The studio was founded in 2002 by John H. Williams.[1] For its launch, it signed with Ealing Studios a four-picture deal to produce sub-$40 million computer-animated films.[2][3] The following year, Vanguard sold a minority stake to IDT Corporation and partnered with its animation unit, Digital Production Solutions, to co-produce and co-own all Vanguard's properties,[1][4] including Valiant (2005) produced for Disney.[2]
The company was part of the then-new "pipeline-free" trend (reported by Variety in 2006[5]) in animation production, where the companies did not keep the talent on payroll and instead were "establishing a team from scratch to execute each new feature", allowing them to secure tax breaks from the governments. For example, the feature "Valiant" was produced in the UK in order to collect the tax incentives there. With UK incentives ending, the production (for "Space Chimps") moved to Canada (Vancouver).[6]
Citizen Siege - A science fiction thriller CGI-animated film that was to be co-produced by Vanguard and video game developer Oddworld Inhabitants.[12] The plot involves an expatriate who returns home to find that he has been repossessed, in a shady underhive-like world where a corporate government rules the continent.[13] The film was originally scheduled to release in 2009, but the date was pushed back to an unknown date. As of 2019, there have been no recent developments regarding the film's production.
