Bardel Entertainment

Bardel Entertainment, Inc. is a Canadian animation studio founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1987. The word "Bardel" comes from the names of its founders, Barry Ward and Delna Bhesania, who are a married couple. It is involved in the acquisition, development, production and distribution of animated programming. It is led by CEO Rick Mischel, previously a producer at Sony Pictures Animation.

Bardel is a full-service animation studio concurrently providing animation services for a diverse slate of U.S. blue-chip partners: Nickelodeon, DreamWorks, Warner Bros., Funrise and Cartoon Network/Adult Swim. Bardel has a rolling slate of projects in production. The current roster includes the new Netflix Original Series, The Dragon Prince (Wonderstorm), Teen Titans Go! (Warner Bros.), 44 Cats (Rainbow S.p.A), Rick and Morty (Adult Swim), and Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty (Funrise).

Later recent work includes award-winning series such as Angry Birds Blues, King Julien, Puss in Boots, Dinotrux, Rick and Morty, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Harmon Quest and Teen Titans Go! In 2015, Bardel won an Emmy Award for King Julien for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program, and in 2016, Bardel won an Emmy Award for Dinotrux for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation (Juried Award). In 2018, Rick and Morty received the Critics' Choice award for animation and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Older animation projects include the Viva Piñata television series, Mack & Moxy, Chaotic, Edgar & Ellen and ¡Mucha Lucha!., a thirteen-part series based on Silverwing and two direct-to-video films based on Mega Bloks Dragons. Another Bardel-produced show, Zeke's Pad, which has been broadcast in countries such as Australia and Germany, made its Canadian premiere on YTV on January 9, 2010.

Bardel has 500 employees, with a studio in Vancouver and Kelowna. The entertainment company has done animation for many organizations such as the Fox Broadcasting Company, Bear Bones Productions, DreamWorks Animation, Warner Bros., Paramount, Nickelodeon, Disney and Cartoon Network. On October 5, 2015, Italian animation studio Rainbow S.r.l. acquired Bardel Entertainment.