Crest Animation Productions

Crest Animation Productions
Formerly	Rich Entertainment; (1986–1993); Rich Animation Studios; (1993–2000); RichCrest Animation Studios; (2000–2007)
Founded	March 15, 1986;38 years ago
Founder	Richard Rich
Defunct	June 19, 2013;11 years ago
Fate	Closed
Successors	Streetlight Animation; Splash Entertainment
Headquarters	Burbank, California, United States
Key people	Terry L. Noss
Owner	Nest Family Entertainment(1993–2000); Crest Animation Studios(2000–13)

Crest Animation Productions(formerlyRichCrest Animation Studios,Rich Animation Studiosand originallyRich Entertainment) was an Indian-American animation studio located inBurbank, California,United States.The studio's most well known work includeAlpha and OmegaandThe Swan Princess.

History

The studio was founded by film directorRichard Richin 1986, who previously worked atWalt 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 theBook of Mormonfor his Living Scriptures firm.^[2]They subsequently expanded to educational animatedChristianandhistoricalvideos 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., acassette-duplicatorinWest Valley City.^[2]On the heels of the videos' success, the two studios producedThe Swan Princessin 1994, based on the classic balletSwan Lake.Despite being abox-office disappointment,it sold well on video and spawned two sequels,The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle MountainandThe Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Kingdom.

In 1999, the two studios teamed up withMorgan Creek ProductionsandRankin/Bass Productionsto produce ananimated adaptationofRodgers and Hammerstein'sThe King and IforWarner Bros.However, the film bombed at the box office and received very negative reviews, which forcedNest Family Entertainmentto sell off the studio toCrest Animation Studioson 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 futureAlpha and Omegasequels were handed over toSplash Entertainmentwhile futureSwan Princessinstallments were handled byStreetlight Animation,which Rich also formed.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Theatrical Features

Rich era

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

RichCrest era

Title	Release Date	Notes
The Trumpet of the Swan	May 11, 2001(2001-05-11)	Co-production withTriStar PicturesandNest 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 withLionsgate Films;and produced in CGI.

Direct-to-Video

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 withNest Family Entertainment
Animated Hero Classics	1991–1997, 2004	Co-production with Living History Productions,Nest Family Entertainmentand Warner-Nest Animation
Animated Stories from the Bible	1992–1995	Co-Production withNest 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 withWGBH-TV,Mainframe EntertainmentandMarc 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 withUniversal Animation Studios
The Swan Princess: Christmas	November 6, 2012(2012-11-06)	Co-production withNest 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 withNest 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 bySplash Entertainmentand 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 withNest 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 withNest 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 withNest 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

^Citron, Rich (December 21, 1993)."Rich Hopes to Strike It in Animation".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedFebruary 6,2018.
^^a ^bPorter, Donald (November 19, 1994)."Richard Rich".Standard-Examiner.RetrievedFebruary 6,2018– via Blogger.
^Haring, Bruce (May 11, 1993)."Nest not empty with new units".Variety.Retrieved11 April2022.
^Baisley, Sarah (February 13, 2007)."RichCrest Animation Now Crest Animation Prods. with Fogelson at Helm".Animation World Network.Archivedfrom the original on September 4, 2014.RetrievedApril 15,2013.
^Sadhwani, Yogesh."WEEKEND DEATH FOR INDIA'S LARGEST ANIMATION FIRM".
^"Alpha and Omega: The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave".Lionsgate Publicity.RetrievedAugust 26,2014.
^"PGS Secures rights to Alpha and Omega TV movie".Rapid TV News.Pascale Paoli-Lebailly.RetrievedJanuary 22,2014.

[1] Citron, Rich (December 21, 1993)."Rich Hopes to Strike It in Animation".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedFebruary 6,2018.

[StandardExaminer-2] Porter, Donald (November 19, 1994)."Richard Rich".Standard-Examiner.RetrievedFebruary 6,2018– via Blogger.

[3] Haring, Bruce (May 11, 1993)."Nest not empty with new units".Variety.Retrieved11 April2022.

[4] Baisley, Sarah (February 13, 2007)."RichCrest Animation Now Crest Animation Prods. with Fogelson at Helm".Animation World Network.Archivedfrom the original on September 4, 2014.RetrievedApril 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.RetrievedAugust 26,2014.

[PGS-7] "PGS Secures rights to Alpha and Omega TV movie".Rapid TV News.Pascale Paoli-Lebailly.RetrievedJanuary 22,2014.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]