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Augenblick Studios

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Augenblick Studios
Company typePrivate
IndustryAnimation, motion pictures, television
FoundedSeptember 1999; 25 years ago (1999-09)
FoundersAaron Augenblick
HeadquartersBrooklyn, New York City, United States
Key people
Aaron Augenblick
Websitewww.augenblickstudios.com Edit this at Wikidata

Augenblick Studios is an independent animation studio founded in 1999 by Aaron Augenblick, and located in Brooklyn, New York City.[1] The company has created a wide array of animated shorts for television, film, and the Internet, with the target audience typically being adults. Their clients include Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Adult Swim, the TED conference, PBS, MTV, and Nickelodeon. Their logo features a moonshine bottle with wings.

History

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Aaron Augenblick studied animation at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. After graduating in 1997, Augenblick worked at MTV Animation on shows such as Daria, Downtown, and Cartoon Sushi.

In 1999, Augenblick opened Augenblick Studios in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn.[2] The first cartoon produced by the company was "Ramblin' Man", an independent short film based on the Hank Williams song. "Ramblin' Man" was released to critical acclaim and was a 2001 SXSW award winner.[3] Several other independent shorts followed, including "Drunky" (2001) and "Plugs McGinniss" (2003).

The first television production from Augenblick Studios was Shorties Watchin' Shorties on Comedy Central in 2004.[4] The show featured animated interpretations of stand up comedy segments from comedians including Denis Leary, Patton Oswalt, Louis C.K., Dane Cook, and Mitch Hedberg. In 2004, Augenblick Studios produced the animated content for two seasons of PFFR's Wonder Showzen on MTV2.[5] Augenblick created short segments, motion graphics, and illustrations for the show.

In 2006, they created the faux-documentary Golden Age for Comedy Central, which was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival.[6] In 2007, Augenblick Studios animated the short "Lying Rhino" for the feature film comedy The Ten.[7] In 2008, the studio completed 11 episodes of Superjail! for the Adult Swim programming block on Cartoon Network.[8] They also created several short cartoons for Yo Gabba Gabba on Nickelodeon.

Augenblick Studios created 31 episodes of the Comedy Central series Ugly Americans which aired between 2010 and 2012.[9] In 2011, the studio also created a video for the track "Another Tattoo" on Weird Al Yankovic's album Alpocalypse.[10] In 2013, they worked on a cartoon short for Saturday Night Live, with SNL writer Zach Kanin. In 2015, Augenblick Studios collaborated with Animation Domination High Def on Golan the Insatiable, a primetime half-hour series for Fox.[11] In 2015, Augenblick Studios animated a new TV series written and created by Tyler, the Creator called The Jellies! which premiered in 2017.[12] Augenblick Studios also did additional animation for the Cartoon Network animated series MAD. The Netflix series Losers, released in March 2019, features animated segments created by Augenblick Studios.[13]

In January 2016, Augenblick Studios announced it is producing its first animated feature film, The Adventures of Drunky. The R-rated comedy stars Sam Rockwell, Jeffrey Tambor, Steve Coogan, and Nina Arianda.[14] Its release date was slated to be 2018, but was stalled due to Jeffrey Tambor's sexual harassment allegations. On September 24, 2021, it was stated that the film will be completed in 2022.[15]

Death Hacks, was released on Snapchat on August 29, 2020.[16] The company produces Teenage Euthanasia which started airing on Adult Swim in September 2021.[17]

In 2021, Future Brain Media was established as a children's animation division with Augenblick and Daniel Powell as co-founders.[18]

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Notes Client
2004 Shorties Watchin' Shorties Comedy Central
2005–06 Wonder Showzen animated segments MTV2
2007 Sesame Street: Kids' Favorite Country Songs "Tall Tale" segment Sesame Workshop
2007–08 Superjail! pilot and season 1 only Adult Swim
2009 Xavier: Renegade Angel animated contest entry Adult Swim
2010–12 Ugly Americans season 1 and 5 episodes of season 2 Comedy Central
2012–13 Mad additional animation Warner Bros. Animation
2012 Saturday Night Live animation ("Cool Drones", "Faberge Egg Cop" segments) NBC
2013–15 Golan the Insatiable Fox
2013–14 The Heart, She Holler animated segments Adult Swim
2013 T.I. & Tiny: The Holiday Hustle VH1
2017–19 The Jellies! Adult Swim
2019 Losers Netflix
2021 Headspace Guide to Meditation animation
2021 Teenage Euthanasia season 1 Adult Swim
2021–present Cake season 5 (Swan Boy segments) FXX
2022-present City Island produced by Future Brain Media PBS Kids
2023 One Piece 2nd-key animation; ep 1066 Toei Animation

Feature films

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Year Title Co-production with Note
2019 Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story Bonded By Blood animation
2020 Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics Netflix animation
2020 Zoolander: Super Model CBS All Access animation
2022 The Adventures of Drunky Cartuna animation and post-production
2022 Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Funny or Die animated sequence

Short films

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Year Title Client Notes
2000 Ramblin' Man animation
2002 Moomie's Garage Nickelodeon one-shot interstitial
2003 The Man with the Smallest Penis in Existence and the Electron Microscope Technician Who Loved Him animation
2006 The Lying Rhino ThinkFilm animation
2007 Golden Age Comedy Central animation
2013–14 DC Nation Shorts Warner Bros. Animation Metal Men shorts
2013 Cookie Chemistry TED-Ed
What Is JASH? Jash
Spacemen From Brookstonia Ottawa Animation Festival
2017 ASAP Fables: The Snake With No Manners Topic animation
2017–18 The Nib Topic
2018–19 Monologue Topic animation; 3 episodes
2020 Death Hacks Snapchat animation
NYS COVID PSA Tribeca Film Institute animation

Music videos

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Year Title Artist
2011 "Another Tattoo" "Weird Al" Yankovic
2013 "Tiny Anthem" The M Machine
2014 "Far Away" Feed Me & Kill the Noise
2015 "Rubble Kings Theme" Run the Jewels
2019 "Expensify This" 2 Chainz x Adam Scott
2020 "Ultraviolent" Kill the Noise
2023 "Your Horoscope for Today" "Weird Al" Yankovic
2024 "Polkamania!" ("Hello" segment) "Weird Al" Yankovic

References

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  1. ^ Holloway, Daniel (2008). "Superjail". Geek Monthly. 17–22. CFQ Media: 310.
  2. ^ Amidi, Amid (July 8, 2013). "The Aaron Augenblick Interview". Cartoon Brew.
  3. ^ "Film Awards Past Winners". South by Southwest.
  4. ^ Baisley, Sarah (October 28, 2004). "Shorties Watchin' Shorties Returns on Comedy Central Oct. 28". Animation World Network.
  5. ^ Simpson, Aaron (May 25, 2005). "Aaron Augenblick, Part 1". Cold Hard Flash.
  6. ^ Simpson, Aaron (May 18, 2006). "Augenblick Releases Golden Age". Cold Hard Flash.
  7. ^ Baisley, Sarah (August 3, 2007). "Augenblick Studios Animates Short for The Ten Theatrical Release". Animation World Network.
  8. ^ Simpson, Aaron (September 26, 2008). "Superjail Interview". Cold Hard Flash.
  9. ^ Lamar, Cyriaque (March 17, 2010). "In "Ugly Americans," New York Is Full Of Monsters". Gizmodo. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  10. ^ Beck, Jerry (July 1, 2011). "Weird Al's Latest". Cartoon Brew.
  11. ^ Robinson, Chris (June 12, 2015). "Aaron Augenblick Talks 'Golan the Insatiable'". Animation World Network.
  12. ^ Hughes, William (September 30, 2015). "Tyler, The Creator has a new cartoon about violent, foul-mouthed jellyfish". The A.V. Club.
  13. ^ Schwarz, John (February 24, 2019). "Netflix to release "Losers" docuseries featuring animated retellings of sports stories". Bubbleblabber.
  14. ^ Busch, Anita (January 14, 2016). "God v. Devil v. 'Drunky' In New R-Rated Animated Feature". Deadline Hollywood.
  15. ^ Zahed, Ramin (September 24, 2021). "Aaron Augenblick and His Brooklyn Studio Bring an Indie Twist to Network Toons". Animation Magazine.
  16. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (August 26, 2020). "Snapchat Debuts Original Horror-Comedy Toon 'Death Hacks' from Augenblick". Animation Magazine. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  17. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (December 2, 2020). "Adult Swim Greenlights 'Teenage Euthanasia' from Alissa Nutting & Alyson Levy". Animation Magazine. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  18. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (June 28, 2021). "Daniel Powell, Aaron Augenblick form Kids Animation Outfit Future Brain Media". Animation Magazine. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
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