Gracie Films is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company is primarily responsible for producing its long-running flagship animated series The Simpsons.
 Logo used since 1987 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film and television animation production |
| Predecessor | John Charles Walters Company |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Founder | James L. Brooks |
| Headquarters | FOX Studios lot, 10201 West Pico Boulevard Bldg 41/42, Los Angeles CA 90064[1] , United States |
Key people | Richard Sakai (President)[2] |
| Products | The Simpsons |
| Website | graciefilms.com |
The Gracie Films headquarters is located on the Fox Studios lot at 10201 West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles.[3]
Overview edit
James L. Brooks, who had previously founded John Charles Walters Company, founded Gracie Films at 20th Century Fox in 1986, with Polly Platt as executive vice president. Named for comedian Gracie Allen, the company was established to "provide real writers with a vehicle to get their movies made".[4] Its primary distributor is currently Sony Pictures Entertainment, though it continues to produce The Simpsons at Fox's studio in Century City, Los Angeles.
According to Simpsons Confidential, Brooks gave The Simpsons' writing staff free rein, as he firmly believed they were the most important part of the process,[5] and "in the legal battles over The Simpsons, it was Fox that was being sued, not Gracie Films".[6] The company also coordinates international distribution and dubbing for The Simpsons,[7] "[finding] voices for dubbing that would match those of the original American actors as closely as possible."[8] Gracie Films’ main production office is at the Sidney Poitier building on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. In 1989, Gracie Films had struck a deal with ABC.[9]
Logo edit
Gracie Films' production logo depicts noisy patrons in a movie theatre (which were the voices of then-CEO of Fox Garth Ancier and music composer Jeffrey Townsend double-tracked to sound like there were more people) being shushed by a woman in the back row (with the shush sound being done by Tracey Ullman). The company's name appears on the screen, accompanied by a brief passage played on keyboard. Audio variations exist on The Simpsons, often with dialogue from the episode or characters such as Homer responding to the shush. The most common audio variation is on the Treehouse of Horror episodes (excluding "Treehouse of Horror" which used the original logo audio and "Treehouse of Horror II" and "Treehouse of Horror III" which has the organ theme only), where the shushing sound was replaced by a woman screaming and the logo's music is played in a minor key on a synth-emulated pipe organ. Originally, the Roland D-50 PN-D50-01 Pipe Organ preset was used for that particular variant and was composed by Danny Elfman. The music was composed by Jeffrey Townsend and Alf Clausen on a tiny Korg synth rack using a custom programmed preset. Starting from Treehouse of Horror XXVIII, the music was rearranged by Bleeding Fingers Music.
Filmography edit
Television edit
| Years active | Title | Creator(s) | Co-production company(s) | Distributor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–1990 | The Tracey Ullman Show | James L. Brooks Jerry Belson Ken Estin Heide Perlman | Klasky Csupo | 20th Television |
| 1989–present | The Simpsons | Matt Groening | 20th Television / 20th Television Animation[10] | |
| 1991–1992 | Sibs | Heide Perlman | Columbia Pictures Television | Sony Pictures Television |
| 1993–1994 | Phenom | Sam Simon Dick Blasucci Marc Flanagan | Columbia Pictures Television / ELP Communications | |
| 1994–1995 2000–01 (revival) | The Critic | Al Jean Mike Reiss | Columbia Pictures Television | |
| 2001 | What About Joan? | Ed. Weinberger | Columbia TriStar Television | |
| 2014 | "The Simpsons Guy" | Seth MacFarlane | Fuzzy Door Productions | 20th Television |
Films edit
Theme park edit
| Year | Title | Director | Co-production company(s) | Distributor(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Simpsons Ride | Mike B. Anderson and John Rice | Blur Studio / Film Roman / Reel FX Creative Studios | Universal Creative | Located in Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood. |
Shorts edit
| Year | Title | Director | Co-production company(s) | Distributor(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Longest Daycare | David Silverman | 20th Century Fox Animation / AKOM / Film Roman | 20th Century Fox | Shown with Ice Age: Continental Drift. |
| 2020 | Playdate with Destiny | 20th Century Studios / 20th Century Animation / AKOM | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Shown with Onward. | |
| 2021 | The Force Awakens from Its Nap | 20th Television | Disney+ | Exclusive Disney+ short film. | |
| The Good, the Bart, and the Loki | 20th Television Animation / AKOM | ||||
| Plusaversary | |||||
| 2022 | When Billie Met Lisa | 20th Television Animation | |||
| Welcome to the Club | |||||
| The Simpsons Meet the Bocellis in "Feliz Navidad" | |||||
| 2023 | Rogue Not Quite One | Walt Disney Pictures (logo only) / 20th Television Animation |
References edit
- ^ Gracie Films official website with headquarters address (Retrieved 24 December 2022)
- ^ "Richard Sakai / Variety". Variety. 17 December 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
- ^ Gracie Films official website with headquarters address (Retrieved 24 December 2022)
- ^ Alisa Perren, Indie, Inc.: Miramax and the Transformation of Hollywood in the 1990s, p. 159, at Google Books
- ^ John Ortved, Simpsons Confidential, p. 30, at Google Books
- ^ John Ortved, Simpsons Confidential: The uncensored, totally unauthorised history of the world's greatest TV show by the people that made it, p. 126, at Google Books
- ^ Michela Ardizzoni, Chiara Ferrari (eds.), Beyond Monopoly: Globalization and Contemporary Italian Media, p. 101, at Google Books
- ^ Chiara Francesca Ferrari, Since When Is Fran Drescher Jewish?: Dubbing Stereotypes in The Nanny, The Simpsons, and The Sopranos, p. 73, at Google Books
- ^ "Golden" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1989-12-04. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
- ^ "Disney Launches 20th Television Animation, Promotes Veteran Exec Marci Proietto to Run New Unit Responsible for 'The Simpsons' & 'Family Guy'". 30 March 2021.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office : Appealing to All 'Generations'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
- ^ "Big (1988)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
- ^ Box Office Information for Say Anything.., BoxOfficeMojo.com; retrieved April 4, 2013.
- ^ "The War of the Roses". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ "I'll Do Anything". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ "Bottle Rocket". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "Jerry Maguire". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for December 26–28, 1997". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ "Riding in Cars with Boys". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ "Spanglish". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
- ^ "Top Single Day Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 28, 2007.
- ^ "How Do You Know (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
- ^ "The Edge of Seventeen (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
- ^ "HBO Films Acquires Immigration Drama Icebox". Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 5, 2020). "Hot Book Package: James L. Brooks, Kelly Fremon Craig On Judy Blume's 'After You There God? It's Me, Margaret'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 30, 2020.