SpindleHorse,[1] commonly referred to as SpindleHorse Toons, is an American animation production company founded by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano in 2018, based in Burbank, California. It is responsible for the Hellaverse shared universe animated series,[2] whose main series Hazbin Hotel is co-animated with Bento Box Entertainment and co-produced with A24. It is the sole animation studio of its spin-off series, Helluva Boss.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Animation |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Vivienne Medrano |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people |
|
| Products | Hazbin Hotel Helluva Boss |
| Owner | Vivienne Medrano |
SpindleHorse has also produced several animated shorts, including "Holidaze" and "Bad Luck Jack", all of which are available on Medrano's YouTube channel. Medrano has stated that the company's name comes from a childhood character of hers named Spindle.
History
Vivenne Medrano founded the animation studio SpindleHorse Toons, under which the pilot for Hazbin Hotel, the pilot and first two seasons of Helluva Boss, and several animated shorts would be released.[3] Medrano serves as the director, lead writer and lead character designer for SpindleHorse Toons.[4] In an interview with Cartoon Brew, she said that much of the Hazbin Hotel pilot was funded by money from her Patreon, rather than income from YouTube's algorithm.[5] The company Horseless Cowboy assisted Medrano with voice casting during the first season of Helluva Boss, with Richard Steven Horvitz serving as the voice director.[6] Cartoon Brew described her as a "paragon of indie success in animation".[7]
In October 2019, the pilot episode of Hazbin Hotel was released on Medrano's YouTube channel.[8] In November 2019, the pilot episode of Helluva Boss was released to her YouTube channel as well.[9] On December 25, 2019, a short entitled "Holidaze" was released. In July 2020, Medrano released an animated music video for Hazbin Hotel called "Addict", featuring the Silva Hound song of the same name.[10][11] In August 2020, Hazbin Hotel was picked up for a full series by A24.[12][13] Animation Magazine said that A24 was taking a "bold step" by picking up the series.[14] In 2023, scholar Ben Mitchell described Medrano's Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss as series which were "sensationally popular" and an effective use of Patreon to subsidize the show's art "through monthly tiered payments".[15] Hazbin Hotel would go on to be released in January 2024 to critical acclaim.
On September 30, 2020, Medrano released an animated short film titled "Bad Luck Jack", based on her webcomic ZooPhobia.[16] The short was nominated for and won for a Ursa Major Award in the "Best Dramatic Short Work" category.[17][18] The short was also listed as a "Recommended Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work" on the Ursa Major Award website.[19] From 2020 to 2021, Medrano released several "Voxtagram" animated clips of the characters of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss in a crossover slice-of-life setting to a series of in-character Instagram accounts run by SpindleHorse employees, alongside normal posts of character art depicting characters' selfies.[20][21]
Animation productions
Television series
| Title | Released | Original network(s) | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "That's Entertainment" | 2019 | YouTube | Hazbin Hotel pilot | [22] |
| Hazbin Hotel | 2024–present | Amazon Prime Video | Co-production with Bento Box and A24 | [23] |
Web series
| Title | Released | Original network(s) | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helluva Boss pilot | 2019 | YouTube | Pilot | [24] |
| Helluva Boss | 2020–present | Series | [25] |
Music videos
| Title | Released | Original network(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Inside of Every Demon Is a Rainbow" | 2018 | YouTube | [26] |
| "Oh Millie" | 2020 | [27] | |
| "Addict" | [28] | ||
| "Just Look My Way" | 2023 | [29] |
Shorts
| Title | Released | Original network(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Holidaze" | 2019 | YouTube | [30] |
| "Bad Luck Jack" | 2020 | [16] | |
| "Hell’s Belles" | 2024 |