Marvel Productions, the Van Nuys animation studio that has produced Spider-Man and Muppet Babies cartoons, plans to move its offices to West Los Angeles in May.
Marvel's departure will mark the second time this year a major cartoon factory has left the San Fernando Valley, for years the home of a large part of the animation industry. Earlier this year, Filmation in Woodland Hills closed after its parent company, Westinghouse's Group W Productions, sold the studio to a European group headed by British businessman Michael W. Stevens and backed by the French cosmetics giant L'Oreal.
