Rhythm & Hues Studios


Rhythm & Hues Studios was an American visual effects and animation company founded in 1987, that received the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1995 for Babe, in 2007 for The Golden Compass, and in 2012 for Life of Pi. It also received four Scientific and Technical Academy Awards.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 2013. It was then purchased by an affiliate of Prana Studios, 34x118 Holdings, LLC, but retained the same name.
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History

1987–2008

Rhythm & Hues Studios was established in Los Angeles, California in 1987 by former employees of Robert Abel and Associates.
In 1999, Rhythm & Hues Studios acquired visual effects house VIFX from 20th Century Fox.

2009–2013

Director Ang Lee approached Rhythm & Hues in August 2009 to discuss a planned film adaptation of the fantasy novel Life of Pi. R&H VFX Supervisor Bill Westenhofer noted that Lee "knew we had done the lion in the first Narnia movie. He asked, 'Does a digital character look more or less real in 3D?' We looked at each other and thought that was a pretty good question." He also stated that during these meetings, Lee said, "'I look forward to making art with you.' This was really for me one of the most rewarding things I've worked on and the first chance to really combine art with VFX. Every shot was artistic exploration, to make the ocean a character and make it interesting we had to strive to make it as visually stunning as possible."
By 2012, the company had become a global one, with offices and artists in India, Malaysia, Canada, and Taiwan.
Rhythm & Hues spent a year on research and development, "building upon its already vast knowledge of CGI animation" to develop the tiger. Artist Abdul Rahman in the Malaysian branch underscored the global nature of the effects process, saying that "the special thing about Life of Pi is that it was the first time we did something called remote rendering, where we engaged our cloud infrastructure in Taiwan called CAVE ".
The resulting film, Life of Pi, was released in theaters in November 2012, and was a critical and commercial success. The British Film Institute's Sight & Sound magazine suggested that, "Life of Pi can be seen as the film Rhythm & Hues has been building up to all these years, by taking things they learned from each production from Cats & Dogs to Yogi Bear, integrating their animals in different situations and environments, pushing them to do more, and understanding how all of this can succeed both visually and dramatically."
On February 11, 2013, Rhythm & Hues Studios filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, three months after Life of Pi was released. Around 254 people were laid off at that time. This led to a demonstration of nearly 500 VFX artists who protested outside of the 2013 Academy Awards, as Rhythm & Hues was nominated for an Oscar for Life of Pi. Inside, during the Oscars, when R&H visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer brought up R&H during his acceptance speech for Life of Pi, the microphone was cut off as the music of Jaws slowly took over. This started an uproar among many visual effects industry professionals, changing profile pictures on social media such as Facebook and Twitter to show the green key color, in order to raise awareness of general negative trends in the effects industry. In addition, director Ang Lee was heavily criticized by the community for not acknowledging their work in the effects-laden film in his acceptance speech, despite thanking many other people, and for earlier having complained about the costs of visual effects.
On March 29, 2013, an affiliate of Prana Studios, 34x118 Holdings, LLC, won the bidding on Rhythm and Hues in a bankruptcy auction. The sale was "valued at about $30 million".
After the bankruptcy and sale, Rhythm and Hues continued to work on film, television, and ride-film projects, winning multiple Emmy Awards and a Visual Effects Society award for their work on Game of Thrones.

Selected filmography

;2011Alvin and the Chipmunks: ChipwreckedHopMoneyballThe Cabin in the WoodsGame of ThronesRed Riding HoodMr. Popper's PenguinsX-Men: First Class
;2010The A-TeamMarmadukeCharlie St. CloudPercy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning ThiefThe WolfmanKnight and DayLittle FockersHot Tub Time MachineYogi Bear
;2009Aliens in the AtticGhosts of Girlfriends PastFast & FuriousThe Time Traveler's WifeCirque du Freak: The Vampire's AssistantState of PlayLand of the LostAlvin and the Chipmunks: The SqueakquelNight at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
;2008The Incredible Hulk The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
;2007The Golden CompassLive Free or Die HardI Now Pronounce You Chuck & LarryThe Seeker: The Dark Is RisingThe KingdomAlvin and the ChipmunksEvan Almighty
;2006Charlotte's WebGarfield: A Tale of Two KittiesThe Fast and the Furious: Tokyo DriftHappy FeetNight at the MuseumSuperman ReturnsX-Men: The Last Stand
;2005The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The WardrobeElektraThe Longest YardThe Skeleton KeyThe Ring 2SerenityIce Princess
;2004Around the World in 80 DaysGarfield: The MovieFriday Night LightsThe Flight of the PhoenixThe Chronicles of RiddickScooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
;2003The Cat in the HatDaredevilThe RundownIntolerable CrueltyElfThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingX2
;2002Men in Black IIScooby-DooThe RingSolarisKung POW!Stuart Little 2The Sum of All Fears
;2001Cats & DogsAlong Came a SpiderBehind Enemy LinesOne Night at McCool'sHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's StoneThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingPlanet of the Apes
;2000How the Grinch Stole ChristmasLittle NickyX-MenFantasia 2000Dracula 2000BedazzledFrequencyBattlefield EarthThe Sixth DayThe Flintstones in Viva Rock VegasRugrats in Paris: The MovieHollow Man
;1999Anna and the KingThe Green MileEnd of DaysMystery MenSummer of SamThe Story of UsStuart Little
;1998Babe: Pig in the CityThe Parent TrapDr. DolittleThe FacultySoldierStepmom
;1997Speed 2: Cruise ControlSpawnMouseHuntBatman & Robin
;1996KazaamThe Nutty Professor
;1995BabeBatman ForeverAce Ventura: When Nature CallsWaterworld
; 1994The PagemasterThe Flintstones
; 1993Dennis the MenaceHocus PocusWe're Back! A Dinosaur's Story
; 1992Stay Tuned
; 1991Rover DangerfieldFlight of the Intruder
; 1990The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera

Awards

[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects]

[BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects]

[Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects]

[Visual Effects [Society Award for Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project|Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Animated Performance]]