Inventionland’s Animation Attic
Inventionland, the world's largest invention factory, is where ideas, innovations and new products come to life. Created by George Davison, founder and CEO of Davison, it is a 61,000 square-foot wonderland located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Inventionland turns out more than 150 new product prototypes every month.
Inventionland is an inspirational, one-of-a-kind factory where employees work in 16 unique themed sets that are specifically designed to spark imagination and foster creative thinking. The Animation Attic handles all in-house video and animation work. Media products, animation development, and other video products are handled by the talented team of artists in the Animation Attic. Situated in a prime area above the Brainpower Ballpark, the design of this section gives the artists an optimal environment for developing artwork and ideas. The minimalist space provides plenty of room for conceptualization and storyboarding.
The Inventsons is one of the products to come out of Inventionland’s Animation Attic. The concept of the series is of a place where any idea is possible, and Inventsons follows a creative family working to make their world a better place by developing awesome inventions. The Inventsons aren’t your average genius family. They own a unique amusement park that attracts kids from all over—called Inventionland. Inventionland is loosely modeled on the real-life Inventionland offices, and includes some of the landmarks that visitors will find recognizable, such as the Pirate Ship Discovery. The Inventsons run wild with their creativity and make inventions for fun, inspiring other so live by their code: Imagine, Develop, Empower, Amaze. The series even features a villain, the nefarious Balzer, who uses his henchmen and a set of diabolical devices to try and steal the Inventsons’ plans and destroy Inventionland once and for all. The characters include Walt, Sue, Jesse, and their grandfather and mentor, “G,” along with friends like Pedro. Featuring videos like Balzer’s “World Domination Theatre,” the concept includes an invention in every episode, and the development of the “IDEA” concept: Imagine, Develop, Empower, and Amaze. The Inventsons use their inventions to solve problems as well as to keep the evil Balzer from taking over Inventionland.
The Animation Attic also works on projects such as the webisode series Dare to Invent. Each of the Dare to Invent episodes features animated segments explaining the background of the idea, and the development of successful inventions like Twister Caps and the BikeBoard. The animations serve to augment the larger story of the process each Davison product goes through, providing a balance for the real-world story with the inevitable frustrations that come from trial and error, as well as developing prototypes and marketing ideas. Dare to Invent has not only been featured on its own YouTube channel, but also on The Balancing Act, a huge early morning program for Lifetime TV.
The Animation Attic works on a variety of projects and is always developing new video art for Davison’s range of production needs. With the Animation Attic, Davison’s multi-pronged approach to inventing gets another helpful function.
Many new ideas come to life every month at Inventionland. The Davison team delivers a constant flow of innovative products and ideas to companies, and also offers individuals with ideas a variety of services to help them develop their idea.
“I find it extremely rewarding to be able to help the everyday ‘idea person’ bring their idea for a new product to life, and then hear their reaction after they actually see it in packaging and on the store shelf,” said Mr. Davison. “There’s nothing more exciting.”
A typical project is not licensed, sold in stores or profitable.
