(L-R) CT State Reps. C. Leone, J. Berger, Blue Sky CEO B. Keane, CT Gov. M. Jodi Rell, V. Morrison, pres. of Fox Animation and CT State Rep. J. Amann cut the ribbon to open Blue Sky Studios' new Connecticut home. Images courtesy of 20th Century Fox.

You can't move into the future without taking a look back.

It might've been mere coincidence, but the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Blue Sky Studios' new Greenwich, Connecticut headquarters took place just six days after an animation exhibit supported by the studio opened at an arts center blocks away from the company's former home in White Plains, New York.

The exhibit ("It All Started Here") at the White Plains Arts Exchange traced the New York-area origins of the animation industry. An assortment of antique equipment was on display to demonstrate the medium's technical progress: animation tables from long-gone studios, creaky moviolas -- and a primitive, tiny-screened computer work station used by Blue Sky's founders to create some of the still-spectacular CG animation for 1982's Tron.

Blue Sky's come a long way since that piece of hardware was last plugged in: a tiny outfit that was once known as MAGI/Synthavision has grown from a handful of dreamers into a full-fledged feature animation studio with a team of over 350 people.

The turning point, of course, came with 20th Century Fox's acquisition of the company in 1997, in the wake of the collapse of the 2D-animated feature market and around the time Blue Sky released its calling-card (and ultimately Oscar-winning) CG-animated short, Bunny. The company had already made a name for itself doing high-end, work-for-hire vfx and animation for an assortment of advertising and movie clients. With Fox's backing, however, Blue Sky created its first animated feature Ice Age, making both entities full-fledged players in the CG feature game. With four movies under its belt, the third Ice Age film Dawn of the Dinosaurs (due July 1, including stereoscopic 3-D) and future projects in various stages of close-to-the-vest development, Blue Sky was definitely in need of larger digs.

The move took place over the 2008 year-end holidays. The company said goodbye to its cramped, piecemeal home spread over three floors of a nondescript office building and headed off to its new digs: a spacious studio surrounded by 150 acres of undeveloped land one state, seven miles and a whopping 30 percent tax credit away.

Then, last Thursday, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell snipped a ceremonial blue ribbon in the company's meeting area/lounge as reporters, politicians and Blue Sky staffers looked on. "This is the second phase of what we're trying to do," boasted Jeff Berger, co-chair of the state's Commerce committee "We still want crews filming on Main Street, but we want to build an industry," based on digital animation. "The reason Blue Sky is here is because of the tax credit."

The lure of a 30% credit against all production costs up to a $15 million annual ceiling is hard to resist, but there were other reasons as well for Blue Sky's choice. "We did an exhaustive search in New York and Connecticut," Brian A. Keane, Blue Sky's COO explained. "We decided on a short list of Stamford and Greenwich and ultimately chose Greenwich," where the vacant top floor of a suburban office building was waiting.

"This space had the best footprint for what we were looking for. The entire floor plate of this building is 144,000 square feet of which we have 106,000, versus the 90,000 we had in White Plains. Our proximity to [New York City] and the airports were a plus, but the fact it's on 150 scenic acres and we could get the top floor was a factor too."

"To be honest, there aren't a lot of spaces in the northeast that can accommodate a company like ours, and we're very close to our old home in White Plains," added Blue Sky founder Chris Wedge. "Connecticut made some major concessions for us, the proverbial offer we couldn't refuse." One offer Blue Sky did refuse in the past was Fox's suggestion the company move west. "There was some discussion years and years ago, but not lately, and probably not for a while."

Once Greenwich was selected, the Blue Sky execs and staff began brainstorming what they wanted and needed in a new space that would be built to their specifications from the bare walls out. "The process gave us an opportunity to sit down with everyone and design the kind of space we knew we needed to do the work we do," Wedge explained. "It was the first time we've been able to do that. Everything else we've done was kind of cobbled on top of something else that never worked very well.