Xilam

Xilam Animation SAS is a French animation studio which specializes in making animated television series and feature films. Marc du Pontavice and his wife Alix de Maistre founded it in 1999 as a replacement for the animation division of Gaumont Multimédia, which was itself an offshoot of the company's television division Gaumont Télévision, a company he co-founded in 1990.[4][5]

History

The origin of Xilam is closely linked to Gaumont's television production activity, launched in the early 1990s. From 1990, Marc du Pontavice joined the Gaumont group to develop a television production activity and co-founded Gaumont Télévision. In 1995, he formed a video game and animation division of the company, Gaumont Multimédia.[4] From 1994 to 1998, certain animations such as Space Goofs and Oggy and the Cockroaches met with international success for the company.

In December 1998, Pontavice left the company[4] but would remain as a freelance executive producer for the second season of Oggy and the Cockroaches. The following year, he went on to found Xilam and produce his own animated properties.[6] Around this time, Gaumont was looking to exit the animation market, and in January 2000, Xilam, in partnership with German trader Igel Media, acquired Gaumont Multimédia's 200-episode animation library.

In 2002, Xilam started trading in the Euronext Paris stock exchange.[7]

Xilam's programs, including Shuriken School,[8] Space Goofs,[9] and Oggy and the Cockroaches,[10] are internationally successful.

In 2003, the company released its first animated feature film, the CGI-based Kaena: The Prophecy.[11] In 2005, they announced an animated film based on The New Adventures of Lucky Luke.[12] Xilam bought the Armada animation studio in Vietnam in 2008.

In 2012, they announced Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie would be made.[13] In 2015, Xilam announced the production of seasons 5-7 of Oggy and the Cockroaches using 4K and Ultra HD.[14] A new studio was opened in Angoulême in order to repatriate production to France in addition to that of Villeurbanne.[15]

In 2016, the studio opened a new office in Lyon, France in order to accelerate production.[16][17] This new studio would produce the Paprika series, as well as the second season of Magic.[18] In 2019, it was announced that Xilam would acquire 50.1% of French CG studio Cube Creative.[19] The deal was finalized on 20 January 2020.[20][21]

The studio almost bought the children's free-to-air TV channel Gulli in 2019, after Lagardère was about to sell its television channels in a fierce dispute between the M6 channel, which ended up buying the channel, and the company's television division in that year.[22]

On December 1, 2025, Xilam launched Toon Box – a brand-new, kids-safe streaming app featuring over 1,000 pieces of content from across its legacy library and new series, alongside an exclusive range of videos, activities, storybooks and games. Aimed at children aged 3-10 years old, the subscription-based and ad-free app has rolled out across 11 territories (the UK, the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Mexico, Brazil, Australia) and was initially available on IOS before also launching on Android devices in 2026. Toon Box caters to the whole family featuring some of the most iconic series from Xilam's catalogue, including Oggy and the Cockroaches, Zig & Sharko, Where's Chicky?, Mr. Magoo, The Daltons, Lupin's Tales, Paprika, and more. Episodes are available to download and watch offline, and Xilam updates the app with new content each month. To access the full Toon Box offering, new subscribers benefit from a free first month and can choose between two offers: a monthly subscription with no commitment, or an annual subscription. The group has developed this project with tightly controlled investment.[23]

Xilam previously used animation services in South Korea, such as Big Star Enterprise and Dong Woo Animation to animate their productions, but they stopped in the 2010s when it became too expensive and began focusing on animation services in Vietnam and the Philippines.[24] The studio's current headquarters, since 2018, are located in the former French headquarters of the comic book publisher Dupuis.[25]

Xilam series' theme songs have their own visual identity and not a montage of clips, as du Pontavice always believes that the opening sequence is, in a way, the signature serving two functions for him, a call to action and playing an important role in creating lasting memories.[26]

The studio's name is an anagram of a declaration of love from Marc du Pontavice to his wife, Alix de Maistre (M-Alix), as it has an edifying interpretation and is composed of two syllables "xi" and "lam", where the first comes from the Greek name for the letter "X", which is the symbol of transgression and the second is a reference to the soul which comes from the Latin word anima.[27]

Filmography

External links