Design & Creative
Top Animation Studios in Ireland (Updated August 2026)
The companies in this list are ordered alphabetically by name. That is the only ordering applied, so a company's position implies no ranking, preference or assessment of quality.
An animation studio either owns what it makes or animates someone else's property, and the two are different businesses. Ireland has both, working across 2D, CG and stop motion, with Academy Award, BAFTA and Emmy nominations between them and regular service work for Netflix, Disney and Adult Swim. Nobody publishes a rate: animation is quoted by the finished minute, and a style decision taken early moves that figure more than anything else.
Original content, or service work on someone else's show?
- Original content or service work. Some studios develop and own their shows. Others animate productions owned by broadcasters. Their websites rarely make the distinction obvious.
- Technique, not just quality. 2D, CG and stop motion are separate crafts with separate teams. A studio's reel tells you which one it really does.
- Capacity and timing. The best-known studios run multi-year productions and may have no room for a short commercial piece.
- Cost by the minute, not by the day. Animation is quoted on finished footage. A style decision made early moves that figure more than anything else.
- Whether you need motion at all. Photoreal stills are a separate craft, and the 3D visualisation studios here do them for a fraction of animated footage.
No animation studio here publishes a rate card, and none carries directory reviews. Membership of Animation Ireland and a visible body of broadcast credits are the credentials that matter in this sector.
Matching technique and capacity to the commission
Ireland's animation sector is unusually strong for its size, and that changes the calculus. You are often competing for capacity against international broadcasters and streamers, not just other Irish clients.
- Ask what a "credit" actually means. A studio listing an Academy Award nomination may have earned it on an original feature, not the kind of short commercial piece you need. Ask which named people worked on which project, not just the studio's best headline.
- Check broadcast delivery standards if they apply to you. Series work for streamers and broadcasters carries technical delivery specs, insurance and compliance requirements that a studio used to short commercial work may not carry as standard.
- Confirm rights and ownership of the finished asset. Get in writing who owns the final files, character designs and any reusable assets once the invoice is paid, particularly with studios that also develop their own original IP.
- Ask about Section 481 eligibility. Many larger Irish productions are structured around the film and television tax credit. If your project could qualify, raise it early, since it affects budgeting and contracting structure, not just price.
Where the studio's job starts and the agency's ends
An animation studio designs characters, builds storyboards, animates and delivers finished video, either as original content it develops and owns, or as service work animating a production owned by a broadcaster or streamer. Work spans 2D, CG and stop motion, from short commercial pieces and explainer videos through to full television series and features.
It sits outside a typical marketing agency's scope. The agency commissions and directs the campaign, and the animation studio builds the moving asset itself. Two adjacent categories quote against the same briefs: live action and animation compete for the same money, so the video production companies will price the filmed version, and where no script exists yet the creative agencies write one. Businesses usually bring this work in when a static campaign needs a visual identity that photography can't deliver, or when a concept needs to be shown moving before it can be understood, such as a product explainer, a mascot or a title sequence.
Why nobody here publishes a rate, and what to ask instead
No animation studio in this list publishes a rate card or hourly figure, and none appears on the review directories with pricing attached. That is consistent across the whole category, not a gap specific to any one studio.
Animation is priced by the minute of finished footage rather than by the hour or the project, because the labor scales directly with runtime. The figure varies enormously with technique: 2D generally costs less per minute than CG, and stop motion sits apart again because of the physical production time involved. Style complexity, the number of characters, and whether original voice recording or licensed music is needed all move the price further. Expect a scoped quote built around a script or storyboard rather than a published day rate.
We have selected and reviewed these companies based on factors such as their services, industry experience, reputation, client portfolio, pricing where publicly available, market presence, and other relevant business metrics. The information and pricing mentioned are based on details available at the time of publication and may change over time. We recommend verifying the latest information directly with each company.
1. Boulder Media
Best for 2D and CG series and features
- Location
- Dublin, Ireland
- Founded
- 2000
Boulder Media was founded in Dublin in 2000 and is among the largest animation studios operating in Ireland, working in both 2D and CG across series and features.
Track record
The credits show the range: Krapopolis and the interactive comedy Cat Burglar on the adult side, family franchises on the other. It produced My Little Pony: A New Generation, Ireland's first full-length computer-generated animated feature.
Sectors are entertainment, film and television, and children's media. No rate or team size is published, which is standard across this category. It suits a broadcaster or streamer commissioning series or feature work, and a studio running productions at that length may have no window for a short commercial piece.
Services
- 2D Animation
- CG Animation
- Feature Film Animation
Industries
- Entertainment
- Film & Television
- Children's Media
2. Brown Bag Films
Best for series work at international scale
- Location
- Dublin, Ireland
- Founded
- 1994
Brown Bag Films was established in Dublin in 1994 and now runs additional studios in Toronto and Bali, producing television, digital and feature animation.
Track record
The catalogue is the evidence: Doc McStuffins, Octonauts and Vampirina, all series with international distribution. The studio also runs an internal research arm, BBF Labs, working on production technique.
Sectors are entertainment, film and television, and children's media, and no rate is published. It suits a commissioner who needs volume delivered to broadcast standard across multiple territories. Three studios in three time zones is a scheduling advantage on a long series and adds coordination overhead on a small one.
Services
- Television Animation
- Digital & Streaming Animation
- Feature Film Animation
Industries
- Entertainment
- Film & Television
- Children's Media
3. Cartoon Saloon
Best for feature films and award-calibre storytelling
- Location
- Kilkenny, Ireland
- Founded
- 1999
Cartoon Saloon was founded in Kilkenny in 1999 and is the most decorated studio on this list, working in hand-drawn feature films, television and short film.
Track record
The record is specific: multiple Academy Award nominations, plus nominations at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Emmys. The features behind that are The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and Wolfwalkers, which are also the films that put Irish animation on the international map.
Sectors are entertainment, film and television, and children's media. No rate is published. It suits a feature or premium series commission where the hand-drawn style is the point. For a commercial explainer or a short brand piece, this is not the studio to approach.
Services
- Feature Film Animation
- Television Animation
- Short Film Animation
Industries
- Entertainment
- Film & Television
- Children's Media
4. Giant Animation
Best for CG for television, film and games
- Location
- Dublin, Ireland
Giant Animation is an independent Dublin studio working in computer-generated animation across television, film and games, established over a decade ago.
Track record
The team covers artists, directors and technical specialists in-house. Working across games as well as broadcast is the distinguishing detail here, because real-time game assets and rendered broadcast frames are different pipelines and few studios list both.
Sectors are entertainment, film and television, and gaming. No founding year, team size or rate appears on the listing. It suits a project needing CG rather than 2D, particularly one that crosses between screen and game. The missing detail on scale means asking what the studio can take on and when.
Services
- CG Animation
- Television Animation
- Game Animation
Industries
- Entertainment
- Film & Television
- Gaming
5. JAM Media
Best for preschool and children's content
- Location
- Dublin, Ireland
JAM Media is a production company working across Ireland and the United Kingdom on content for younger audiences, in animation and live action.
Track record
Working in both mediums is unusual on this list and gives a commissioner one supplier for a mixed format. Credits include Nova Jones, Becca's Bunch and Zig & Zag, the last of which is a long- running Irish property rather than a recent commission.
The sector is children's and preschool media. No founding year, team size or rate is published. It suits a broadcaster commissioning preschool or children's content, especially where the format mixes animation with live action. Ask which of the two the current team is strongest in, because the two crafts staff differently.
Services
- Television Animation
- Live Action Production
Industries
- Children's & Preschool Media
6. Kavaleer
Best for original children's IP
- Location
- Dublin, Ireland
Kavaleer works from Dublin's Digital Hub with an additional operation in the United Kingdom, and has been producing animation for over two decades.
Track record
Two facts set the scale: a team of more than one hundred people, the largest headcount stated on this page, and BAFTA nominations for its work. The studio develops original children's intellectual property as well as producing television animation.
The sector is children's and preschool media. No rate is published. It suits a commissioner looking for original properties rather than service capacity, or a co- production partner. Studios that own their own IP allocate their best people to it, so ask what share of the team would be on your production.
Services
- Television Animation
- Original IP Development
Industries
- Children's & Preschool Media
7. Lighthouse Studios
Best for animation service work on major 2D shows
- Location
- Kilkenny, Ireland
- Founded
- 2017
Lighthouse Studios was founded in Kilkenny in 2017 as a joint venture between two established industry companies, and works almost entirely as a 2D animation service provider.
Track record
The credits name the clients directly: animation services for The Bob's Burgers Movie for 20th Century Studios, The Cuphead Show! for Netflix, and Rick and Morty for Adult Swim. The listing also records BAFTA recognition.
Sectors are entertainment, film and television, and children's media. No rate is published. It suits a production that already owns the property and needs 2D animation executed at broadcast standard. It is a service studio rather than a development partner, so the creative direction is expected to arrive with the brief.
Services
- 2D Animation Services
- Television Animation
Industries
- Entertainment
- Film & Television
- Children's Media
8. Monster Entertainment
Best for production paired with distribution
- Location
- Dublin, Ireland
Monster Entertainment operates from Dublin as a brand manager and global distributor rather than a production studio, which makes it the outlier on this page.
Track record
The catalogue includes titles that have won or been nominated for Oscars and Emmys, but the business is placing and licensing finished content rather than making it.
Sectors are entertainment, film and television, and children's media. No founding year, team size or rate is published. It suits a producer with a finished or near-finished property that needs international distribution and brand management. If the requirement is to have something animated, every other studio on this list is the more relevant call.
Services
- Television Animation
- Content Distribution
Industries
- Entertainment
- Film & Television
- Children's Media
9. Treehouse Republic
Best for comedy-led 2D series
- Location
- Dublin, Ireland
- Founded
- 2010
Treehouse Republic was established in Dublin in 2010 and works on comedy-led 2D animation for broadcast.
Track record
The claim on the listing is an operational one rather than an awards one: more than one thousand five hundred minutes of finished broadcast content delivered since founding. For a commissioner, volume delivered on schedule is a different and often more useful signal than a nomination.
Sectors are entertainment, film and television, and children's media. No rate is published. It suits a broadcaster that needs a series delivered reliably at length. The comedy and 2D focus is the constraint: this is not a CG or stop-motion studio.
Services
- 2D Animation
- Television Animation
Industries
- Entertainment
- Film & Television
- Children's Media
10. Wiggleywoo
Best for preschool series with global reach
- Location
- Dublin, Ireland
- Founded
- 2012
Wiggleywoo was established in Dublin in 2012 and makes preschool content, with television series and now feature work.
Track record
Its flagship series, The Day Henry Met, broadcasts in close to two hundred countries and has run on Nick Jr. The studio is currently working on its first animated feature, Tea with the Dead, which is a move from episodic into longer-form storytelling.
The sector is children's and preschool media. No rate or team size is published. It suits a commissioner or co-production partner in preschool, where the studio has a proven original property. A studio moving into features for the first time is worth asking about on capacity, since a feature absorbs a small team completely.
Services
- Television Animation
- Feature Film Animation
Industries
- Children's & Preschool Media
A well made animation gets a brand noticed. It travels well online and gives a campaign a personality a straight photo shoot can't match. What it doesn't do is bring the viewer back a second time once the campaign has run its course. That takes a different kind of work, a reason to return and a way to be recognised for it. Brandfire designs and builds loyalty and rewards programmes for brands across Ireland, the kind of thing that keeps a customer engaged well after the animation stops running.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is Ireland known for animation?
- A combination of the Section 481 film and television tax credit, a specialist talent pipeline through Irish colleges, and three decades of studios building international credits. The result is an industry whose studios take Academy Award and BAFTA nominations on a regular basis.
- What is the difference between an original content studio and a service studio?
- An original content studio develops and owns its own shows, then sells or licenses them. A service studio animates productions owned by someone else, usually an international broadcaster or streamer. Several Irish studios do both, but the business models are very different.
- How much does animation cost?
- No Irish animation studio publishes a rate card, and none appears on the review directories with pricing. Animation prices by the minute of finished footage, and that figure varies enormously with style, technique and whether the work is 2D or CG. Expect scoped quotes rather than day rates.
- How do I choose an animation studio?
- Watch their reel and match the style to what you need, because studios specialise far more narrowly than their websites suggest. Then ask about capacity: the well-known studios are frequently booked out on long-form productions and may not take short commercial work.
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