Best Animation Studios in Oslo (2026)

Introduction

Oslo is the centre of Norwegian animation, and the eight studios below cover the range of work made in the city: family features and series, auteur shorts, character animation for live-action films, and motion design and CG for brands. They were chosen for recent productions, credits and the strength of their client work.

The last two years were busy for Norwegian animation. Cartoon Brew reported in January 2025 that more than six Norwegian animated features were due for release that year, including Qvisten’s adult comedy Spermageddon. A Mouse Hunt for Christmas, with animated hero characters made in Oslo by Expanse, became the most watched film in Norwegian cinemas in 2025, and Netflix’s Troll 2 drew on Oslo studios for character animation. Feature work runs alongside a steady commercial market for energy, telecom, health and FMCG clients.

Every studio here has an active Oslo studio in 2026. The list is unranked, since the right partner depends on whether you need a series, a character for a live-action film, or a 30-second CG spot.

The best animation studios in Oslo

1. Qvisten Animation

Independent · Oslo · qvisten.no

Qvisten is Norway’s largest animation studio. Film producers Ove Heiborg and Fredrik Kiøsterud founded it in 1994 after meeting as students at Westerdals, and animator Rasmus A. Sivertsen joined as co-owner in 1997. The studio has around 80 artists and works in computer animation, having closed its puppet studio in 2018.

Its features include Kaptein Sabeltann (2003), the Flåklypa films starting with Solan og Ludvig: Jul i Flåklypa (2013), Helt Super (2022) and Spermageddon (2025). Upcoming titles include Bukkene Bruse drar til Syden and Julenissens verksted. Qvisten XTND, set up in 2021, takes its characters into commercials, theme parks, games and installations, which suits brands that want a character rather than a one-off spot.

2. Mikrofilm

Independent, partner-owned · Oslo · mikrofilm.no

Mikrofilm is one of Norway’s oldest animation studios. Director Kajsa Næss, director Liv Berit Helland Gilberg and producer Lise Fearnley founded it in Oslo in 1996, and Torill Kove’s The Danish Poet, which Mikrofilm produced, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 2007.

Næss directed the hand-drawn feature Titina (2022), with Mikrofilm as lead producer. The studio co-produced The Ape Star with Denmark’s Nørlum and Sweden’s Lee Film, and is a co-producer on Anna Mantzaris’s stop-motion short Please, which premiered at Animafest Zagreb in June 2026. It is a small team that works mostly on international co-productions, so it fits auteur-led film work better than fast-turnaround advertising.

3. Gimpville

Independent, with a minority stake held by M83 · Sentrum · gimpville.no

Gimpville has worked from Oslo for more than two decades and is best known for simulation, water and destruction work on films such as Bølgen (The Wave) and Skjelvet (The Quake). It also does character animation, and in 2025 Seoul’s M83 became a minority owner, giving the studio more capacity for large projects.

Recent work includes character animation and water simulation on Netflix’s Troll 2 (2025), and Viqueens, an animated family feature Gimpville is making with director Harald Zwart, listed as in production in 2026. On the commercial side it won Best VFX in advertising at the 2025 Lokeprisene for an STC Formula 1 spot.

4. Expanse

Independent · Sentrum · expanse.no

Expanse is a full-service VFX and animation house on Tollbugata, covering 2D and 3D animation for film, television, commercials, game cinematics and theme park attractions. Its pipeline runs from storyboards and animatics through modelling, rigging and animation to compositing and grading.

The studio delivered about 500 shots, including the animated hero characters, for A Mouse Hunt for Christmas, all made in Oslo. Because it handles pre-production through to finishing, it suits projects that mix live action and animated characters under one supervisor.

5. Imagma Animation & VFX

Independent · Oslo · imagma.no

Imagma was founded in 2022 and provides animation and VFX for feature films, episodic work and commercials. The studio is led by animation lead William Eckbo Avgerinos, VFX lead Mattis Gaston Larsen and producer Marte B. Deichman-Sørensen, who is also a lawyer.

In a short time it has built a long credit list. Its site lists Avengers: Doomsday, The Legend of Ochi, Troll 2, Richard the Stork 2 and Teddybjørnens jul among the productions it has worked on. Ask which parts of a film the team handled, as credits span both animation and VFX.

6. Racecar

Independent · St. Hanshaugen · racecar.no

Racecar is a motion design studio that has worked in Oslo since 2002. It covers design, strategy, concept, direction, animation and brand building, with a team drawn from architecture, animation, graphic design, illustration and music.

Much of its work explains complex products and public services. Recent projects include films for Kongsberg Gruppen, Ice (“5G from Ice”), NVE, Norsk Helsenett, Helsedirektoratet and the energy software firm Oliasoft. It is a good fit for B2B and public-sector briefs where clarity matters as much as style.

7. Saurus Animation

Independent · Oslo · saurus.no

Saurus Animation makes high-end 3D and CG commercials. Its specialism is 3D animation with a stop-motion look, keeping the handmade imperfections of puppet animation while working with current CG tools.

Alongside character work it offers product visualisation and packshots, which suits FMCG and retail campaigns. Its site shows client logos for brands including Gjensidige, Mills, Nidar and Mercedes-Benz.

8. Babusjka

Independent · Oslo · babusjka.no

Babusjka has made animation for advertising and film since 2001, working in motion graphics, stop motion and 3D. In 2020 Oslo’s city government nominated it for Green Company of the Year.

Its portfolio is strong on drinks and product work, with a run of films for Ringnes (Battery, Farris and Farris FRUS) and work for the furniture maker Vestre. It also made an opener for The Webby Awards and a campaign for Movistar.

What to look for in an Oslo animation studio

Start with the type of work. Oslo’s feature studios, such as Qvisten and Mikrofilm, are set up for long productions with public funding and international co-producers. Commercial studios like Racecar, Saurus and Babusjka work to campaign timelines. Houses such as Gimpville, Expanse and Imagma sit between the two, with animation and VFX under one roof.

Look at the technique, and ask to see it in work close to yours. Stop motion, stop-motion-styled CG, 2D character animation and explainer motion design each need different skills and schedules. A studio’s reel shows its best shots, so ask for a full film in the style you want.

Ask how the schedule is built. Animation moves through script, storyboard, animatic, design, animation and finishing, and changes cost more the later they come. Agree how many review rounds there are at each stage, and who signs off on behalf of your team.

Finally, ask how files and feedback are handled. Animation projects produce large scene files, renders and many versions of each shot. Studios that keep one place for the latest cut and gather comments on the frame, rather than in email, tend to keep later stages on schedule.

How Fabric helps animation teams

Fabric gives an animation studio one workspace for production files, client feedback and team knowledge, with AI search across all of it. The creative teams setup keeps scripts, boards, animatics and renders together per project.

Scene files and renders sit in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space, and heavy files open without a full download. There is more on this in your rendering files need a home. Search works by meaning across documents, images and transcribed recordings, colour search finds frames by shade, and similar search surfaces related designs or reference by composition, colour and subject.

For pre-production, Canvas works as an infinite board for storyboards and moodboards, with Vimeo and YouTube embeds. A Kanban board can turn a shots folder into a pipeline whose cards are the files themselves.

For reviews, share an animatic or cut with the client as a commenter. Shared links work without sign-up. With annotations, the client leaves timestamped comments on video, draws on the frame to show what should change, and draws on still designs with a comment attached. The team marks each comment completed as it is fixed, so feedback works as a checklist. The review and approval workflow covers this in more detail. Published pages are view-only, which suits a finished showreel.

Password protection for showreels and pitch films, and link analytics on each named link, are included on Pro and Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the biggest animation studio in Oslo?

Qvisten Animation is Norway’s largest animation studio, with around 80 artists in Oslo. It has made features such as the Flåklypa films, Helt Super and Spermageddon.

Which Oslo studios make animated feature films?

Qvisten and Mikrofilm produce animated features and series, and Gimpville is making the animated family feature Viqueens with Harald Zwart. Expanse and Imagma provide animated characters for live-action features such as A Mouse Hunt for Christmas and Troll 2.

Which Oslo studios do motion design and CG for commercials?

Racecar focuses on motion design and explainer films, Saurus Animation on CG commercials with a stop-motion look, and Babusjka on motion graphics, stop motion and 3D for brands such as Ringnes. For live-action shoots, see the list of video production companies in Oslo.

How long does an animated commercial take to make?

It depends on length, technique and how many review rounds are agreed. Studios plan around script, storyboard, animatic, design, animation and finishing, so ask for a stage-by-stage schedule when you brief them.

Has any Oslo animation studio won an Oscar?

Yes. The Danish Poet, directed by Torill Kove and produced by Mikrofilm, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2007.

Related lists

Animation studios in other cities: London · New York · Los Angeles · Stockholm · Copenhagen

More in Oslo: Creative agencies · Video production · Content studios · Design agencies · Advertising agencies · Branding agencies

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for creative teams · Fabric for video editors · Best creative proofing tools