It was defunct in 1997 and was transferred to DreamWorks Animation. In 1989, they set up an animated unit Amblimation. The next year, Kathleen Kennedy left the company. In 1991, founding partner Frank Marshall left the company after 10 years. In 1992, Amblin launched a visual effects studio Amblin Imaging, headed by visual effects pioneer John Gross.
The same year, Amblin signed a deal with Turner Network Television to produce TV movies. A fourth film, an animated film adaptation of Cats, was in development, but it was cancelled following the studio's closure in 1997. The only three films that were released under the Amblimation banner were An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story (1993) and Balto (1995). In 1989, a dispute over film-making budgets caused Spielberg and Bluth to part ways, and Amblin's animation department was rebranded to Amblimation, which was headquartered in London. The only two films that were made from the Spielberg-Bluth deal were An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988). In 1985, Spielberg and Don Bluth started a partnership to produce animated feature films. Amblin went on to produce the most successful films, like Gremlins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and the Back to the Future trilogy. In 1983, one of the founding partners produced Twilight Zone: The Movie. the Extra-Terrestrial, which ended up being the highest-grossing film of the year. The following week, Kathleen Kennedy, another founding partner of Amblin produced the film E.T.
Founding partners Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall of Amblin caught the attention of film producer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1982, of which they both produced Poltergeist, which was directed by filmmaker Tobe Hooper. Īmblin first produced its film Continental Divide in 1981, with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer. On July 14, 1975, Spielberg signed a four-picture agreement with Universal Pictures to produce its feature films through its Amblin label, to build upon the success of its first two theatrical pictures The Sugarland Express and Jaws. The company dates back to 1969, and it was properly incorporated in 1970. riding in the basket on Elliott's bicycle flying in front of the moon from the 1982 movie, E.T. Although Amblin is an independent production company, Universal distributes many Amblin productions, and Amblin operates out of a building on the Universal lot. The film, which cost $15,000 to produce, was shown for Universal Studios and won Spielberg more directing roles. Amblin is named after Spielberg's first commercially released film, Amblin' (1968), a short independent film about a man and woman hitchhiking through the desert.