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===Ralph Bakshi {{Anchor|Bakshi returns}}===
[[Ralph Bakshi]], director of ground-breaking animated films like ''[[Fritz the Cat (animation)|Fritz the Cat]]'' and the original ''[[The Lord of the Rings (animation)|Lord of the Rings]]'' film, returned to animation after taking a short break in the mid-1980s. In 1985, he teamed up with young [[Canadian]]-born-and-raised animator [[John Kricfalusi]] to make a hybrid live-action/animated music video for [[The Rolling Stones]]' ''The Harlem Shuffle'', which was released in early 1986.
The music video put together a production team at Bakshi Animation whose next project was the short-lived TV series ''[[Mighty Mouse the New Adventures|Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures]]''. Bakshi and company worked on several other projects in the late 1980s, but his biggest project, 1992's ''[[Cool World]]'', was a critically panned commercial disappointment.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cool World (1992) |work=Box Office Mojo |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=coolworld.htm}}</ref> In 2005, Bakshi announced that he would begin working on another feature film, ''Last Days of Coney Island'', which he is financing himself and producing independently. Bakshi suspended production on the film in 2008,<ref>{{cite web
In 1989, producer Tom Ruegger had led an exodus of Hanna-Barbera staffers to restart Warner Bros. Animation. At first, the studio was constantly under threat of closure.<ref name="Strike 1">{{cite web|last =Strike |first =Joe |title=The Fred Seibert Interview, Part 1 |work=Animation World Magazine |date= 2003-07-15 |url=http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&category2=&article_no=1800&page=3 |page= 3 }}</ref> However, under Fred Seibert's guidance, Hanna-Barbera's new staff (whose ranks included [[Seth MacFarlane]], Butch Hartman, and [[Genndy Tartakovsky]]) created a new generation of Hanna-Barbera cartoons in the 1990s such as ''[[Two Stupid Dogs|2 Stupid Dogs]]'', ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'', ''[[Cow and Chicken]]'', ''[[I Am Weasel]]'' and ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. Alongside these Hanna-Barbera cartoons, shows from other companies also premiered on the channel such as ''[[Space Ghost Coast to Coast]]'', ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' and ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]''. These shows were designed to appeal to adults as well as children, and thus incorporated plenty of "adult humor", such as pop-culture references and veiled sexual innuendos.
[[Time Warner]] acquired Turner in 1996, and thus inherited the rights to all of Hanna-Barbera's creative properties. This allowed Cartoon Network to begin airing all of the classic ''Looney Tunes'' shorts as well (previously, Turner had owned only the ''Looney Tunes'' shorts produced before August 1948, which had become part of the MGM/UA library).<ref>{{cite web|last=Balio|first=Tino|title=United Artists, Volume 2, 1951–1978: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, Volume 2
|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=0299230139|page=106}}</ref> Cartoon Network's success with original programming lead them to move the reruns of old Hanna-Barbera and ''Looney Tunes'' cartoons to their spin-off channel Boomerang.
Lucas experienced cash flow issues after his 1983 divorce, and in 1986 Pixar was spun off from Lucasfilm as a separate corporation with $10 million in capital from Apple Computer co-founder [[Steve Jobs]]. At that time, Pixar primarily developed computer animation hardware, but Lasseter helped the company make a name for itself by creating acclaimed CGI short films such as ''The Adventures of André and Wally B.'' (1984). After the spin-off, he would go on to produce ''Tin Toy'' (1988), which won an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]. The company transitioned into TV commercial production and projects such as the Computer Animation Production System for Disney. After the success of ''Tin Toy'', Pixar made a deal with Disney to produce feature films. The first of these films, 1995's ''[[Toy Story]]'', was a smash hit, which in turn led to additional successful films such as ''[[A Bug's Life]]'' and ''[[Toy Story 2]]''. By then, Jobs had become the owner of Pixar by keeping it alive with additional investments over the years; he had often considered selling it but changed his mind after ''Toy Story''.
Pixar's string of critical and box-office successes continued with ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]'', ''[[Finding Nemo]]'', ''[[The Incredibles]]'', ''[[Cars (2006 film)|Cars]]'', ''[[Ratatouille (film)|Ratatouille]]'', ''[[WALL-E]]'', ''[[Up (2009 filmanimation)|Up]]'' and ''[[Toy Story 3]]'' all receiving rave reviews, earning huge profits, winning awards, and overshadowing Disney's in-house offerings until ''[[Cars 2]]'' in 2011 ended the streak when it proved a critical disappointment, albeit still a commercial success. Disney produced a CGI/live action feature film of its own without Pixar (''[[Dinosaur (film)|Dinosaur]]''), but the film received a mixed reaction, even though it was a financial success. During the later years of Michael Eisner's management, friction between Disney and Pixar grew to a point that Pixar considered finding another partner when they could not reach an agreement over profit sharing.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pixar Dumps Disney |work=Money |publisher=money.cnn.com |date=2004-01-29 |url=http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/29/news/companies/pixar_disney/}}</ref> When Eisner stepped down in 2005, his replacement, [[Robert Iger]], arranged for Disney to buy Pixar in a $7.4 billion all-stock deal (${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|7400000000|2005|r=-2}}}} in today's dollars) that turned Steve Jobs into Disney's largest individual shareholder.<ref name = "Holson">{{cite web|last=Holson |first=Laura M. |title=Disney Agrees to Acquire Pixar in a $7.4 Billion Deal |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2006-01-25 |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/business/25disney.html?_r=1&oref=slogin}}</ref> The deal was structured so that Disney Animation and Pixar Animation would continue to operate as completely separate studios under the Disney corporate umbrella; Lasseter was placed in charge of greenlighting all new animated films for both studios in his new role as Chief Creative Officer.
===Dreamworks===
{{See also|DreamWorks Animation}}
When [[Jeffrey Katzenberg]] left Disney to become a co-partner of Steven Spielberg and [[David Geffen]] in the new studio [[DreamWorks Animation|DreamWorks]], the studio naturally became interested in animation. Its first film, ''[[Antz]]'', did not do as well as the Disney-Pixar releases but was a critical success. However, DreamWorks succeeded in its partnership with the British [[stop motion animation]] studio [[Aardman Animations]] with ''[[Chicken Run]]'' in 2000, and later the Oscar-winning ''[[Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit]]'' in 2006.
Furthermore, DreamWorks finally had their own success in 2001 with the [[computer animated]] feature film ''[[Shrek]]'', a gigantic box-office hit that overpowered Disney's summer release for that year, ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire|Atlantis]]''. ''Shrek'' established DreamWorks as Disney's first major competitor in feature-film animation. DreamWorks' commercial success continued with three ''Shrek'' sequels, ''[[Shark Tale]]'', ''[[Madagascar (film series)|Madagascar]]'', ''[[Bee Movie]]'', ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'', ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (filmanimation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' and ''[[The Croods]]''. DreamWorks Animation eventually became a separate company from its parent.
===Disney Animation Studios===
In 2003, noting the growing success of studios that relied on computer animation, executive [[Bob Lambert (executive)|Bob Lambert]]<ref name=latimes>{{cite web|first=Richard|last=Verrier|title= Digital media trailblazer and ex-Disney exec Bob Lambert dies |url= http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-lambert-20120911,0,7751768.story |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] Company Town |date=2012-09-11 |accessdate=2012-10-02}}</ref> announced Walt Disney Feature Animation would be converted into a CGI studio. ▼{{See also|Walt Disney Animation Studios}}
▲In 2003, noting the growing success of studios that relied on computer animation, executive [[Bob Lambert (executive)|Bob Lambert]]<ref name=latimes>{{cite web|first=Richard|last=Verrier|title= Digital media trailblazer and ex-Disney exec Bob Lambert dies |url= http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-lambert-20120911,0,7751768.story |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] Company Town |date=2012-09-11 |accessdate=2012-10-02}}</ref> announced Walt Disney Feature Animation would be converted into a CGI studio.
Two years later, ''[[Chicken Little (2005 film)|Chicken Little]]'', the first computer-animated film from the studio, was released to moderate success in the box office and mixed critical reception. On January 24, 2006, Disney announced that it would be acquiring [[Pixar]] (the deal successfully closed that May),<ref>{{cite web|last=Eller|first=Claudia|title=Deal Ends Quarrel Over Pixar Sequels|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/26/business/fi-pixarent26|accessdate=21 February 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 26, 2006}}</ref> and as part of the acquisition, executives [[Edwin Catmull]] and [[John Lasseter]] assumed control of Walt Disney Feature Animation as [[President]] and [[Chief Creative Officer]], respectively.<ref name=nbc>{{cite web|title=Disney buying Pixar for $7.4 billion|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11003466/ns/business-us_business/t/disney-buying-pixar-billion/#.US6qMzAQZqA|accessdate=28 February 2013|newspaper=NBC News|date=January 1, 2006|agency=AP}}</ref> Lasseter later acknowledged that there had been discussions back in 2006 about closing Feature Animation as redundant since Disney now owned Pixar, which he and Catmull flatly rejected ("Not on our watch. We will never allow that to happen."); they resolved to try to save Walt Disney's creative legacy by bringing his animation studio "back up to the creative level it had to be".<ref>{{cite web|last=Barnes|first=Brooks|title=At Disney, a Celebration That Was a Long Time Coming|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/business/media/at-disney-a-celebration-that-was-a-long-time-coming.html|accessdate=5 April 2014|newspaper=New York Times|date=4 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="Wloszczyna">{{cite web|last=Wloszczyna|first=Susan|title='Wreck-It Ralph' is a Disney animation game-changer|url=http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2012/10/31/wreckitralph-disney-movie-animation/1667373/|accessdate=5 April 2014|newspaper=USA Today|date=31 October 2012}}</ref>
To maintain the separateness of Disney and Pixar (even though they share common ownership and senior management), it was outlined that each studio is to remain solely responsible for its own projects and is not allowed to borrow personnel from or lend tasks out to the other.<ref name="Bell">{{cite web|last=Bell|first=Chris|title=Pixar's Ed Catmull: interview|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/pixar/10719241/Pixars-Ed-Catmull-interview.html|accessdate=5 April 2014|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=5 April 2014}}</ref><ref name="Zahed">{{cite web|last=Zahed|first=Ramin|title=An Interview with Disney/Pixar President Dr. Ed Catmull|url=http://www.animationmagazine.net/people/an-interview-with-disneypixar-president-dr-ed-catmull/|accessdate=5 April 2014|newspaper=Animation Magazine|date=2 April 2012}}</ref>
In 2007, the studio released ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]'', which experienced a poor response at the box office despite the lukewarm critical and audience reception. The following film, 2008's ''[[Bolt (2008 film)|Bolt]]'', had the best critical reception of any Disney animated feature since ''Lilo & Stitch'', and became a moderate success. An adaptation of the [[Brothers Grimm]]'s "[[Rapunzel]]" tale entitled ''[[Tangled]]'' was released in 2010, earning $591 million in worldwide box office revenue, and signified a return by the studio to fairytale-based features common in the traditional animation era. This trend was followed in 2013's global blockbuster hit ''[[Frozen (2013Disney film)|Frozen]]'', a film inspired by [[Hans Christian Andersen]]'s ''[[The Snow Queen]]'' tale, which released to widespread acclaim and was the first Disney animated film to earn over $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue<ref name=NYTwin>{{cite web|last=Barnes|first=Brooks|title=At Disney, a Celebration That Was a Long Time Coming|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/business/media/at-disney-a-celebration-that-was-a-long-time-coming.html?_r=0|accessdate=5 March 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=4 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Zuckerman|first=Esther|title=Is 'Frozen' a New, Bona Fide Disney Classic?|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/11/frozen-new-bona-fide-disney-classic/71243/|accessdate=December 20, 2013|newspaper=The Atlantic Wire|date=November 4, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-milestone-frozen-crosses-684847|title=Box Office Milestone: 'Frozen' Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide|publisher=hollywoodreporter.com|accessdate=March 2, 2014}}</ref> and is currently [[List of highest-grossing animated films|the highest-grossing animated film of all time]], surpassing Pixar's ''Toy Story 3''. ''Frozen'' also became the first film from Walt Disney Animation Studios to win the [[Academy Award for Best Animated Feature|Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film]].<ref name=Reuters_Frozen>{{cite web|last=Richwine|first=Lisa|title=Disney's 'Frozen' wins animated feature Oscar|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/03/us-oscars-animation-idUSBREA1R0MN20140303|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=3 March 2014}}</ref>
===Independents and others===
Other studios attempted to get into the CGI game. After ending its relationship with Don Bluth, [[20th Century Fox]] released a hugely successful CGI-animated feature in early 2002 entitled ''[[Ice Age (2002 film)|Ice Age]]''. Also in 2002, [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] offered ''[[Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius]]'', [[The Weinstein Company|TWC]] offered ''[[Hoodwinked|Hoodwinked!]]'', and Columbia produced ''[[Open Season (2006 film)|Open Season]]''. [[Warner Brothers]] had a major success in 2006 with the Oscar winning feature film, ''[[Happy Feet (film)|Happy Feet]]'', while [[Universal Studios]] attempted several times to become a viable participant in the market, finally achieving the goal in 2010 with ''[[Despicable Me]]''.
In spite of all its success, computer animation still relies on cartoony and stylized characters. 2001 saw the first attempt to create a fully animated world using photorealistic human actors in ''[[Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within]]'', which met with moderate critical success but did not do well at the box office.
The use of CGI special effects in live-action film increased to the point where [[George Lucas]] considered his 2002 film ''[[Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones]]'' to be primarily an animated film that used real-life actors. A growing number of family-oriented films began to use entirely computer-generated characters that interacted on the screen with live-action counterparts, such as Jar-Jar Binks in ''[[Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace]]'', [[Gollum]] in ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]]'' and the title character of ''[[Hulk (film)|Hulk]]''. While computer generated characters have become acceptable to moviegoers, there have yet to be any fully animated films featuring virtual human actors, or "synthespians".
==Rise of Internet and Flash animation==
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