Blue Sky Studios No Longer Exists Years After It Was Sold to Disney Under 20th Century Animation

There was once a time when numerous animation studios were around to give people animated films across the board, from different artists and creators. Somewhere along the way, though, a few billion-dollar conglomerates took over, and now the smaller studios are out of business, including Blue Sky Studios.

But for those who loved the Rio and Ice Age franchises too much to just let that go, they might be wondering what happened to Blue Sky Studios. These days, you see the production cards for Illumination, Sony Pictures Animation, and Disney or Pixar more often than not. But Blue Sky Studios was once among the subsidiaries that put out animated films for larger movie studios.

Blue Sky Studios was known for producing a handful of well-earning movies, including Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! in 2008, The Peanuts Movie in 2015, and Ferdinand in 2019. Those are, of course, among the franchises that might have kept the studio afloat for as long as it was around. But Spies in Disguise, which came out in 2019, was the last movie that Blue Sky Studios put out.

In 2019, The Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox. In doing so, the corporation also acquired Blue Sky Studios because it was under the umbrella of 21st Century Fox. Deadline reported at the time that the studio was shut down amid struggles due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because Disney hadn't released movies under Blue Sky Studios after its acquisition in the two years from the time it was acquired to when it was closed down, though, it might have been an expected move.

When Blue Sky Studios closed down, a spokesperson spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the decision to close its doors after more than 30 years in business.

"Given the current economic realities, after much consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to close filmmaking operations at Blue Sky Studios," the statement said.

Blue Sky Studios had a solid run, but even if it had never been acquired by Disney along with 21st Century Fox, there is little place for smaller animation studios today. Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, and Lucasfilm Animation all fall under Disney. DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Animation, and Illumination are other high-profile animation companies.

Although Disney closed down Blue Sky Studios, the studio's biggest money-maker Ice Age is still going strong. According to Variety, a sixth Ice Age movie is slated for a 2027 release, complete with a star-studded cast that includes Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, and Denis Leary, who all voiced main characters in the other films.

For now, it looks like Disney has no plans to revive Blue Sky Studios in any capacity. That hasn't stopped Change.org petitions from popping up from time to time, though. There are even Reddit threads from fans who want the studio to be reopened. Because Disney owns the properties under the studio, though, it's unlikely that the dedicated and lingering Blue Sky Studios fans will get their wish.