Kurtz & Friends

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Wikipedia

Kurtz & Friends
Company typePrivate
IndustryAnimation
FoundersBob Kurtz
HeadquartersHollywood, California, U.S.
Key people
Bob Kurtz (President)
Websitekurtzanim.wordpress.com

Kurtz & Friends is an American animation studio founded by Bob Kurtz. Based in Burbank, California, the studio is known for producing short films, title sequences, and television commercials.[1]

Kurtz & Friends has created/produced animated theatrical titles for most major studios including The Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, MGM, Sony Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group and Warner Bros. Titles include: The Pink Panther, Are We Done Yet?, Four Rooms, George of the Jungle and City Slickers.[2]

The company also created animated sequences for Jurassic Park and Minority Report, as well as for HBO's Carlin on Campus.[3] In addition, Kurtz & Friends developed The Way Things Work, a three-screen, 3-D multimedia film for Sony's San Francisco Metreon complex, and the "Crocodile" anti-smoking films and print campaign for the California Department of Public Health.[4]

Kurtz & Friends created the animation for the Emmy-winning specials David Macaulay: Roman City and Edith Ann's Christmas (Just Say Noël) which won a Peabody Award. The company's films are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the ASIFA Archive in Germany.[5]

Filmography

Title Year(s) Notes Client
Sesame Street 1970–71
1975		 animated sequences in "43", "85", "294", "303", "769", "772", "784" (produced at FilmFair) Children's Television Workshop
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy 1982 title sequence Orion Pictures
Max Dugan Returns 1983 title animation 20th Century Fox
One to Grow On opening and closing animation NBC
Carlin on Campus 1984 'Drawing on My Mind' animated sequences Carlin Productions
Harold and His Amazing Green Plants EPCOT Educational Media
TGIF 1989 animation ABC
Jetsons: The Movie 1990 "You and Me" Universal Pictures
Taking Care of Business title sequence Hollywood Pictures
City Slickers 1991 title sequence Castle Rock Entertainment
Straight Talk 1992 title sequence Hollywood Pictures
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid title sequence Walt Disney Pictures
Honeymoon in Vegas title sequence Castle Rock Entertainment
Jurassic Park 1993 Mr. DNA sequence Universal Pictures
City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold 1994 title sequence Castle Rock Entertainment
David Macaulay: Roman City Unicorn Projects
Casper 1995 teaser trailer Universal Pictures
Four Rooms title sequence Miramax
Kingpin 1996 title sequence Rysher Entertainment
A Very Brady Sequel animation Paramount Pictures
Edith Ann's Christmas (Just Say Noël) Television special created by Lilly Tomlin Tomlin and Wagner Theatricalz
George of the Jungle 1997 title sequence Walt Disney Pictures
Durango 1999 animation Hallmark Hall of Fame
The Way Things Work – In Mammoth 3D Sony Metreon
God, the Devil and Bob 2000 additional character design The Carsey-Werner Company
Major Flake Cartoon Network
Josie and the Pussycats 2001 animated sequence Universal Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Family Guy "A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" (storyboards and animatic editing) Fox Television Animation
Minority Report 2002 Pine & Oats animation DreamWorks Pictures
Amblin Entertainment
Scooby-Doo unused animated opening titles Warner Bros.
Ask Rita 2003 opening titles Litton Entertainment
Son of the Mask 2005 digital paint New Line Cinema
The Pink Panther 2006 title sequence Columbia Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Are We Done Yet? 2007 title sequence Revolution Studios
Schoolhouse Rock! Earth 2009 "A Tiny Urban Zoo" and interstitials ABC
Gambit 2012 title sequence FilmNation Entertainment

Commercials

References

  1. ↑ "Bob Kurtz bio". Watch the Titles. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  2. ↑ November 20, Alyson Says; Pm, 2013 at 8:04 (2013-05-06). "About Us". Kurtz & Friends Animation. Retrieved 2025-09-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ sparkanimation.eventive.org https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/6715abbc00b62e0032388619#:~:text=Kurtz%20&%20Friends%20also%20created%20animated,aired%20on%20network%20prime-time. Retrieved 2025-09-01. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "ENTERTAINMENT". Kurtz & Friends Animation. 2022-08-12. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  5. ↑ November 20, Alyson Says; Pm, 2013 at 8:04 (2013-05-06). "About Us". Kurtz & Friends Animation. Retrieved 2025-09-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)