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Warner Bros. Pictures Animation

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (WBPA), formerly known as Warner Animation Group (WAG), is an American animation studio that serves as the animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established in January 2013, the studio is the successor to the traditional animation studio Warner Bros. Feature Animation, which dissolved in 2004, and is also a sister to the regular Warner Bros. Animation studio.

The studio has produced 10 feature films, its first being The Lego Movie, which was released on February 7, 2014, and the most recent being DC League of Super-Pets, which was released on July 29, 2022. Films produced by WBPA have grossed a total of $2 billion at the box-office. The Lego Movie is the studio's most commercially successful franchise, while the aforementioned The Lego Movie (2014), The Lego Batman Movie (2017), Smallfoot (2018), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), and the aforementioned DC League of Super-Pets (2022) are among the studio's most critically acclaimed films to date.[1]

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 Warner Animation Group.[2] The group includes John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, Nicholas Stoller, Jared Stern, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.[2] Warner Bros. created the group with the hope that the box office reception of their films will be competitive with other animation studios' releases.[2]

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 spin-offs. 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 spin-offs, The Lego Batman Movie[3] and The Lego Ninjago Movie (both 2017),[4] 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 Warner Animation Group to be a box-office flop.[5]

WAG's second film, Storks, was released September 23, 2016.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

An animated reboot of the Scooby-Doo film series titled Scoob! was initially set for a theatrical release on May 15, 2020,[9] but then it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] On April 21, 2020, it was announced that it would instead go to video on demand in response to the pandemic.[11] It received mixed reviews from critics.

A live-action/animated film based on Tom & Jerry was released internationally on February 11, 2021, and in the United States on February 26, simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. The film also marked the debut of the company's new logo, made to match the November 2019 refresh of the Warner Bros. shield that itself debuted a month prior in Locked Down.[12] 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 negative reviews from critics, due to its extensive product placement of WarnerMedia's intellectual properties.

An animated film based on the Legion of Super-Pets titled DC League of Super-Pets was released on July 29, 2022.[13] It received generally positive reviews from critics.

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.[14][15][16] Later that month, it was reported that the film would still be finished, even though Warner Bros. Discovery had no present plans to release it.[17] Although the film was used as a tax write-off, the film was finally finished on November 4 that year.[18]

Following the merger, it was announced in August that Allison Abbate would be leaving the studio.[19]

On February 9, 2023, it was reported that former DreamWorks Animation chief creative officer Bill Damaschke was in talks to lead the studio.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

Upcoming releases

In August 2018, the studio began development on a live-action/animated hybrid film based on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies character Wile E. Coyote, titled Coyote vs. Acme.[23] The project was directed by Dave Green from a script by Samy Burch, with Chris DeFaria and James Gunn acting as producers.[24] Initially, the film was scheduled for July 21, 2023, a date it would later lose to Greta Gerwig's Barbie.[25][26] In November 2023, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery announced that the project would be shelved despite its completion, opting to take a tax write-off instead.[27] Following industry-wide backlash, Green and his collaborators were allowed to shop the film to potential distributors.[28][29] In March 2025, Ketchup Entertainment acquired worldwide rights to the film, with a 2026 release window; later scheduling the project for release on August 28, 2026.[30][31][32]

In January 2018, the studio began a strategic partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises to produce musical films based on Seuss' work.[33] The first film under this collaboration is an adaptation of The Cat in the Hat, written and directed by Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja and starring Bill Hader as the titular character.[34] It is scheduled to release on November 6, 2026.[35][36] A spin-off based on the characters Thing One and Thing Two is also in development.[37]

In June 2023, following the studio's rebranding to WBPA, a first-look deal with independent British studio Locksmith Animation was announced.[38] The first film under this partnership is a musical-comedy titled Bad Fairies, directed by Megan Nicole Dong from a script by Deborah Frances-White. The film is scheduled to release on May 21, 2027.[39][40]

A Christmas film titled Margie Claus is scheduled to be released on November 5, 2027, with Melissa McCarthy to star and produce (under her On the Day Productions company) alongside Ben Falcone and Pilar Flynn. Falcone also co-wrote the script with Damon Jones.[41] The project was previously set up as a live-action feature at New Line Cinema.[42]

An adaptation of Oh, the Places You'll Go! is set to be the second film of WBPA's partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises. The film is scheduled for a March 17, 2028 release, with Jon M. Chu and Jill Culton directing from a screenplay by Rob Lieber. J.J. Abrams (through his company Bad Robot Productions) and Gregg Taylor will produce.[43][44]

In collaboration with sister company DC Studios and puppet animation studio Swaybox, WBPA is developing Dynamic Duo, directed by Arthur Mintz and written by Matthew Aldrich.[45] An origin story for the characters Dick Grayson (Nightwing) and Jason Todd (Red Hood), the film is "a mix of animation, puppetry and CG". The project has been scheduled to open on June 30, 2028.[46]

A feature based on Hello Kitty is scheduled to be released on July 21, 2028 in collaboration with sister company New Line Cinema, Sanrio and FlynnPictureCo.[47]

A feature adaptation of Marissa Meyer's fantasy book series The Lunar Chronicles was announced as the second film in development under the Locksmith Animation deal.[38] Noëlle Raffaele is directing from a screenplay by Kalen Egan and Travis Sentell. The film has been scheduled to release on November 3, 2028.[48]

Meet the Flintstones, an origin story for the Hanna-Barbera characters, was announced to be in development along with the studio's rebranding to WBPA. It is being directed by Todd Wilderman and Hamish Grieve from a screenplay by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, directors of Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie.[49][50]

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.[51]

A "super-secret project" based on Looney Tunes is in development. Todd Wilderman and Hamish Grieve are attached to direct.[52]

A feature adaptation of Emily the Strange is in development with Pamela Ribon set to write the screenplay. Bad Robot will co-produce the film, with Rob Reger, the character's creator, serving as executive producer alongside Trevor Duke-Moretz.[53]

A new feature based on Tom and Jerry is in the works, with Rashida Jones, Will McCormack and Michael Govier penning the script.[54]

In January 2026, it was announced that Jorge R. Gutíérrez would direct an animated film based on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies character Speedy Gonzales.[55]

In April 2026, a feature adaptation of Zac Gorman's book series Thisby Thestoop was announced to be in development at the studio. Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman attached to write a screenplay based on the series' first book, Thisby Thestoop and the Black Mountain.[56]

Process

Similar to 20th Century Animation, Paramount Animation and Sony Pictures Animation, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation outsources their computer-animated films' production to other studios such as Animal Logic (The Lego Movie franchise, DC League of Super-Pets and Toto), Sony Pictures Imageworks (Storks and Smallfoot), Reel FX Creative Studios (Scoob!), Framestore (Tom & Jerry) and Industrial Light & Magic (Space Jam: A New Legacy). However, Space Jam: A New Legacy did also include hand-drawn animation, which is done in-house and also outsourced from Company 3 Animation,[57] and Tonic DNA.[58][59][60][61][62][63]

The budgets for their films tend to range from $60–80 million. Their most expensive films to date are The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part ($99 million), Scoob! ($90 million), Space Jam: A New Legacy ($150 million), and DC League of Super-Pets ($90 million).

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".[64]

Filmography

Franchises

See also

External links

References

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