ImageMovers

ImageMovers is an American independent film studio run by director Robert Zemeckis. Founded in 1997, the studio is known for producing such films as Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, and The Polar Express. From 2007 to 2011, The Walt Disney Company and ImageMovers ran a joint animation facility, ImageMovers Digital, which produced two performance captured animated films, A Christmas Carol and Mars Needs Moms, for Walt Disney Pictures.

Early years (1997-2007)
In 1997, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis along with partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey founded ImageMovers. ImageMovers' first seven films were What Lies Beneath (with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer), Cast Away (with Tom Hanks), The Polar Express (also with Tom Hanks), The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (with Julianne Moore), Last Holiday (with Queen Latifah), Monster House (with Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke and Steve Buscemi) and Beowulf (with Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn and Angelina Jolie).

Disney and ImageMovers Digital (2007-2010)
In 2007, The Walt Disney Company and ImageMovers set up a joint venture animation facility known as ImageMovers Digital, a Marin County-based film company where Zemeckis would produce and direct 3D animated films using performance capture technology.

On November 6, 2009, ImageMovers Digital released their first film A Christmas Carol, a performance capture film based on the Charles Dickens book of the same name and starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Cary Elwes each in multiple roles. On March 12, 2010, Disney and ImageMovers announced that ImageMovers Digital would close operations by January 2011 after production on Mars Needs Moms was completed. Resulting in a lay-off of approximately 450 employees, Walt Disney Studios president Alan Bergman said, "...given today's economic realities, we need to find alternative ways to bring creative content to audiences and IMD no longer fits into our business model." The company had previously been reported to have Calling All Robots, a Yellow Submarine remake, a Roger Rabbit sequel and The Nutcracker in development. Disney dropped all of these projects following the box-office failure of Mars Needs Moms.

Universal Pictures (2011-present)
In August 2011, it was announced that ImageMovers has entered a two-year first-look producing deal with Universal Studios.