: The Great Wolf Games March 25, 2014 (2014-03-25)
Alpha and Omega 4: The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave October 7, 2014 (2014-10-07)[6]
Alpha and Omega: Family Vacation August 4, 2015 (2015-08-04)[7]

Films originally slated for production at Crest

Title Release Date Notes
Norm of the North January 15, 2016 (2016-01-15) Co-produced by Splash Entertainment and Assemblage Entrainment
Alpha and Omega: Dino Digs May 10, 2016 (2016-05-10)
The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today September 6, 2016 (2016-09-06) Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
Alpha and Omega: The Big Fureeze December 8, 2016 (2016-12-08)
The Swan Princess: Royally Undercover March 28, 2017 (2017-03-28) Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
Alpha and Omega: Journey to Bear Kingdom May 9, 2017 (2017-05-09)
The Swan Princess: A Royal Myztery March 27, 2018 (2018-03-27) Co-production with Nest Family Entertainment
The Swan Princess: Kingdom of Music August 6, 2019 (2019-08-06)
The Swan Princess: A Royal Wedding August 4, 2020 (2020-08-04)
The Swan Princess: A Fairytale is Born May 23, 2023 (2023-05-23)
The Swan Princess: Far Longer than Forever September 19, 2023 (2023-09-19)

References edit

  1. ^ Citron, Rich (December 21, 1993). "Rich Hopes to Strike It in Animation". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Porter, Donald (November 19, 1994). "Richard Rich". Standard-Examiner. Retrieved February 6, 2018 – via Blogger.
  3. ^ Haring, Bruce (May 11, 1993). "Nest not empty with new units". Variety. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  4. ^ Baisley, Sarah (February 13, 2007). "RichCrest Animation Now Crest Animation Prods. with Fogelson at Helm". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  5. ^ Sadhwani, Yogesh. "WEEKEND DEATH FOR INDIA'S LARGEST ANIMATION FIRM".
  6. ^ "Alpha and Omega: The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave". Lionsgate Publicity. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  7. ^ "PGS Secures rights to Alpha and Omega TV movie". Rapid TV News. Pascale Paoli-Lebailly. Retrieved January 22, 2014.