Toon Boom

Toon Boom, formally Toon Boom Animation Inc., is a Canadian software company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1994, it develops tools for the creation, planning, management, and delivery of animated content. Its products are used across film and television production, web video, video games, mobile content, training, and education. The company is best known for Harmony, a professional 2D animation platform, and Storyboard Pro, a pre-production application used to develop storyboards and animatics. The company emerged during the transition from traditional cel and paper-based animation toward digitally managed production. A significant early step came in 1996, when Toon Boom acquired the software-development business of USAnimation Studio. Toon Boom continued developing the acquired technology, which became Toon Boom Opus and later evolved into the Harmony product family. This gave the company a foundation in professional animation production rather than limiting it to consumer drawing or cartoon-making applications. Over time, Toon Boom broadened its portfolio. It introduced products for professional animation, entry-level users, line testing, production tracking, and educational markets. Several historical products, including Toon Boom Studio, Animate, Animate Pro, Digital Pro, Flip Boom, and Pencil Check Pro, were later discontinued or folded into newer product families. The company's product strategy increasingly centered on integrated production workflows: drawing and animation, compositing, story development, asset management, review, and production tracking. Toon Boom also expanded through acquisitions. In 2006 it acquired Pegs'n Co, the French developer of Pegs, a 2D bitmap animation application. In 2009 it acquired Cambridge Animation Systems, the British developer of Animo. These products were subsequently discontinued, but the transactions added technology and industry heritage associated with established animation-production systems. In 2016 Toon Boom acquired the intellectual property related to TACTIC Studio from Toronto-based Southpaw Technology. Toon Boom relaunched the technology as Producer in 2017, giving the company a web-based production-tracking and digital-asset-management offering alongside its creative applications. Corporate ownership also changed over the company's history. Corus Entertainment acquired a 50 percent interest in Toon Boom in 2004 and purchased the remaining interest in 2012, making Toon Boom wholly owned by Corus. Corus announced in July 2023 that it had agreed to sell Toon Boom to Integrated Media Company, an investment platform associated with TPG, for US$111 million, or approximately C$147.5 million. Corus said the proceeds would be used toward debt and its strategic priorities. Toon Boom consequently became part of a privately held media and technology investment structure rather than a publicly traded standalone company. The company's current portfolio is organized around a professional animation workflow. Harmony supports cut-out or puppet animation, paperless frame-by-frame work, traditional animation processes, scanning, compositing, particles, deformation, morphing, inverse kinematics, camera tools, and integration between 2D and 3D elements. Storyboard Pro supports storyboarding and animatics for animation, stop-motion, and live-action projects. Producer extends the workflow into production coordination, asset management, review, and tracking. Toon Boom also offers Harmony Database capabilities for multi-user studio environments and has described Ember as an animation suite incorporating generative artificial-intelligence tools. Toon Boom's software has been used internationally and has received Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards in 2005 and 2012. Its competitive position rests on specialized animation expertise, a portfolio spanning pre-production through production management, and adoption by studios, educators, independent artists, and larger entertainmen…

Toon Boom was founded in Canada in 1994 as a software company focused on animation production. Its early development took place during a period when animation studios were replacing or supplementing paper, cel, and film processes with digital systems. Rather than competing primarily as a general-purpose drawing application, Toon Boom built a specialized portfolio for animation studios, broadcasters, educators, and independent creators. A defining early event occurred in 1996, when Toon Boom purchased the software-development business of USAnimation Studio. The transaction was followed by confusion over a reported plan to merge animation-production services into CST Entertainment, but that proposed merger did not occur. The studio operation subsequently became VirtualMagic Animation and remained independent. Toon Boom retained and developed the acquired software, releasing it as Toon Boom Opus. Opus later formed part of the product lineage that became Harmony, the company's principal professional animation platform. During the late 1990s and 2000s, Toon Boom expanded beyond its core professional systems. Tic Tac Toon was followed by Toon Boom Studio, a product aimed at home users and individuals. The company also introduced Concerto, Solo, Digital Pro, Pencil Check Pro, Animate, Animate Pro, and Manager, addressing different combinations of traditional animation, digital production, line testing, and production coordination. The Flip Boom line targeted entry-level users, while Garfield's Comic Boom was developed with cartoonist Jim Davis as a tool for creating comic strips or albums. Many of these products were later discontinued or replaced as Toon Boom consolidated its offerings. Leadership changed in May 2003, when founding president and chief executive Jacques Bilodeau left the company. The board appointed chief operating officer Joan Vogelesang as his successor. Vogelesang led the company for more than a decade. In 2004, Corus Entertainment acquired a 50 percent interest in Toon Boom. The investment linked Toon Boom with a major Canadian media group that also owned Nelvana, an animation studio and content business. Toon Boom pursued an acquisition-led technology strategy during the following years. In 2006 it acquired Pegs'n Co, the French developer of Pegs, a 2D bitmap animation application. In 2009 it acquired Cambridge Animation Systems, the British developer of Animo. Although Pegs and Animo were eventually no longer updated or sold, the acquisitions reflected Toon Boom's effort to assemble expertise and intellectual property from established animation systems. Corus Entertainment purchased the remaining 50 percent of Toon Boom in 2012, making the company wholly owned by Corus. Joan Vogelesang stepped down as president and chief executive in September 2014 after more than 16 years with Toon Boom, and Paul Gardner was appointed interim chief executive. The company continued shifting its product emphasis toward connected, studio-oriented workflows. In March 2016, Toon Boom acquired the related intellectual property for TACTIC Studio from Toronto-based Southpaw Technology. TACTIC was an asset-management, production-tracking, and review system. Toon Boom reworked the technology and launched it as Producer in June 2017. Producer complemented Harmony and Storyboard Pro by addressing production coordination, digital asset management, review, and tracking through a web-based application. Toon Boom's principal modern products are Harmony and Storyboard Pro. Harmony supports cut-out, paperless frame-by-frame, and traditional animation workflows, as well as scanning, compositing, particles, deformation, morphing, inverse kinematics, camera work, and 2D-to-3D integration. Storyboard Pro is used to create storyboards and animatics for 2D and 3D animation, stop-motion, and live-action projects. Harmony Database supports centralized multi-user production environments, while Producer manages assets and production information. The company has also described Ember as a suite incorporating generative artificial-intelligence tools. The software has been used internationally in entertainment, education, and other content-production settings. Toon Boom received Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards in 2005 and 2012, recognizing engineering contributions associated with its technology. In July 2023, Corus announced that it would sell Toon Boom to Integrated Media Company, a portfolio company of TPG Inc., for US$111 million, or approximately C$147.5 million. Corus stated that the transaction would help address debt and advance its strategic priorities. Toon Boom therefore moved from Corus ownership into a private investment-company structure while continuing as an active specialist provider of animation software.

1. 2023Sale to Integrated Media Company announced

   Corus announces the sale of Toon Boom to Integrated Media Company for US$111 million.

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2. 2017Producer launched

   Toon Boom launches Producer as a web-based production-tracking and digital-asset-management application.

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3. 2016TACTIC Studio intellectual property acquired

   Toon Boom acquires related TACTIC Studio intellectual property from Southpaw Technology.

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4. 2014Leadership transition

   Joan Vogelesang leaves the chief executive role and Paul Gardner becomes interim chief executive.

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5. 2012Corus becomes sole owner

   Corus acquires the remaining half of Toon Boom.

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6. 2009Cambridge Animation Systems acquired

   Toon Boom acquires the British developer of Animo.

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7. 2006Pegs'n Co acquired

   Toon Boom acquires the French developer of Pegs, a 2D bitmap animation application.

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8. 2005First Primetime Engineering Emmy recognition

   Toon Boom software receives Primetime Engineering Emmy recognition.

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9. 2004Corus acquires a minority stake

   Corus Entertainment acquires 50 percent of Toon Boom.

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10. 2003Joan Vogelesang becomes chief executive

    Following Jacques Bilodeau's departure, the board appoints chief operating officer Joan Vogelesang as president and chief executive.

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11. 1996USAnimation software business acquired

    Toon Boom acquires the software-development business of USAnimation Studio and continues development of the technology as Toon Boom Opus.

    Source
12. 1994Toon Boom is founded

    Toon Boom Animation is established in Canada as a developer of animation software.

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A specialist animation-technology provider serving professional studios, independent creators, educators, and entertainment production teams with tools spanning storyboarding, 2D animation, compositing, collaboration, asset management, and production tracking.

• HarmonyProfessional 2D animation software

  Harmony is Toon Boom's principal professional animation platform. It supports cut-out or puppet animation, paperless frame-by-frame work, traditional animation workflows, scanning, compositing, particles, deformation, morphing, inverse kinematics, and 2D-to-3D integration. The platform is designed for studio pipelines as well as individual professional artists and can support drawing with a graphics tablet.

• Harmony DatabaseAnimation production database and workflow add-on

  Harmony Database is a multi-user add-on for Harmony Advanced and Harmony Premium. It provides centralized storage and sharing of assets between scenes and production locations, while also supporting production controls, rendering jobs, and batch scanning of paper drawings. Its purpose is to help studios coordinate collaborative animation work rather than merely create individual drawings.

• Storyboard ProStoryboarding and animatic software

  Storyboard Pro is a pre-production application for developing storyboards and animatics for 2D and 3D animation, stop-motion, and live-action projects. It combines vector and bitmap drawing tools, brushes, a virtual camera, audio functions, a timeline, and the ability to incorporate imported 3D models. The product is intended to help production teams plan visual sequences before full animation or filming.

• ProducerProduction tracking and digital asset management2017

  Producer is a web-based application for production tracking, review, and digital asset management. It originated from the TACTIC Studio technology acquired from Southpaw Technology in 2016 and was relaunched by Toon Boom in 2017. Producer extends the company's offering beyond creative tools by helping teams organize assets, monitor work, and coordinate animation-production processes.

• EmberAnimation software suite

  Ember is described as an animation software suite incorporating generative artificial-intelligence tools. It represents Toon Boom's effort to extend its animation technology into newer computational and AI-assisted workflows.

• Toon Boom OpusProfessional animation software1996

  Toon Boom Opus was the company's continuation of software acquired from the USAnimation business. It was used in traditional film and television animation production and later became part of the product lineage leading to Harmony.

• Toon Boom StudioConsumer and individual animation software2001

  Toon Boom Studio was aimed at home users and individual creators. It followed Tic Tac Toon and was later replaced by newer products, including Harmony Essentials.

• Toon Boom Animate and Animate ProProfessional animation software2008

  Animate and Animate Pro served professional animators, boutique studios, freelancers, students, and educators. The products were later superseded by Harmony editions, including Harmony Advanced.

• Pegs2D bitmap animation software

  Pegs was developed by Pegs'n Co, which Toon Boom acquired in 2006. The product was not subsequently maintained as a commercially available Toon Boom application.

• AnimoAnimation production software

  Animo was the animation-production system developed by Cambridge Animation Systems, acquired by Toon Boom in 2009. It was later no longer updated or available for purchase.

• 2023Sell Toon Boom to Integrated Media CompanyM&A

  Corus announced the transaction as part of its debt-management and strategic-priority plans.

  What changed. Corus agreed to sell Toon Boom to Integrated Media Company, a portfolio company of TPG Inc.

  Aftermath. Toon Boom moved from Corus ownership into a private investment-company structure. The announced consideration was US$111 million, approximately C$147.5 million, at the time of the announcement.

  Announced transaction value. US$111 million; approximately C$147.5 million (Announced July 13, 2023)

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• 2016Acquire TACTIC Studio intellectual propertyM&A

  Toon Boom wanted to add production tracking, review, and digital asset management to its creative software portfolio.

  What changed. The company acquired the related TACTIC Studio intellectual property from Southpaw Technology.

  Aftermath. Toon Boom reworked and launched the technology as Producer in 2017.

  Source
• 2009Acquire Cambridge Animation SystemsM&A

  Cambridge Animation Systems was the British developer of Animo, an established animation-production system.

  What changed. Toon Boom acquired Cambridge Animation Systems.

  Aftermath. Animo was eventually discontinued and is no longer sold.

  Source
• 2006Acquire Pegs'n CoM&A

  Pegs'n Co developed Pegs, a 2D bitmap animation application.

  What changed. Toon Boom acquired the French company and its software.

  Aftermath. Pegs was not subsequently updated and is no longer commercially available.

  Source
• 2004Accept Corus Entertainment's 50 percent investmentM&A

  Toon Boom operated in animation software while Corus owned media and animation assets, including Nelvana.

  What changed. Corus Entertainment acquired a 50 percent stake in Toon Boom.

  Aftermath. Corus later acquired the remaining interest and became Toon Boom's sole owner in 2012.

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• 1996Acquire the USAnimation software businessM&A

  Toon Boom sought to strengthen its position in professional animation-production technology during the industry's shift toward digital workflows.

  What changed. The company acquired the software-development business associated with USAnimation Studio and continued developing the technology as Toon Boom Opus.

  Aftermath. The acquired technology became part of the product lineage that later led to Toon Boom Harmony. A separately reported plan involving the merger of production services into CST Entertainment did not take place.

  Source

• 2023Corus announces sale of Toon Boom to Integrated Media Company

  Corus announced an agreement to sell Toon Boom to Integrated Media Company, a TPG portfolio company, for US$111 million, approximately C$147.5 million. Corus said the proceeds would support debt repayment and strategic priorities.

  M&A
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• 2017Toon Boom launches Producer

  The company rebranded and launched Producer, a web-based application for production tracking and digital asset management based on the TACTIC Studio technology.

  Product launch
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• 2016Toon Boom acquires TACTIC Studio intellectual property

  Toon Boom acquired the intellectual property associated with Southpaw Technology's TACTIC Studio production-tracking and review tool.

  M&AProduct launch
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• 2012Corus Entertainment takes full ownership of Toon Boom

  Corus acquired the remaining 50 percent of Toon Boom that it did not already own.

  M&A
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• 2009Toon Boom acquires Cambridge Animation Systems

  The company acquired the British developer of Animo, adding another established animation-production technology to its portfolio.

  M&A
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• 2006Toon Boom acquires Pegs'n Co

  Toon Boom acquired the French developer of Pegs, a 2D bitmap animation application that was later discontinued.

  M&A
  Source
• 2004Corus Entertainment acquires a 50 percent stake in Toon Boom

  Corus Entertainment, whose portfolio included the Nelvana animation studio, acquired half of Toon Boom.

  M&A
  Source
• 1996Toon Boom acquires the software-development business of USAnimation Studio

  Toon Boom acquired the software-development business associated with USAnimation and continued developing the technology that became Toon Boom Opus and later contributed to Harmony.

  M&AProduct generation
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1. Toon Boom