This article is about the animation division of Warner Bros. Pictures. For the animation division of the Warner Bros. Television Studios, see Warner Bros. Animation.
Its first film, The Lego Movie, was released on February 7, 2014, and its most recent film was DC League of Super-Pets on July 29, 2022; their upcoming slate of films includes The Cat in the Hat on March 6, 2026, Thing One and Thing Two in 2026, Oh, the Places You'll Go! in 2027, and Toto on unspecified release dates. Films produced by WBPA have grossed a total of $2 billion at the box office.
History
On January 7, 2013, Jeff Robinov (then head of the studio's motion picture division) founded a screenplay development department, nicknamed a "think tank" for developing theatrical animated films, known as the Warner Animation Group.[1] The group includes John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, Nicholas Stoller, Jared Stern, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.[1] Warner Bros. created the group with the hope that the box office reception of their films will be competitive with other animation studios' releases.[1]
On February 7, 2014, Warner Animation Group released their first film, The Lego Movie, a film animated by Animal Logic, which also provided the animation for both spinoffs. It was met with critical praise and proved to be a box-office success. Due to the movie's success, a media franchise was created, with two spinoffs, The Lego Batman Movie[2] and The Lego Ninjago Movie (both 2017),[3] and a sequel, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019). While The Lego Batman Movie proved to be successful at the box office, The Lego Ninjago Movie and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part were both unable to recoup its budget, with Ninjago being the first film from the Warner Animation Group to be a box-office flop.[4]
WAG's second film, Storks, was released September 23, 2016.[5] It received mixed reviews from critics. On December 14, 2017, Warner Bros. announced Allison Abbate had been named Executive Vice President, and Chris Leahy has been named Senior Vice President.[6]
The WAG shield used as the print logo from 2014 to 2021; extensively used in trailers
Smallfoot, released September 28, 2018, received mostly positive reviews from critics and became a box office success. In October 2019, Locksmith Animation formed a multi-year production deal with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Animation Group, which will distribute Locksmith's films.[7]
An animated reboot of the Scooby-Doo film series titled Scoob! was initially set for a theatrical release on May 15, 2020,[8] but then it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] On April 21, 2020, it was announced that it would instead go to video on demand in response to the pandemic.[10] It received mixed reviews from critics.
Former logo as Warner Animation Group used from 2021 to 2023.
A live-action/animated film based on Tom & Jerry was released internationally on February 11, 2021, and on February 26 in the United States in theaters and HBO Max simultaneously and also debuted the company's new logo to match with the design of the new shield logo that Warner Bros. debuted back in November 2019, and like the main WB logo, which was debuted that year with Locked Down, it is made by Devastudios, using Terragen for the sky and clouds, along with the studio's blueprints from the Warner Bros. Studio Facilities and the available photography and videography from the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood and Google Maps, all in order to reconstruct it in CGI.[11] It received generally negative reviews from critics, and is the first film from the company to have met so.
Space Jam: A New Legacy, starring LeBron James, was released on July 16, 2021, and was the first film from Warner Animation Group to incorporate traditional animation. It also received generally negative reviews from critics and is the second film from the company to have met so after Tom & Jerry, due to the film being heavy on product placement of the studio's intellectual properties.
A Christmas-themed spin-off prequel titled Scoob! Holiday Haunt, taking place in the gang's youth, with the actors who portrayed their younger selves reprising, was set for release in 2022 on HBO Max, but was cancelled following the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery in April 2022 by CEO David Zaslav on August 2, 2022, citing cost-cutting measures and a refocus on theatrical films rather than creating projects for streaming.[13][14][15] Following the merger, it was announced in August that Allison Abbate would be leaving the studio.
Unused logo for the then-renamed animation studio in 2023.
On February 9, 2023, it was reported that former DreamWorks Animation chief creative officer Bill Damaschke was in talks to lead the studio.[16] On May 5, 2023, it was confirmed in a Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call by Zaslav that Damaschke had been hired, and was hard at work with Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy on developing a new slate of films.[17] On June 9, 2023, Damaschke announced the rebranding of the division into Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and stated that they planned to follow the creative lead of Abdy and De Luca.[18]
Upcoming releases
The studio was developing a live-action/animation hybrid film titled Coyote vs. Acme, directed by Dave Green and produced by Chris DeFaria and James Gunn, which was due to be released on July 21, 2023.[19] However, that release date was taken by Barbie, with Coyote vs. Acme remaining undated.[20] However, the film was cancelled on November 9, 2023, the studio citing a tax write-off;[21] a similar fate befell the Scoob! prequel Scoob! Holiday Haunt the previous year. This decision, which was not known to the crew until it was completed,[22] was met with backlash, citing that the film had received positive test screenings and interested buyers.[23][24] However, following extensive backlash, the company reversed their decisions, allowing the filmmakers to shop the film to interested distributors.[25] However, in February 2024, due to being unable to find a distributor, Warner Bros. Discovery was reportedly considering canceling and deleting the film for good, though discussions to release it were reportedly still ongoing.[26][27]
A musical feature adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's children's book Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story Of The Wizard Of Oz began animation production in February 2021. It is being directed by Alex Timbers, from a screenplay by John August, and produced by Derek Frey.[28] It was originally scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on February 2, 2024. On April 5, 2023, it was taken off the release schedule with Alto Knights taking over its original release date.[29]
A photorealistic animated feature film adaptation of the Animal Planet series Meerkat Manor was announced to be in development in April 2024, with Seth Green and Tracy Falco set to produce the film, and series creator Caroline Hawkins and Clare Birks from Oxford Scientific Films to serve as executive producers.[32]
The screenplay department is reportedly somewhat similar to Pixar Animation Studios' "brain trust" in terms of how its members consult with one another and give feedback on each other's projects. The group is nicknamed the "think tank".[40]
Lego System A/S Vertigo Entertainment Lord Miller Productions Rideback
Animal Logic
Clare Knight
First sequel. First collaboration with Rideback after renaming itself from Lin Pictures Final Lego film before the adaptation rights were sold to Universal Pictures.[S]
↑ Released on Premium VOD in the United States and Canada in lieu of a planned theatrical release on this date,[47] and later released in theaters in select countries with relaxed COVID-19 restrictions beginning July 8, 2020.[48][49]
Related Research Articles
The Acme Corporation is a fictional corporation that features prominently in the Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote animated shorts as a running gag. The company manufactures outlandish products that fail or backfire catastrophically at the worst possible times. The name is also used as a generic title in many cartoons, especially those made by Warner Bros. and films, TV series, commercials and comic strips.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short Fast and Furry-ous. In each episode, the cunning, devious and constantly hungry coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner, but is always humorously unsuccessful in doing so. Instead of his animal instincts, the coyote uses absurdly complex contraptions to try to catch his prey. They comically backfire, with the coyote often getting injured in slapstick fashion. Many of the items for these contrivances are mail-ordered from a variety of companies implied to be part of the Acme Corporation.
Christopher DeFaria is an American film producer. He served as president of animation and innovative technology at Warner Bros. Pictures for four years. In January 2017, he joined DreamWorks Animation in the newly-created position of president of the DreamWorks Feature Animation Group. As president, DeFaria oversaw all aspects of DWA's feature animation business, including slate strategy, development, production; innovation and technology; and business affairs prior to his departure in early 2019.
Allison Therese Abbate is an American film producer and animator, primarily of animated films.
Reel FX Animation, formerly known as Reel FX Creative Studios, is an American Visual effects and computer animation studio with studios in Dallas, Texas, Hollywood, California, and Montreal, Quebec.
David Green is an American film and music video director. He is well known for directing several music videos and short films, especially working with Miles Fisher. After making his directorial debut with the 2014 film Earth to Echo, he went on to direct other films such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) and later the Warner Bros. Pictures film Coyote vs. Acme.
DC Studios is an American film, television, and animation studio that is a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). It is dedicated to the production of films, series, and animations based on characters from DC Comics, among them is their flagship franchise, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). James Gunn and Peter Safran assumed control of the company, on November 1, 2022. Previously, Walter Hamada was the president of DC Films from 2018 until his departure in October 2022.
Christopher McKay, is an American filmmaker and animator. He is best known for directing and editing three seasons of Robot Chicken and two seasons of Moral Orel. He made his feature directorial debut with The Lego Batman Movie (2017), and has also directed The Tomorrow War (2021) and Renfield (2023).
Vertigo Entertainment is an American film and television production company based in Los Angeles, founded in 2001 by Roy Lee and Doug Davison.
Scoob! is a 2020 American animated mystery comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is a reboot of the theatrical Scooby-Doo film series and the third theatrical film based on the characters, following Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004). The film is directed by Tony Cervone from a screenplay by Adam Sztykiel, Jack Donaldson, Derek Elliott, and Matt Lieberman, and a story by Lieberman, Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart. It stars the voices of Frank Welker, Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez, Zac Efron, and Amanda Seyfried. The film also features the voices of Mark Wahlberg, Jason Isaacs, Kiersey Clemons, Ken Jeong, and Tracy Morgan as other animated Hanna-Barbera characters. Set in a Hanna-Barbera animated shared universe, the film follows Mystery Incorporated working with the Blue Falcon to solve their most challenging mystery behind their mascot's secret legacy and a purpose, which connects with Dick Dastardly's evil plan to unleash Cerberus.
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group unit, and is based at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California. Animated films produced by Warner Bros. Pictures Animation are also released under the studio banner.
Coyote vs. Acme is an unreleased American live-action/animated legal comedy film directed by Dave Green and written by Samy Burch, based on a story by Burch, James Gunn and Jeremy Slater. The film is based on the 1990 magazine article of the same name published in The New Yorker by Ian Frazier, which involves the character Wile E. Coyote and the Acme Corporation from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The cast includes John Cena, Will Forte, Lana Condor, P.J. Byrne, and the voice of Eric Bauza.
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