Bardel Entertainment

Bardel Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian animation and visual effects studio founded in 1987 by Barry Ward and Delna Bhesania. Originating as a Vancouver boutique ink-and-paint house serving independent productions and television commercials, it has developed into a full-service production partner for animated television, feature work, streaming productions, and visual effects.

The studio’s production capabilities span hand-drawn and digital 2D animation, Toon Boom Harmony cut-out work, 3D CGI animation, and hybrid 2D/3D visual styles. Its teams support projects from early creative development through delivery, including concept art, visual development, character and background design, storyboarding, animatics, modeling, texturing, rigging, layout, animation, lighting, rendering, compositing, and visual-effects integration.

Production work

Bardel has collaborated with broadcasters, studios, and streaming platforms including Netflix, Adult Swim, Warner Bros. Discovery, Nickelodeon, Disney+, Amazon MGM Studios, Cartoon Network, and DreamWorks Animation. Its credited work includes:

• Rick and Morty
• The Dragon Prince and The Dragon Prince: The Mystery of Aavaros
• Teen Titans Go!
• The animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid films
• Sausage Party: Foodtopia
• Carol & The End of the World
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Predator: Killer of Killers
• All Hail King Julien, The Adventures of Puss in Boots, and Dinotrux
• 44 Cats and Silverwing

The studio’s work has been associated with Emmy-recognized productions including Rick and Morty and The Dragon Prince. Its creative and technical practice combines traditional animation disciplines with digital production workflows, including cloud-enabled and hybrid pipeline infrastructure.

Company history

Rainbow S.p.A. acquired Bardel Entertainment in October 2015, adding the Canadian studio to its international production and service infrastructure. Bardel remains an active operating company and has continued to expand its feature-animation and visual-effects capabilities, including the launch of a VFX division in 2025.

Today, Bardel operates as an animation-focused production studio supporting co-production, executive-production, and service work for film, television, streaming, and interactive-media projects.