Warner Animation Group

The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is an American feature animation studio that is the feature animation division of Warner Bros. Entertainment. 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 2003. The entity is also a sister animation studio of the regular animation studio Warner Bros. Animation. Its first film The Lego Movie was released on February 7, 2014 and its latest release was Scoob! on May 15, 2020; with their next release being Tom and Jerry on March 5, 2021. Films produced by WAG have grossed a total of $1.4 billion at the box office.

Warner Animation Group
Division
IndustryAnimation
Motion pictures
PredecessorWarner Bros. Feature Animation
FoundedJanuary 7, 2013 (January 7, 2013)
FounderJeff Robinov
Headquarters
Burbank, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Allison Abbate
(Executive Vice President)
Chris Leahy
(Senior Vice President)
ProductsAnimated films
ParentWarner Bros. Entertainment

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 positive reviews 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, 2014 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 to fail to recoup its budget.[6][7]

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

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, a sequel of The Lego Movie, was released February 8, 2019 and earned an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes but only grossed around $190.6 million worldwide, almost barely recouping its budget and becoming the studio's second film to fail to recoup its budget.[10][11][12]

An animated reboot of the Scooby-Doo film series titled Scoob! was initially set for a theatrical release on May 15, 2020,[13] but then it was delayed due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.[14] On April 21, 2020 it was announced that it would instead go to video on demand in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] It received mixed reviews from critics.

Upcoming releases

A live action/animated film based on Tom & Jerry is set for release on March 5, 2021.[16][17][18]

Space Jam: A New Legacy, starring LeBron James, is schedule for release on July 16, 2021.[19]

An animated film based on the Legion of Super-Pets titled DC Super Pets is schedule for release on May 22, 2022.[20]

Production

Similar to Sony Pictures Animation and Paramount Animation, WAG outsources their animated films' production to other studios, such as Animal Logic (The Lego Movie franchise and DC Super Pets), Sony Pictures Imageworks (Storks and Smallfoot), Reel FX Creative Studios (Scoob!) and Framestore (Tom and Jerry).

The budgets for their films tend to range within $60–80 million. Their most expensive film to date, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, cost $99 million to make.

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".[21]

Filmography
Main article: List of Warner Animation Group films

Feature films

Released films
# Title Release date Co-production with Animation services Notes Budget Gross Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
1The Lego MovieFebruary 7, 2014Village Roadshow Pictures
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Lego System A/S
Vertigo Entertainment
Lin Pictures		Animal Logic[S]$60 million$469 million96%83
2StorksSeptember 23, 2016RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Stoller Global Solutions (uncredited)		Sony Pictures Imageworks$70 million$190.6 million66%56
3The Lego Batman MovieFebruary 10, 2017DC Entertainment
RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Lego System A/S
Lord Miller Productions
Vertigo Entertainment
Lin Pictures		Animal Logic$80 million$312 million90%75
4The Lego Ninjago MovieSeptember 22, 2017RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Lego System A/S
Vertigo Entertainment
Lord Miller Productions
Lin Pictures		[S]$70 million$123 million55%55
5SmallfootSeptember 28, 2018Zaftig FilmsSony Pictures Imageworks$80 million$214 million76%60
6The Lego Movie 2: The Second PartFebruary 8, 2019Lego System A/S
Vertigo Entertainment
Lord Miller Productions
Rideback		Animal Logic[S]$99 million$191.3 million85%65
7Scoob!May 15, 2020N/AReel FX Creative StudiosN/AN/A49%43

Upcoming films
# Title Release date Co-production with Animation services Notes Current Production Status Ref(s)
8Tom and JerryMarch 5, 2021[22]Turner Entertainment
The Story Company		Framestore[S]Post-production[16][23][17]
9Space Jam: A New LegacyJuly 16, 2021[19]SpringHill EntertainmentN/A[S]Filming[24][25][26][27][16]
10DC Super PetsMay 22, 2022[20]DC EntertainmentAnimal Logic[28]Pre-production[29][30]
S Combines live-action with animation.

Short films
# Title Release date Type of short
1Enter the NinjagoJune 17, 2014Direct-to-video short
2The Lego Movie: 4D - A New AdventureJanuary 29, 20164D attraction
3The MasterSeptember 23, 2016Theatrical short
4Pigeon Toady's Guide to Your New BabyDecember 6, 2016Direct-to-video short
5Dark HoserJune 13, 2017
6Batman is Just Not That Into You
7Cooking with Alfred
8Movie Sound Effects: How Do They Do That?
9Shark E. Shark in "Which Way to the Ocean?"December 19, 2017
10Zane's Stand Up Promo
11Turkish Airlines: Safety Video with The LEGO Movie CharactersAugust 1, 2018Internet short
12Emmet's Holiday PartyDecember 10, 2018
13Super SoozieDecember 11, 2018Direct-to-video short
14"Everything is Awesome" Dance Together Music VideoJanuary 8, 2019Internet short

Accolades

See also

References
  1. 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 7, 2013.
  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. McNary, Dave (August 26, 2013). "Warner Bros. Developing Animated 'Scooby-Doo' Film (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  14. Galuppo, Mia (March 24, 2020). "Warner Bros. Delays Release of 'In the Heights,' 'Scoob!' Due to Coronavirus". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  15. Rubin, Rebecca (April 21, 2020). "'Scoob' Will Skip Theaters and Debut on Digital Platforms in May". Variety. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  16. Kroll, Justin (October 15, 2018). "'Tom and Jerry,' 'Scooby-Doo' Movies Land Top Talent at Warner Animation Group (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  17. ‘Tom & Jerry’ Jumps To Christmas 2020, ‘The Witches’ Inches Up A Week Next Fall
  18. McClintock, Pamela (March 12, 2019). "Anne Hathaway's 'Sesame Street' Movie Lands Winter 2021 Release". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  19. Pedersen, Erik (February 21, 2019). "Warner Bros Dates 'Space Jam 2', Shifts 'Annabelle' Sequel & 'Godzilla Vs. Kong'". Deadline. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  20. "Warner Bros' 'DC Super Pets' Animated Movie Moves To 2022". May 22, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  21. 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.
  22. D'Alessandro, Anthony (June 12, 2020). "'Matrix 4' Moves To 2022, 'Godzilla Vs. Kong' Stomps To 2021 & More: Warner Bros. Release Date Change Friday". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  23. Pedersen, Erik; Pedersen, Erik (2019-03-12). "'Sesame Street', Tim Story-Directed 'Tom & Jerry' Movies Set At Warner Bros For 2021". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  24. Ford, Rebecca (May 2, 2016). "Justin Lin Circling 'Space Jam' Sequel Starring LeBron James (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  25. "Air Jordan 7 "Hare" Promo Space Jam Movie Prop Up for Grabs". SneakerBarDetroit. August 11, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  26. Marisa Guthrie (September 19, 2018). "LeBron James Sets 'Black Panther's' Ryan Coogler to Produce 'Space Jam' Sequel (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  27. Chris Agar (September 20, 2018). "LeBron James' Space Jam Movie Is A Reboot, Not A Sequel". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
  28. "Careers Archive - Animal Logic". January 28, 2020.
  29. "Exclusive: 'Super Pets' Movie From 'Lego Batman' Writer In the Works at Warner Bros". July 31, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  30. "'The Batman,' 'The Suicide Squad' And 'DC Super Pets' Get Release Dates". January 30, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
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