Vancouver’s Slap Happy Cartoons has brought in Atomic Cartoons co-founder Rob Davies as a partner.

Davies, who came on board last month, joins the Slap Happy ownership team alongside founders Greg Sullivan, Kathy Antonsen and Josh Mepham. Co-founder Vito Viscomi is exiting the studio to pursue other interests, according to a news release.

Davies’ vast experience as a creative and studio owner should help strengthen Slap Happy’s ownership team, Antonsen told Playback sister publication Kidscreen. “He has been making series and fostering relationships for a long time, and has proven himself as a respected leader time and again on many creative teams over the years.”

Davies has more than 30 years of animation industry experience under his belt. Through the ’90s, he worked as an artist and designer on numerous TV series, including Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series.

In 1999, he set up animation house Atomic Cartoons alongside Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese and Olaf Miller. There, he co-created the series Atomic Betty and developed toons such as Captain Flamingo and Pirate Express.

Thunderbird acquired Atomic Cartoons in 2015. Davies stayed on to help lead the studio, and departed the company in 2019.

Last year, Slap Happy signed on for the reboot of classic Canadian toon The Beachcombers, and is also juggling a number of other unannounced projects on its development slate. Founded in 2012, the studio is behind kids shows like Nerds and Monsters (YTV) and The Hollow (Netflix).

This story originally appeared in Kidscreen

Featured image (from left to right): Rob Davies, Greg Sullivan, Kathy Antonsen, and Josh Mepham at Kidscreen Summit 2024.