Bonne Animation Launches As A Human-Focused, CalArts-Bred Studio With A Global Footprint (EXCLUSIVE)

In an animation industry that increasingly feels overrun by consolidation, studio aversion to taking risks, and the proliferation of soulless automation, indie artists are launching their own studios built around more traditional values: small-scale production, human-made animation, and long-standing creative relationships.

One such outfit is Bonne Animation, a newly launched 2D studio based in the Netherlands, which is officially announcing its debut today, introducing itself with a trailer that highlights the pillars on which it has been built.

Founded by filmmaker and designer Bleu Angelo, Bonne Animation brings together a geographically dispersed group of artists who first met nearly a decade ago at CalArts. Today, the studio’s core team spans Tokyo, India, Munich, Wales, Los Angeles, and Amsterdam, reflecting both the global reality of contemporary animation production and a conscious effort to avoid dependence on any single national industry.

“We all met at CalArts almost ten years ago,” Angelo tells Cartoon Brew. “We grew up dreaming of one day working at the studios that emerged out of CalArts, but after graduating, we hit an intense drought. Conglomerates started selling projects for tax reasons, streaming consolidated power, and animation just kept taking the hardest hits.”

For Angelo, the idea of starting a studio was less about entrepreneurial ambition than creative survival, and marked a return to the animation art form that he’d drifted away from in the years since his graduation. After the pandemic, he watched talented peers quietly leave the industry altogether. “More and more, I’m seeing friends disappear from animation,” he says. “People who interned at Pixar, who are insanely talented, just gone. That was heartbreaking.”

Bonne Animation began informally about a year ago, with the group taking on small projects and quietly testing whether their collaboration could function at a studio level. The official launch marks a shift toward visibility and long-term intent. “One day I looked at my friends that I’ve spent almost a decade creating alongside and thought to myself: ‘We can do this,’” Angelo says. “If there was ever a time for new creative voices, it’s now.”

In the short term, Bonne will follow a pragmatic model common among European studios, anchoring its production pipeline in commercial and branded work first, followed by original storytelling and IP development. “Step one is securing commercial work,” Angelo explains. “We want to partner with brands that actually care about craft and are willing to spend the time and money to make something beautiful. From there, we can fund original work.”

Not content to rest on their laurels or focus entirely on service work, the studio is already developing several pitch decks, including two feature concepts and a short film intended as Bonne’s coming-out celebration. While specifics are being kept under wraps, Angelo tells us that the project is rooted in a well-known Dutch fable, drawing on local folklore from a country with comparatively little animation infrastructure. “There’s so much here that’s never been adapted,” he says. “So many stories that don’t fit into corporate templates.”

Operating from the Netherlands was a deliberate choice, even though, compared to other European countries, the nation offers limited public funding. “I’m not fully relying on Dutch public money,” Angelo says. “We have a global team, and that’s a huge advantage. We’re producing from different places, building networks in different countries, and looking for money internationally, especially in places like Miami, where there’s a lot of commercial opportunity.”

The studio’s vibrant launch trailer serves as a mission statement as much as a showreel, showcasing hand-drawn animation and character work, with no artificial intelligence used. Artist Katherine “Green” Ohlson describes the ethos succinctly in the company’s first press release: “Honsely, f**k AI, like, I don’t know how to say that any more refined. I see my friends who have spent decades perfecting their craft, carrying unique perspectives and years of labor, and AI frankly stealing that from them within a second. One of the biggest parts of art being so special is that decades-long history that led to that one stroke.”

At a moment when automation is often framed as inevitable, Bonne Animation positions itself as intentionally small, carefully paced, and entirely human.

The Bonne Animation Team

Bleu Angelo (Founder / Art Director) — Netherlands
A Puerto Rican–Dutch filmmaker and CalArts-trained experimental animator, Angelo has worked with Universal Creative and Milk Studios. Based in the Netherlands, he balances commercial design, television work, and original animation while leading Bonne’s creative and strategic direction.

Maya McMahon (Director / Animator) — Salt Lake City, Utah
An illustrator and animator known for painterly, atmospheric work, McMahon is a CalArts Character Animation graduate who has worked on Batwheels. She is currently directing and painting Grandma Rosi, Bonne’s first post-launch short.

Kim McMahon (Visual Development Artist) — Munich, Germany
A CalArts Character Animation alum, McMahon has worked with Netflix, Hornet, and Warner Bros. Animation. She served as lead visual development artist on G2 Animation’s Annecy-selected pilot The Ekspats and maintains an online following through her KimPaintsAPlant channel.

Carys Feehan (Animator / Designer) — Cardiff, Wales
A Welsh animator and CalArts graduate, Feehan works as a 2D generalist at AMGI Studios. Her background includes children’s book illustration and design work for games, combining playful visuals with strong character acting.

Smita Minda (Animator / Story Artist) — New Delhi, India
After beginning her career in advertising, Minda graduated from CalArts in 2021. Her short films have earned online recognition and festival awards, with a focus on environmental themes and emotionally grounded storytelling.

Katherine “Green” Ohlson (Storyboard Artist / Director) — Los Angeles
A CalArts-trained storyboard revisionist, Ohlson has worked on Tuca & Bertie and Beavis and Butt-Head. She is also an accomplished comics artist and has directed animated projects for institutions including the National Gallery of Art.

Yusuke Watanabe (Illustrator / Visual Development Artist) — Tokyo, Japan
A former sales professional turned artist, Watanabe holds a BFA from CalArts and is known for whimsical mixed-media illustration. His debut picture book was followed by animation work on The Ekspats.