List of animation studios owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment

Warner Bros. Entertainment has owned and operated several animation studios since the company's founding on April 4, 1923, by Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, as the Warner Features Company; Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank, California is currently the company's flagship feature animation studio and claims heritage from this original studio.

Warner Bros. Cartoon's studio, part of the Old Warner Brothers Studio
Outside of the Williams Street studio.

Besides Warner Bros. Animation, WB also presently operates the Warner Animation Group, Cartoon Network Studios, and Williams Street (both through Cartoon Network). This article does not include other animation studios whose films were released by Warner Bros. Pictures (the company's distribution unit) and not acquired by the company.

Full list

Current animation studios
Studio Established Parent unit
1980
Animation: Theatrical feature films and short films in Hand-drawn and CGI


Units: Warner Animation Group (2013–present), Warner Bros. Animation VFX (2004–2018)[1]

2013
Animation: Computer generated animated theatrical feature films and short films
Founded in 2013.


1994
Animation: animated theatrical feature films
Acquired in 2019 in the restructuring of WarnerMedia.


Unit:: Williams Street
Satellite studios: Cartoon Network Studios Europe

1994
Cartoon Network
Animation: Television series and Feature films


Former Names: Ghost Planet Industries (1994–1999),[Note 1]

Divested or defunct animation studios
Studio Established status
1933
closed in 1969
Hand-drawn Theatrical feature films and short films
1957
closed in 2001
Animation: theatrical, direct to video, short and television films

Began in 1957, creating some of the most well known characters of the 20th century. Exists only to hold copyrights.
Warner Bros. Feature Animation
1991
closed in 2004
Animation: Television series and Feature films


Founded in 1991 to created theatrical animated films for Warner Bros. was closed in 2004

Turner Feature Animation
1994
merged with Warner Bros. Feature Animation in 1997
Animation: Television series and Feature films


Spun off from the Hanna-Barbera feature animation division in 1994, it later merged with Warner Bros. Feature Animation.

Warner Bros. Pictures Group

Warner Bros. Feature Animation

Warner Bros. Feature Animation, a division of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, opened in 1991 with 360 employees in Burbank, and another 100 employees in London.[2] Warner Bros. placed veteran film producer Max Howard in charge of the new division[3]

Projects

Release date Title Notes
November 15, 1996 Space Jam
May 15, 1998 Quest for Camelot
August 6, 1999 The Iron Giant
August 10, 2001 Osmosis Jones
November 14, 2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Warner Animation Group

The Warner Animation Group (officially abbreviated to WAG) was created in 2013, by Jeff Robinov to create animated theatrical films for Warner Bros. Pictures, and to replace the shuttered Warner Bros. Feature Animation which closed in 2004.

Projects

Release date Title Notes
February 7, 2014 The Lego Movie
June 17, 2014 Enter the Ninjago Included with the home media release of The Lego Movie.
January 29, 2016 The Lego Movie: 4D – A New Adventure An attraction at Legoland Florida
September 23, 2016 The Master Short which premiered before the theatrical release of Storks
September 23, 2016 Storks
February 10, 2017 The Lego Batman Movie
September 22, 2017 The Lego Ninjago Movie
September 28, 2018 Smallfoot
February 8, 2019 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Warner Bros. Television

Warner Bros. Animation

Warner Bros. Cartoons alumnus Chuck Jones in the 1970s began producing new Looney Tunes shorts, and films compiled of old shorts such as The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie in 1979. Due to the success of the film Warner Bros. reestablished an animation studio, hiring original employees Hal Geer, and Friz Freleng to lead the studio. The new animation studio went on to create new animated shorts throughout the 1980s and '90s, and animated the Steven Spielberg TV shows Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain. The studio created iconic shows such as Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series.

Notable projects

Release date Title Notes
September 14, 1990 Tiny Toon Adventures
September 5, 1992 Batman: The Animated Series
September 13, 1993 Animaniacs
September 5, 1995 Pinky and the Brain
September 6, 1996 Superman: The Animated Series
September 13, 1997 The New Batman Adventures

Warner Bros. Cartoons

Established in 1933, after Harman and Ising who had been creating animated shorts for Warner Bros. since 1927, left for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Warner Bros. Cartoons began creating animated shorts for the company, going on to launch the most famous characters in history, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. The animation studio created dozens of award-winning shorts before shuttering in 1969.

Projects

Release date Title Notes
October 11, 1960 The Bugs Bunny Show
March 28, 1964 The Incredible Mr. Limpet

Cartoon Network Studios

Founded in 1994, Cartoon Network Studios originated as a division of Hanna-Barbera, that focused on producing original programing for Cartoon Network including Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, and The Powerpuff Girls. Following the merger of Hanna-Barbera's parent, Turner Broadcasting System with Time Warner, the Hanna-Barbera studio was folded into Warner Bros. Animation by its chief executive, Jean MacCurdy.[4] After Hanna-Barbera merged into Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios was resurrected as a separate entity.[4]

Williams Street

Created in 1994, Williams Street Productions was started by Cartoon Network to produce more adult-targeted serials for the network. Being the main production arm of Adult Swim, the division started as Ghost Planet Industries named after the home planet of its most popular show's main character, Space Ghost.

Hanna-Barbera Cartoons

Hanna-Barbera

Started in 1957 by Tom and Jerry creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The company went on to create numerous television shows. In 1991, the studio was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System, and began creating media exclusively for Cartoon Network. In 1998 it was moved to the same complex as Warner Bros. Animation, before the two companies were merged in 2001. Hanna-Barbera exists only as a copyright holder to their old properties.

Turner Feature Animation

Founded in 1994, Turner Feature Animation was created from the feature animation division of Hanna-Barbera. After its first film in 1994, the studio's parent company Turner Entertainment was bought by Time Warner in 1996, and the Turner Feature Animation division was folded into Warner Bros. Feature Animation before the release of their second and final film.[5]

Projects
Release date Title Notes
November 23, 1994 The Pagemaster
March 28, 1997 Cats Don't Dance

Notes

  1. Original name for Williams Street, taking its name from the fictional planet of their hit character "Space Ghost".

References

  1. "Warner Bros. Animation VFX (Sorted by Release Date Ascending)". IMDb.
  2. Lippman, John (September 24, 1996). "Bugs, Michael team up in ultimate commercial movie". The Wall Street Journal. ProQuest 398551210.
  3. Kenyon, Heather (April 1998). "An Afternoon with Max Howard, President, Warner Bros. Feature Animation". Animation World Magazine. 3 (1). Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  4. Seibert, Fred (December 18, 2007). "Hanna-Barbera Studios, 1997". Frederator Blogs. Frederator Studios. Retrieved 2012-12-14.
  5. "'Cats' Tries to Mix Parody and Nostalgia". Los Angeles Times. March 26, 1997.
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