View source for Animation Magic

{{short description|Russian-American software animation studio}}
{{Infobox company
| name          = Animation Magic Inc.
| logo          =
| type          = 
| traded_as     = 
| predecessor   = 
| successor     = 
| foundation    = 1991 (Massachusetts branch)<br />1992 ([[Saint Petersburg]] branch)<ref name=hammerandsilicon>{{cite book | author1=Puffer, Sheila M. | author2=McCarthy, Daniel J. | author3=Satinsky, Daniel M. | title=Hammer and Silicon: The Soviet Diaspora in the US Innovation Economy | date=2018 | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | isbn=978-1107190856 | pages=152–153 | quote=I went back to computer design and computer manufacturing, and in 1991, I started my own business in multimedia called Animation Magic. When I started that business, Russia opened up and my partner, who was also from Massachusetts but originally from California, suggested that we should probably hire some animators from Russia because that would make us more competitive in the marketplace. We would have better animation and therefore more success, so I went to Russia and we opened a business there in 1992.}}</ref>
| founders      = Igor Razboff and Dale DeSharone
| defunct       = {{end date|2001}}<ref>{{Cite magazine|author = Игорь Варнавский (Igor Varnavsky)| volume=1| script-title=ru:Закрытые страницы истории. Крупные игровые компании в России были еще в 90-е, но мы об этом не знали|url = https://www.igromania.ru/article/12680/Zakrytye_stranicy_istorii_Krupnye_igrovye_kompanii_v_Rossii_byli_esche_v_90-e_no_my_ob_yetom_ne_znali.html|magazine = [[Igromania]]|date = 2008-01-31 |publication-date=January 2008|access-date = 2017-05-22|language=ru|df=mdy-all|issue=124}}</ref>
| fate          = Dissolved by [[Vivendi]]
| location_city = [[Gaithersburg, Maryland|Gaithersburg]], [[Maryland]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| location      = 
| locations     = 3
| area_served   = 
| key_people    = 
| industry      = 
| products      = [[Video games]] and animation
| services      = 
| revenue       = 
| owner         = Capitol Multimedia
| num_employees = ~150
| divisions     = 
| subsid        = ООО "АМИ"
}}
'''Animation Magic''' ({{lang-ru|«Магия анимации»|translit=Magiya Animatsii}}) was a Russian-American animation studio founded in [[Gaithersburg, Maryland]] in 1991, with offices later added in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] and a 100%-owned subsidiary in [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russia]]. The company developed animations for CD-based software. It was acquired in December 1994 by [[Capitol Multimedia]].

By 1994 Animation Magic had 90 employees, including 12 software engineers and approximately 60 animators, computer graphic, background and sprite artists. Its products included ''[[Link: The Faces of Evil]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Link: The Faces of Evil|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/cd-i/link-the-faces-of-evil|publisher=[[MobyGames]]|access-date=2017-05-22|df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''[[Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/cd-i/zelda-the-wand-of-gamelon|publisher=[[MobyGames]]|access-date=2017-05-22|df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''Mutant Rampage: Bodyslam'', ''Pyramid Adventures'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pyramid Adventures Episode 1: Treasures of the Lost Pyramid - The Cutting Room Floor|url=https://tcrf.net/Pyramid_Adventures_Episode_1:_Treasures_of_the_Lost_Pyramid|access-date=2021-07-09|website=tcrf.net}}</ref> ''[[I.M. Meen]]'',<ref>{{cite web |author=Brad Cook |title=Test of ''I.M. Meen'' |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15837&tab=review|publisher=[[Allgame]]|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306231653/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=15837&tab=review|archive-date=2013-03-06|df=mdy-all|access-date=2017-05-22}}</ref> ''[[King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride]]'', ''[[Darby the Dragon]]'', and the cancelled ''[[Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Animation Magic|url=http://www.thevideoanimationcompany.com/animation-news/capitol-multimedia-to-acquire-animation-magic-inc|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140805044448/http://www.thevideoanimationcompany.com/animation-news/capitol-multimedia-to-acquire-animation-magic-inc|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-08-05|publisher=The Video Animation Company|df=mdy-all|access-date=2017-05-22}} </ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans|url=http://www.1up.com/games/pc/warcraft-adventures-lord-clans/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101221403/http://www.1up.com/games/pc/warcraft-adventures-lord-clans/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-01-01|publisher=[[1UP.com]]|df=mdy-all|access-date=2017-05-22}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
Circa 2006, games by Animation Magic were major source materials for [[YouTube poop]]s, specifically ''[[Link: The Faces of Evil]]'', ''[[Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon]]'', and ''[[I.M. Meen|I. M. Meen]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inside YouTube Poop, the nonsensical genre that invented meme culture on the internet |url=https://screenshot-media.com/culture/internet-culture/what-is-youtube-poop/ |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=Inside YouTube Poop, the nonsensical genre that invented meme culture on the internet |language=en}}</ref> 

On September 6, 2020, over 200 animators [[Reanimated collaboration|collaborated to reanimate]] 21 minutes of cutscenes of ''Link: The Faces of Evil'' and ''Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'' (both 1993).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Someone's remade the Zelda CD-i games, and they're kind of good now |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/zelda-remakes-cdi |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=PCGamesN |date=28 November 2020 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=2020-09-07 |title=Zelda CD-i Reanimated brings together over 200 animators to celebrate the worst-ever Zelda cutscenes |url=https://nintendowire.com/news/2020/09/07/zelda-cd-i-reanimated-brings-together-over-200-animators-to-celebrate-the-worst-ever-zelda-cutscenes/ |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=Nintendo Wire}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Citation |title=The Zelda CDi Reanimated Collab! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvxE6IUCPxU |language=en |access-date=2022-08-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Muñoz |first=José David |date=2020-09-08 |title=Los Zelda CD-i se han reanimado de una manera gloriosa gracias a los esfuerzos de varios fans |url=https://www.hobbyconsolas.com/noticias/zelda-cd-i-han-reanimado-manera-gloriosa-gracias-esfuerzos-varios-fans-712865 |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=Hobbyconsolas |language=es}}</ref> ''Nintendo Wire'' reported, "The ever-shifting mediums and the contrasting animation styles, ranging from professional and sophisticated to intentionally goofy and exaggerated, lend themselves incredibly well to cutscenes that were already chaotic and bizarre to begin with."<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://dtf.ru/games/930094-kak-sozdateli-memnyh-spin-offov-zeldy-izmenili-rossiyskuyu-industriyu-igr-i-animacii Как создатели мемных спин-оффов «Зельды» изменили российскую индустрию игр и анимации] (lit. How the creators of Zelda's meme spin-offs changed the Russian gaming industry and animations) {{LL|ru}}. DTF. November 25, 2021.

{{Animation industry in Russia}}
{{Animation industry in the United States}}
{{The Legend of Zelda}}

[[Category:Vivendi subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Video game companies of Russia]]
[[Category:American animation studios]]
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1992]]
[[Category:Mass media companies established in 1992]]
[[Category:Video game companies disestablished in 2001]]
[[Category:Mass media companies disestablished in 2001]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Maryland]]
[[Category:Companies based in Gaithersburg, Maryland]]


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