Montreal’s On Animation Studios Shuts Down

It’s a dark day for Montreal’s animation and vfx industries. The community, already reeling from the collapse of Technicolor Group, which operated both MPC and Mikros studios out of Montreal, now has to deal with the closure of another once-important studio in the city: On Animation Studios.

On Animation was launched in 2012 by French producers Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam, and had more recently become part of the French media conglomerate Mediawan. It produced an eclectic variety of family animated films from the critically-acclaimed The Little Prince to the commercially-successful Miraculous series spin-off film Ladybug & Cat Noir: Awakening to the ill-conceived bomb Playmobil: The Movie.

On Animation announced this afternoon on Linkedin that it was shutting down permanently. In a letter, the studio wrote:

Amid the changes in our industry, ON Animation Studios is ceasing its activities.

It is sad to say goodbye to a team as incredible, talented, and skilled as ours. We will deeply miss the joy and excitement of creating outstanding films alongside such remarkable people and partners.

We are grateful to have had the opportunity to do what we love for so many years while remaining true to ourselves. The way we shared, learned, and grew together, and the respect and care we showed one another, were as essential as the stories we told and the values they embodied.

This is our commitment to a brighter future — not only for the children who cherish our films but for everyone who works in this extraordinary industry, along with their loved ones who have shared in this journey.

Though we cannot name each person who played a vital role in making this adventure possible, you know who you are, and for that, we thank you from the heart.

We leave behind a testament to our work and the promise that we still want to do more.

Keep on keeping on

It does not appear that On Animation was in active production on any projects at the time of its shutdown, however its departure from the Montreal scene is yet another depressing reminder that Quebec province’s days as a vibrant industry hub are nearing an end.

The boom in Quebec animation was largely artificial to begin with, propped up by a generous tax credit system and reliant on a vast international workforce. With the tax credit system now revised and Quebec’s government having turned rabidly anti-immigration, the province is no longer a financially-attractive place for international companies to send work nor is it a viable location for international artists to resettle.

Last fall, the Quebec Film and Television Council reported that over 50% of all animation and vfx jobs had been lost in the province over a two-year period. With recent developments, the industry’s decline in the Canadian province is accelerating.