The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is an American
animation studio
An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals ...
serving as the
computer-animated feature film label of
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
'
theatrical film production and
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
* Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...
division,
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
. 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
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 19 ...
studio.
Its first film, ''
The Lego Movie
''The Lego Movie'' is a 2014 computer-animated adventure comedy film written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a story by Lord, Miller, and Dan and Kevin Hageman. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, its story focu ...
'', was released on February 7, 2014, and its most recent film was ''
DC League of Super-Pets
''DC League of Super-Pets'' is a 2022 American 3D computer-animated superhero comedy film based on the DC Comics superhero team Legion of Super-Pets. Produced by Warner Animation Group and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. ...
'' on July 29, 2022; their upcoming slate of films includes ''
Toto'' on February 2, 2024, and ''
Coyote vs. Acme
''Coyote vs. Acme'' is an upcoming American legal drama comedy film directed by Dave Green, from a screenplay written by James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, Jon Silberman, Josh Silberman, and Samy Burch. Combining live-action and animation, the film ...
'' on an unspecified date. Films produced by WAG 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.
The group includes
John Requa
John Requa (born January 1, 1967) is an American screenwriter (with Glenn Ficarra) of ''Cats & Dogs'', ''Bad Santa'' and the 2005 remake '' Bad News Bears''.
The DVD commentary for '' Bad News Bears'' revealed that Requa was to have had a bit ro ...
,
Glenn Ficarra
Glenn Ficarra (born May 27, 1969) is an American filmmaker and actor. He frequently collaborated with John Requa.
Life and career
Ficarra met John Requa at Pratt Institute, where both were studying film. After college they went to work in ani ...
,
Nicholas Stoller
Nicholas Stoller (born March 19, 1976) is a British-American filmmaker. He is known mainly for directing the 2008 comedy '' Forgetting Sarah Marshall'', its 2010 spin-off/sequel, ''Get Him to the Greek'', '' The Five-Year Engagement'', '' Neighbo ...
,
Jared Stern,
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Philip Lord (born 12 July 1975) and Christopher Miller (born 23 September 1975) are an American filmmaking duo. After a meeting at Dartmouth College, they are known for creating the adult animated sitcom ''Clone High'' (2002–2003), directing an ...
,
Sarah Smith and
Mark Osborne.
Warner Bros. created the group with the hope that the box office reception of their films will be competitive with other animation studios' releases.
On February 7, 2014, Warner Animation Group released their first film, ''
The Lego Movie
''The Lego Movie'' is a 2014 computer-animated adventure comedy film written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a story by Lord, Miller, and Dan and Kevin Hageman. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, its story focu ...
'', a film animated by
Animal Logic
Animal Logic is an Australian animation and visual effects digital studio based at Disney Studios in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia, Vancouver in Canada, and Rideback Ranch in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1991, Animal Logic has ...
, 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
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...
'', was released September 23, 2016.
It received mixed reviews from critics.
On February 10, 2017, Warner Animation Group released ''
The Lego Batman Movie
''The Lego Batman Movie'' is a 2017 computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, DC Entertainment, RatPac Entertainment, Lego System A/S, Dan Lin's Lin Pictures, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's Lord Miller Pro ...
'', which received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success.
On December 14, 2017,
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
announced Allison Abbate had been named Executive Vice President, and Chris Leahy has been named Senior Vice President.
''
The Lego Ninjago Movie
''The Lego Ninjago Movie'' is a 2017 computer-animated martial arts comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, RatPac Entertainment, Lego System A/S, Lin Pictures, Lord Miller Productions, and Vertigo Entertainment, and distributed by Warn ...
'', based on the ''
Lego Ninjago
Lego Ninjago is a List of Lego themes, Lego theme that was created in 2011 and a flagship brand of The Lego Group. It is the first theme to be based on ninja since the discontinuation of the Lego Ninja theme in 2000. Whilst it retains some elemen ...
'' 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.
''
Smallfoot
Smallfoot was the name of both a rapid application development toolkit and an embedded operating system designed and released by Caldera Systems/Caldera International/The SCO Group in both UnixWare and Linux formats. Created for use in embedded ...
'', released September 28, 2018, earned a 76% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
with mostly positive reviews from critics and becoming a box office success by grossing over $214 million worldwide.
''
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
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
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.
In October 2019,
Locksmith Animation
Locksmith Animation Ltd. (also known as Locksmith Animation Studios and simply known as Locksmith) is a British CGI animation film studio founded by Aardman Animations collaborators Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart with the financial backing of ...
formed a multi-year production deal with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Animation Group, which will distribute Locksmith's films.
An animated reboot of the
''Scooby-Doo'' film series titled ''
Scoob!
''SCOOB!'' is a 2020 American computer-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 b ...
'' was initially set for a theatrical release on May 15, 2020,
but then it was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
On April 21, 2020 it was announced that it would instead go to
video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
in response to the pandemic.
It received mixed reviews from critics.
A live-action/animated film based on ''
Tom & Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...
'' was released internationally on February 11, 2021 and on February 26 in the United States in theaters and
HBO Max
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
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 revamped earlier that year with ''
Locked Down'', it is made by Devastudios, with clouds created using
Terragen
Terragen is a scenery generator program for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X developed and published by Planetside Software. It can be used to create renderings and animations of landscapes.
History
Released in stages (tech preview and be ...
.
It received generally negative reviews from critics, and is the first film from the company to have met so, but was somehow a box-office success.
''
Space Jam: A New Legacy'', starring
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...
, 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
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
.
An animated film based on the
Legion of Super-Pets
The Legion of Super-Pets is a fictional team of superhero pets in the DC Universe. The original membership included Krypto the Superdog, Streaky the Supercat, Beppo the Super-Monkey, and Comet the Super-Horse, with the shape-shifting alien Pro ...
titled ''
DC League of Super-Pets
''DC League of Super-Pets'' is a 2022 American 3D computer-animated superhero comedy film based on the DC Comics superhero team Legion of Super-Pets. Produced by Warner Animation Group and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. ...
'' was released on July 29, 2022.
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
HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
, but was cancelled following the merger of
WarnerMedia
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
and
Discovery Inc.
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Cha ...
to form
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
in April 2022 by CEO
David Zaslav
David Zaslav (born January 15, 1960) is an American media executive who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Warner Bros. Discovery. Zaslav spearheaded the transaction between AT&T and Discovery to combine with Warner ...
on August 2, 2022, citing cost-cutting measures and a refocus on theatrical films rather than creating projects for streaming. Following the merger, it was announced in August that Allison Abbate would be leaving the studio.
Upcoming releases
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
Alex Timbers (born August 7, 1978) is an American writer and director and the recipient of Tony, Golden Globe, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and London Evening Standard Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lucile Lortel Awards. He is the recipie ...
, from a screenplay by
John August
John August (born August 4, 1970) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is known for writing the films '' Go'' (1999), ''Charlie's Angels'' (2000), '' Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle'' (2003), '' Big Fish'' (2003), ' ...
, and produced by
Derek Frey.
It is set to be released on February 2, 2024.
WAG's third live-action/animation hybrid, a
Wile E. Coyote
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 episod ...
film titled ''
Coyote vs. Acme
''Coyote vs. Acme'' is an upcoming American legal drama comedy film directed by Dave Green, from a screenplay written by James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, Jon Silberman, Josh Silberman, and Samy Burch. Combining live-action and animation, the film ...
'', was originally scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on July 21, 2023, by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
.
On April 26, 2022, it was taken off the release schedule, with ''
Barbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration.
...
'' taking over its original release date. The film will be directed by
Dave Green and produced by Chris DeFaria and
James Gunn
James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a directo ...
.
There are also plans to develop a ''DC League of Super-Pets'' franchise following the film's critical and commercial success.
Production
Similar to
Paramount Animation
Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the box office success of Paramount's own ...
,
Netflix Animation
Netflix Animation is an American animation studio and a subsidiary of Netflix. The studio primarily produces and develops animated programs and feature films.
History
When Netflix began to produce original animated content in 2013, all of them ...
and
Sony Pictures Animation
Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by So ...
, the Warner Animation Group outsources their computer-animated films' production to other studios. Such as
Animal Logic
Animal Logic is an Australian animation and visual effects digital studio based at Disney Studios in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia, Vancouver in Canada, and Rideback Ranch in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1991, Animal Logic has ...
(
''The Lego Movie'' franchise, ''
DC League of Super-Pets
''DC League of Super-Pets'' is a 2022 American 3D computer-animated superhero comedy film based on the DC Comics superhero team Legion of Super-Pets. Produced by Warner Animation Group and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. ...
and
Toto''),
Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pi ...
(
''Storks'' and ''
Smallfoot
Smallfoot was the name of both a rapid application development toolkit and an embedded operating system designed and released by Caldera Systems/Caldera International/The SCO Group in both UnixWare and Linux formats. Created for use in embedded ...
''),
Reel FX Creative Studios
Reel FX Animation (or simply Reel FX) - formerly known as Reel FX Creative Studios (also known as Reel FX Animation Studios) is an American computer animation and visual effects studio based in Dallas, Texas; Hollywood, California. The studio dev ...
(''
Scoob!
''SCOOB!'' is a 2020 American computer-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 b ...
''),
Framestore
Framestore is a British animation, visual effects company and creative studio based on Chancery Lane in London. Formed in 1986, it acquired (and subsequently merged with) the Computer Film Company in 1997. It works on feature films and telev ...
(''
Tom & Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...
''),
Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...
(''
Space Jam: A New Legacy'') and
DNEG
DNEG (formerly known as Double Negative) is a British visual effects, computer animation, and stereo conversion studio that was founded in 1998 in London, and rebranded as DNEG in 2014 after a merger with Indian VFX company Prime Focus.
The ...
(''
Coyote vs. Acme
''Coyote vs. Acme'' is an upcoming American legal drama comedy film directed by Dave Green, from a screenplay written by James Gunn, Jeremy Slater, Jon Silberman, Josh Silberman, and Samy Burch. Combining live-action and animation, the film ...
''). However, ''Space Jam: A New Legacy'' did also include hand-drawn animation, which is outsourced from Company 3 Animation, and Tonic DNA.
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!
''SCOOB!'' is a 2020 American computer-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 b ...
'' and ''
Space Jam: A New Legacy'', cost $99 million, $90 million and $150 million respectively. ''
DC League of Super-Pets
''DC League of Super-Pets'' is a 2022 American 3D computer-animated superhero comedy film based on the DC Comics superhero team Legion of Super-Pets. Produced by Warner Animation Group and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. ...
'' also cost as $90 million.
The screenplay department is reportedly somewhat similar to
Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
' "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".
Filmography
Franchises
Accolades
See also
*
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 19 ...
*
List of Warner Bros. theatrical animated feature films
This is a list of theatrical animated feature films produced or released by Warner Bros., a division of Warner Bros. Discovery. Warner Bros. releases films from Warner-owned and non-Warner owned animation studios. Most films listed below were p ...
Notes
References
{{Authority control
2013 establishments in California
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. divisions
American companies established in 2013
Mass media companies established in 2013
Film production companies of the United States
Companies based in Burbank, California
American animation studios