Warner Animation Group

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Warner Animation Group
TypeDivision
IndustryAnimation
Motion pictures
PredecessorWarner Bros. Feature Animation (1994–2004)
FoundedJanuary 7, 2013; 9 years ago (January 7, 2013)
FounderJeff Robinov
Headquarters
4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Allison Abbate
(Executive Vice President)
Chris Leahy
(Senior Vice President)
ProductsAnimated films
OwnerWarner Bros. Discovery
ParentWarner Bros. Pictures
(Warner Bros. Entertainment)

The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is an American animation studio which is the feature animation label of the Warner Bros. Pictures, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which is a part of Warner Bros. Discovery. Established on January 7, 2013, the studio is the successor to the dissolved 2D traditional hand-drawn animation studio Warner Bros. Feature Animation, which shut down in 2004, and is also a sister to the regular Warner Bros. Animation studio.

Its first film, The Lego Movie, was released on February 7, 2014, and its most recent film was Space Jam: A New Legacy on July 16, 2021; their upcoming slate of films includes DC League of Super-Pets on July 29, 2022, Scoob! Holiday Haunt in 2022, Coyote vs. Acme on July 21, 2023, and Toto on February 2, 2024. Films produced by WAG have grossed a total of $1.8 billion at the box office.

History[edit]

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.

WAG's second film, Storks, was released September 23, 2016.[2] It received mixed reviews from critics.

On February 10, 2017, Warner Animation Group released The Lego Batman Movie, which received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success.[3][4] On December 14, 2017, Warner Bros. announced Allison Abbate had been named Executive Vice President, and Chris Leahy has been named Senior Vice President.[5]

The Lego Ninjago Movie, based on the Lego Ninjago toys, was released on September 22, 2017. Upon release, the film was met with mixed reviews from critics and became the first film from the studio and franchise to fail to recoup its budget.[6][7]

The WAG shield used as the print logo from 2014–2021; extensively used in trailers

Smallfoot, released September 28, 2018, earned a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with mostly positive reviews from critics and has become the box office success, grossed over $214 million worldwide.[8][9]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, a sequel to The Lego Movie, was released February 8, 2019 and earned an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with generally positive reviews from critics but only grossed around $192.3 million worldwide, almost barely recouping its budget and becoming the studio and franchise's second box office disappointment.[10][11][12]

In October 2019, Locksmith Animation formed a multi-year production deal with Warner Bros., which will distribute Locksmith's films.[13]

An animated reboot of the Scooby-Doo film series titled Scoob! was initially set for a theatrical release on May 15, 2020,[14] but then it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] On April 21, 2020 it was announced that it would instead go to video on demand in response to the pandemic.[16] It received mixed reviews from critics.

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 (which 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 its regular WB logo, which was revamped earlier that year with Locked Down, it is made by Devastudios, with clouds created using Terragen[17]). It received generally negative reviews from critics, and is the first film from the company to have met so, but became a box office success.

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, and the studio’s third box office disappointment despite of being successful enough thanks to the streaming service.

Upcoming releases[edit]

An animated film based on the Legion of Super-Pets titled DC League of Super-Pets is scheduled for release on July 29, 2022.[18]

A Christmas-themed spin-off prequel titled Scoob! Holiday Haunt is set for release in 2022. The film takes place in the gang's youth, with the actors who portrayed their younger selves reprising.[19]

WAG's third live-action/animation hybrid, a Wile E. Coyote film titled Coyote vs. Acme, will be released on July 21, 2023.[20] The film will be directed by Dave Green and produced by Chris DeFaria and James Gunn.[20]

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.[21] It is set to be released on February 2, 2024.

Production[edit]

Similar to Disney's 20th Century Animation, NBCUniversal's DreamWorks Animation and Illumination, Paramount Animation, Netflix Animation and Sony Pictures Animation, WAG outsources their 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 Coyote vs. Acme) and Industrial Light & Magic (Space Jam: A New Legacy). However, Space Jam: A New Legacy did included in-house animation by WAG, with several animators hired by the studio to work on the film's hand-drawn animated segments.[22][23][24][25][26]

The budgets for their films tend to range within $60–80 million. Their most expensive films to date, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Scoob! and Space Jam: A New Legacy, cost $99 million, $90 million and $150 million respectively.

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".[27]

Filmography[edit]

Main article: List of Warner Animation Group productions

Franchises[edit]

Title Films Short films Release dates
The Lego Movie 4 11 2014–2019
DC Comics 1 4 2017–present
Scoob! 1 0 2020–present
Looney Tunes 1 0 2021–present

Accolades[edit]

Main article: List of Warner Animation Group awards and nominations (feature films)

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Kit, Borys (January 7, 2013). "Warner Bros. Creates Animation Film Think Tank". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media LLC. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  2. ^ "Warner Bros. Pictures Dives Into Animation Think Tank". ComingSoon.net. January 7, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  3. ^ Kit, Borys (April 20, 2015). "'The Lego Batman Movie' Gets Release Date". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  4. ^ "The Lego Batman Movie (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  5. ^ "WARNER ANIMATION GROUP NAMES SENIOR CREATIVE TEAM". December 14, 2017. Archived from the original on February 6, 2019.
  6. ^ "Warner Bros Dates Lego Spinoff 'Ninjago' For Fall 2016". Deadline Hollywood. May 20, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  7. ^ "The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  8. ^ "Smallfoot (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  9. ^ "Smallfoot (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  10. ^ "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  11. ^ "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  12. ^ Mendelson, Scott. "Why 'The LEGO Movie 2' Is A Franchise-Ending Box Office Failure". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
  13. ^ Clarke, Stewart (October 31, 2019). "Warner Signs Multi-Picture Deal With Elisabeth Murdoch's Locksmith Animation". Variety. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  14. ^ McNary, Dave (August 26, 2013). "Warner Bros. Developing Animated 'Scooby-Doo' Film (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  15. ^ Galuppo, Mia (March 24, 2020). "Warner Bros. Delays Release of 'In the Heights,' 'Scoob!' Due to Coronavirus". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  16. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (April 21, 2020). "'Scoob' Will Skip Theaters and Debut on Digital Platforms in May". Variety. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  17. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (2020-12-14). "Warner Bros. Shifts 'Mortal Kombat,' 'Tom and Jerry' Release Dates". Variety. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  18. ^ "Warner Bros' 'DC Super Pets' Animated Movie Moves To 2022". May 22, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  19. ^ Burlingame, Russ (December 22, 2021). "Scoob!: Holiday Haunt First Look Revealed in HBO Max Teaser". comicbook.com. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  20. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (2020-12-23). "Warner Bros. Dates Three Pics For 2023 Theatrical Release (Not HBO Max): 'Furiosa', 'Coyote Vs. Acme' & 'The Color Purple'". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  21. ^ Grater, Tom (February 9, 2021). "Warner's 'Toto' Animation Gears Up; Federation Adds To Doc Slate; New BASE UK Chair – Global Briefs". Deadline. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  22. ^ O'Connor, James (March 15, 2020). "Space Jam 2 Is Being Worked On By Director Of Original Mulan". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  23. ^ Dan Haskett (Podcast). The Bancroft Brothers Animation Podcast. July 3, 2020.
  24. ^ "Tweet by Matt Williames". Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  25. ^ "Williames at RCC". Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  26. ^ "Tweet by Ole Loken". Archived from the original on May 30, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  27. ^ Shaw, Lucas (February 9, 2014). "'The Lego Movie' Snaps a Bright, Colorful Franchise Into Place for Warner Bros. Animation". The Wrap. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Warner_Animation_Group&oldid=1082179513"