Feb 2, 2024

Moonbug closes "Oddbods" producer One Animation less than two years after acquiring the studio.

Less than two years after acquiring Southeast Asian studio One Animation, Moonbug has closed its Singapore office.

One Animation was founded in 2008 and is best known for producing the three-time Emmy-nominated series "Oddbods." The show's main Youtube channel has 10.6 million followers and over 8 billion views. Other productions by the studio include Netflix's Sharkdog and a spin-off series of Oddbod's called Minibods.

Moonbug plans to continue bringing Oddbods and Minibods to market, and the Singapore office is focused on expanding the franchise; Oddbods' fourth season, though much shorter, is scheduled to debut later this month.

A Moonbug spokesperson confirmed the closure to Cartoon Brew, but could not provide updated figures on the number of employees working at the studio at the time of the closure. However, when Moonbug acquired One Animation in 2022, the studio employed 60 people at its Singapore location.

According to a spokesperson, workers who lost their jobs were offered compensation and job placement services, but no further specific details were shared.

Regarding the closure, the spokesperson said:

When Moonbug acquired One Animation in 2022, it not only got a great premium kids franchise called Oddbods, but also a Singapore-based They also got a great leadership team and a production studio. At the time, its production capabilities not only supported Oddbods, but also provided third-party animation services to other media companies. As originally planned, the studio's operations were scaled back and third-party services were terminated in order to focus resources on Moonbug-owned franchises. As with most of Moonbug's production pipeline, most animation production is now outsourced. Those familiar with Moonbug will know that the company has been doing pre-production and post-production in-house and outsourcing animation services to third-party studios. This strategy also led Moonbug to lay off CocomRon employees last November.

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that, like many media companies, Moonbug had a rough year in 2023; Bloomberg reported that the Blackstone-owned company missed profit estimates by about 30%.