Rhythm and Hues Studios

Rhythm & Hues Studios is an American visual effects and animation company that received the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1995 for Babe, in 2008 for The Golden Compass, and in 2013 for Life of Pi. It also received four Scientific and Technical Academy Awards.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 2013. It was then purchased by an affiliate of Prana Studios, 34x118 Holdings, LLC, but retained the same name.

1987–2008
Rhythm & Hues Studios was established in Los Angeles, California in 1987 by former employees of Robert Abel and Associates (John Patrick Hughes, Pauline Ts'o, Keith Goldfarb, Cliff Boule, Frank Wuts and Charles Gibson). The company used its own proprietary software for its photo-realistic character animation/visual effects—as well as for those that are more stylized.

In 1998, Rhythm & Hues Studios developed a video game titled Eggs of Steel: Charlie's Eggcellent Adventure for the PlayStation.

In 1999, Rhythm & Hues Studios acquired visual effects house VIFX from 20th Century Fox.

2009–2020
Director Ang Lee approached Rhythm & Hues in August 2009 to discuss a planned film adaptation of the fantasy novel Life of Pi. R&H VFX (Visual Effects) Supervisor Bill Westenhofer noted that Lee "knew we had done the lion in the first Narnia movie. He asked, 'Does a digital character look more or less real in 3D?' We looked at each other and thought that was a pretty good question." He also stated that during these meetings, Lee said, "'I look forward to making art with you.' This was really for me one of the most rewarding things I've worked on and the first chance to really combine art with VFX. Every shot was artistic exploration, to make the ocean a character and make it interesting we had to strive to make it as visually stunning as possible."

By 2012, the company had become a global one, with offices and artists in India (the Mumbai suburb of Malad and HITEC City which is a part of Hyderabad), Malaysia (Cyberjaya just outside Kuala Lumpur), Canada (Vancouver), and Taiwan (Kaohsiung).

Rhythm & Hues spent a year on research and development, "building upon its already vast knowledge of CGI animation" to develop the tiger. Artist Abdul Rahman in the Malaysian branch underscored the global nature of the effects process, saying that "the special thing about Life of Pi is that it was the first time we did something called remote rendering, where we engaged our cloud infrastructure in Taiwan called CAVE (Cloud Animation and Visual Effects)".

The resulting film, Life of Pi, was released in theaters in November 2012, and was a critical and commercial success. The British Film Institute's Sight & Sound magazine suggested that, "Life of Pi can be seen as the film Rhythm & Hues has been building up to all these years, by taking things they learned from each production from Cats & Dogs to Yogi Bear, integrating their animals in different situations and environments, pushing them to do more, and understanding how all of this can succeed both visually and dramatically."

On February 11, 2013, Rhythm & Hues Studios filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, three months after Life of Pi was released.

On March 29, 2013, an affiliate of Prana Studios, 34x118 Holdings, LLC, won the bidding on Rhythm and Hues in a bankruptcy auction. The sale was "valued at about $30 million". In February 2015, founders Hughes, Goldfarb, and Tso were sued for having “pillaged” the VFX house, including conflicted technology and real estate transfers. As of January 2024, the outcome of the lawsuit hasn't been made public.

After the bankruptcy and sale, Rhythm and Hues continued to successfully work on award-winning film, television, and themed entertainment projects, winning multiple Emmy and Visual Effects Society awards for their work on Game of Thrones.

Selected filmography

 * 2022
 * RRR


 * 2021
 * The King's Man


 * 2019
 * Hellboy
 * The Boys


 * 2018
 * Lost in Space
 * Carnival Row
 * The Walking Dead (season 8)
 * Slender Man
 * 2.0


 * 2017
 * Game of Thrones (season 7)
 * The Walking Dead (season 7)
 * Midnight, Texas
 * The Mist


 * 2016
 * Game of Thrones (season 6)
 * Skull Island: Reign of Kong


 * 2015
 * Game of Thrones (season 5)
 * Fear the Walking Dead


 * 2014
 * 300: Rise of an Empire
 * Seventh Son
 * Winter's Tale
 * Tammy
 * Into the Storm
 * X-Men: Days of Future Past


 * 2013
 * Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
 * Machete Kills
 * R.I.P.D.
 * Grown Ups 2
 * The Secret Life of Walter Mitty


 * 2012
 * The Bourne Legacy
 * Big Miracle
 * Django Unchained
 * Chronicle
 * Red Dawn
 * The Hunger Games
 * This is 40
 * Life of Pi
 * Snow White and the Huntsman


 * 2011
 * Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
 * Hop
 * Moneyball
 * The Cabin in the Woods
 * Game of Thrones
 * Red Riding Hood
 * Mr. Popper's Penguins
 * X-Men: First Class


 * 2010
 * The A-Team
 * Marmaduke
 * Charlie St. Cloud
 * Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
 * The Wolfman
 * Knight and Day
 * Little Fockers
 * Hot Tub Time Machine
 * Yogi Bear


 * 2009
 * Aliens in the Attic
 * Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
 * Fast & Furious
 * The Time Traveler's Wife
 * Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
 * State of Play
 * Land of the Lost
 * Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
 * Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian


 * 2008
 * The Incredible Hulk
 * The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor


 * 2007
 * The Golden Compass
 * Live Free or Die Hard
 * I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
 * The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
 * The Kingdom
 * Alvin and the Chipmunks
 * Evan Almighty


 * 2006
 * Charlotte's Web
 * Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties
 * The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
 * Happy Feet
 * Night at the Museum
 * Superman Returns
 * X-Men: The Last Stand


 * 2005
 * The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
 * Elektra
 * The Longest Yard
 * The Skeleton Key
 * The Ring 2
 * Serenity
 * Ice Princess


 * 2004
 * Around the World in 80 Days
 * Garfield: The Movie
 * Friday Night Lights
 * The Flight of the Phoenix
 * The Chronicles of Riddick
 * Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed


 * 2003
 * The Cat in the Hat
 * Daredevil
 * The Rundown
 * Intolerable Cruelty
 * Elf
 * The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
 * X2


 * 2002
 * Men in Black II
 * Scooby-Doo
 * The Ring
 * Solaris
 * Kung POW!
 * Stuart Little 2
 * The Sum of All Fears


 * 2001
 * Cats & Dogs
 * Dr. Dolittle 2
 * Along Came a Spider
 * Behind Enemy Lines
 * One Night at McCool's
 * Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
 * The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
 * Planet of the Apes


 * 2000
 * How the Grinch Stole Christmas
 * Little Nicky
 * X-Men
 * Fantasia 2000
 * Dracula 2000
 * Bedazzled
 * Frequency
 * Battlefield Earth
 * The Sixth Day
 * The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
 * Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
 * Hollow Man


 * 1999
 * Anna and the King
 * The Green Mile
 * End of Days
 * Mystery Men
 * Summer of Sam
 * The Story of Us
 * Stuart Little


 * 1998
 * Babe: Pig in the City
 * The Parent Trap
 * The Faculty
 * Soldier
 * Stepmom


 * 1997
 * Speed 2: Cruise Control
 * Spawn
 * MouseHunt
 * Batman & Robin


 * 1996
 * Kazaam
 * The Nutty Professor


 * 1995
 * Babe
 * Batman Forever
 * Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
 * Waterworld


 * 1994
 * The Pagemaster


 * 1993
 * Hocus Pocus
 * We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story


 * 1992
 * Stay Tuned


 * 1991
 * Rover Dangerfield
 * Flight of the Intruder


 * 1990
 * The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera
 * Jetsons: The Movie

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects

 * 2012: Won: Life of Pi
 * 2007: Won: The Golden Compass
 * 1995: Won: Babe

BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects

 * 2013: Won: Life of Pi
 * 2007: Won: The Golden Compass, Visual Effects

Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects

 * 2018: Won: Game of Thrones "Beyond the Wall"
 * 2016: Won: Game of Thrones "Battle of the Bastards"
 * 2015: Won: Game of Thrones "The Dance of Dragons"

Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Animated Performance

 * 2016: Won: Game of Thrones "Battle of the Bastards; Drogon"

Further reading and viewing

 * Lee, Kevin. "Video essay: The animal menagerie of Rhythm and Hues". Sight & Sound, British Film Institute. December 21, 2012.
 * "'Life of Pi's' digital magic". Los Angeles Times, January 17, 2013.
 * Zahed, Ramin. "Beyond Talking Pigs and Chipmunks". Animation Magazine, April 2, 2012.
 * Life After Pi (2014 documentary)