Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation Inc.[2] is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation division and label of Warner Bros.
As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 1933 to 1969, the studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. Warner Bros. re-established its animation division in 1980 to produce Looney Tunes–related works, and Turner Broadcasting System merged with WBD predecessor Time Warner in 1996.[1] In March 2001, Hanna-Barbera was absorbed into the studio.
In recent years, Warner Bros. Animation has specialized in producing television and direct-to-video animation featuring characters from other properties owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, including Turner Entertainment (which owns the rights to properties originally created by the MGM cartoon studio), Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears, and DC Entertainment.
History
1970–1986: Restarting the studio
The original
Warner Bros. Animation opened its doors on March 15, 1980, to produce compilation films and television specials starring the Looney Tunes characters. The studio's initial head was
By 1986, Freleng had departed, and Hal Geer also stepped down the following year. Geer was briefly replaced by Steven S. Greene, who in turn was replaced by Freleng's former secretary Kathleen Helppie-Shipley, who would spearhead a major revival of the Looney Tunes brand in the years that followed. The studio continued production on special projects starring the Looney Tunes characters, sporadically producing new Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts for theaters such as The Duxorcist (1987),
1986–1996: Moving into television animation
 Logo used from 1995 to 2001. | |
| Company type | Label |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television animation Television production |
| Founded | 1981 in Burbank, California. |
| Founder | Hal Geer |
| Defunct | 2003 |
| Fate | Folded into Warner Bros. Animation |
| Successor | Warner Bros. Animation |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Sam Register (President, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Digital Series) |
Beginning in 1986, Warner Bros. moved into regular television animation production. Warners' television division was established by WB Animation President Jean MacCurdy, who brought in producer Tom Ruegger and much of his staff from Hanna-Barbera Productions' A Pup Named Scooby-Doo series (1988–1991). A studio for the television unit was set up in the office tower of the Imperial Bank Building adjacent to the Sherman Oaks Galleria northwest of Los Angeles. Darrell Van Citters, who used to work at Disney, would work at Warner Bros. on the newer Bugs Bunny shorts, before leaving to form Renegade Animation in 1992. The first Warner Bros. original animated TV series Tiny Toon Adventures (1990–1995) was produced in conjunction with Amblin Entertainment, and featured young cartoon characters based upon specific Looney Tunes stars, and was a success. Later Amblin/Warner Bros. television shows, including Animaniacs (1993–1998), its spin-off Pinky and the Brain (1995–1998), and Freakazoid! (1995–1997) followed in continuing the Looney Tunes tradition of cartoon humor.
Warner Bros. Animation also began developing shows based upon
1990–2004: Warner Bros. Feature Animation
Turner Feature Animation | |
| Founded | 1994 in Burbank, California |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 2004 |
| Fate | Folded into Warner Bros. Animation |
| Successor | Warner Bros. Pictures Animation |
Area served | Worldwide |
During the rise of the animation renaissance in the early 1990s, Warner Bros. distributed its first animated films: The Nutcracker Prince[3][4] in 1990, which is a Canadian-produced feature film based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's classic holiday tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King; and Rover Dangerfield[5] in 1991, whose title character is a dog whose look and mannerisms are inspired by his voice actor Rodney Dangerfield. Both films received negative and mixed reviews respectively and under-performed at the box office due to lack of promotion.[3][6][7][8] Three years later after the release of Rover Dangerfield, Warner distributed Don Bluth's Thumbelina, which also received mixed reviews from critics and under-performed at the box office.[3]
That same year, Warner Bros., as well as several other Hollywood studios, moved into feature animation following the success of Walt Disney Feature Animation's The Lion King. Max Howard, a Disney alumnus, was brought in to head the new division, which was set up in Sherman Oaks near the television studio in nearby Glendale.[9] Turner Feature Animation, later merged and named Warner Bros. Feature Animation, like all of the in-house feature animation studios, proved an unsuccessful venture, as five of the six films, under-performed during its original theatrical releases (due to lack of promotion).[citation needed]
The first of Warner's animated features was
Before the success of Space Jam, a
The following year, its third film, Frederik Du Chau's Quest for Camelot (1998), underwent production difficulties and also received mixed reviews from critics. However, its soundtrack (such as one of the songs, "The Prayer") received some praise and accolades, including an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win.
The fourth animated feature from Warner Bros. Feature Animation, Brad Bird's The Iron Giant (1999), received widespread acclaimed reception from critics and audiences. However, the studio decided to rush its release to the end of the summer with a rushed marketing push.[citation needed]
The studio's next film, Osmosis Jones (2001), was another animated/live-action mix that suffered through another troubled production. This time, the animation sequences, directed by Piet Kroon and Tom Sito, were completed long before the live-action parts were filmed, eventually directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly and starring Bill Murray. The resulting film received mixed reviews and underperformed, although it was successful enough on home video for Warner's Television Animation department to produce a related Saturday morning cartoon, Ozzy & Drix (2002–2004) for its WB broadcast network.
Following the releases of The Iron Giant and Osmosis Jones, the feature animation staff was scaled back, and the entire animation staff – feature and television – were moved to the larger Sherman Oaks facility.
Warner Bros. Feature Animation's sixth and final project,
 |
| Title | Release date | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Co-production with | Animation services | Budget | Gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Space Jam[S] | November 15, 1996 | Live Action: Tony Cervone
|
Leo Benvenuti Steve Rudnick Timothy Harris Herschel Weingrod |
Joe Medjuck Daniel Goldberg Ivan Reitman |
Northern Lights Entertainment
|
Main facility Stardust Pictures Heart of Texas Productions Character Builders Chuck Gammage Animation Premier Films Ltd. Rees / Leiva Productions Spaff Animation Uli Meyer Features |
$80 million | $230.4 million |
| Cats Don't Dance | March 26, 1997 | Mark Dindal | Story by: Rick Schneider Robert Lence Mark Dindal Kelvin Yasuda Brian McEntee David Womersley Screenplay by: Roberts Gannaway Cliff Ruby Elana Lesser Theresa Pettengill |
David Kirschner Paul Gertz |
— | $32 million | $3.6 million | |
| Quest for Camelot | May 15, 1998 | Frederik Du Chau | Kirk DeMicco William Schifrin Jacqueline Feather David Seidler |
Dalisa Cohen | Warner Bros. Family Entertainment | California and London WBFA facility A. Film A/S Heart of Texas Productions |
$40 million | $38.1 million |
| The Iron Giant | August 6, 1999 | Brad Bird | Story by: Brad Bird Screenplay by: Tim McCanlies |
Allison Abbate Des McAnuff |
— | Main faculties A. Film A/S (uncredited)Duncan Studios (Signature Edition) |
$70–80 million | $31.3 million |
| Osmosis Jones[S] | August 10, 2001 | Live-action: Bobby Farrelly Peter Farrelly Animation: Piet Kroon Tom Sito |
Marc Hyman | Dennis Edwards Bobby Farrelly Peter Farrelly Zak Penn Bradley Thomas |
Conundrum Entertainment
|
Main faculties A. Film A/S (uncredited)Yowza! Animation |
$70 million | $14 million |
| Looney Tunes: Back in Action[S] | November 14, 2003 | Live-action: Joe Dante Animation: Eric Goldberg |
Larry Doyle | Paula Weinstein Bernie Goldman |
Baltimore Spring Creek Productions Goldmann Pictures Lonely Film Productions GmbH & Co. KG |
Main faculties Yowza! Animation Mercury Filmworks |
$80 million | $68.5 million |
- S Combines live-action with animation.
1996–2019: Acquisitions of libraries
Warners' parent company
Following the death of
The series which Hanna-Barbera had been producing for Turner's Cartoon Network before and during the Time Warner/Turner merger were shifted to production at Cartoon Network Studios, a sister company to Warner Bros. Animation. WBA is today exclusively involved in the production of animated television programming and direct-to-video features. It produced many of the shows airing on the Kids' WB Saturday morning programming block of The CW until May 24, 2008. These programs included Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, Krypto the Superdog, Xiaolin Showdown, The Batman, and the aforementioned Loonatics Unleashed and Tom and Jerry Tales. By 2007, the studio had downsized significantly from its size during the late 1990s. Warner Bros. downsized the studio further in June, shut down the Sherman Oaks studio, and had Warner Bros. Animation moved to the Warner Bros. Ranch in Burbank, California. In early 2008 after the demise of Kids' WB!, Warner Bros. Animation became almost dormant with only Batman: The Brave and the Bold in production at the time.
To expand the company's online content presence, Warner Bros. Animation launched the new KidsWB.com (announced as T-Works) on April 28, 2008. The website gathers its core animation properties in a single online environment that is interactive and customizable for site visitors. The Kids' WB website offers both originally produced content along with classic animated episodes, games, and exploration of virtual worlds. Some of the characters to be used in the project from the Warner libraries include those of Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, pre-1986 MGM animated characters and DC Comics.
In 2009, sister network Cartoon Network announced Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated in the Fall 2009–2010 season by Warner Bros. Animation.[citation needed] Warner Bros. Animation recently announced several new projects, such as The Looney Tunes Show (formerly called Laff Riot); a reboot of ThunderCats, and several series based on DC Comics properties such as MAD, Green Lantern, and Young Justice.[citation needed]
Warner Bros. Animation is also producing
On July 30, 2010, Coyote Falls, a 3D cartoon featuring
On October 27, 2014, Warner Bros. Animation collaborated with sister studio Williams Street for the first time for its first production for Adult Swim, Mike Tyson Mysteries, which satirizes the style and conventions of cartoons from the 1970s (such as Scooby-Doo) and celebrity-driven series such as Mister T.[11][12] Warner Bros. Animation also produced Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas—a stop-motion animated adaptation of the New Line Cinema film Elf and its musical adaptation—as a Christmas special for NBC, starring Jim Parsons.[13]
2019–present: Reconstruction with animation
On June 11, 2018, a new series of shorts, Looney Tunes Cartoons, was announced by Warner Bros. Animation. Set for release in 2019 on both linear and streaming television platforms, its first "season" would feature 1,000 minutes (or 16 hours and 40 minutes) of new one-to-six minute cartoons featuring the brand's marquee characters, voiced by their current voice actors in "simple, gag-driven and visually vibrant stories" that are rendered by multiple artists employing "a visual style that will resonate with fans." Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation, and Peter Browngardt, creator of Secret Mountain Fort Awesome and Uncle Grandpa, would serve as executive producers.[14]
In August 2021, it was announced that Jason DeMarco had been named SVP Anime & Action Series/Longform for Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios.[15]
On May 11, 2022, Warner Bros. Animation was moved under Warner Bros. Television after the dissolution of the Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics division by new owner Warner Bros. Discovery.[16]
On October 11, 2022, Warner Bros. Animation merged its development and production teams with Cartoon Network Studios as part of a further restructuring by Warner Bros. Discovery; the merger will not affect the studios' output or branding.[17]
Filmography
See also
- Cartoon Network Studios
- Warner Bros. Family Entertainment
- Warner Bros. Pictures Animation
- Williams Street
- Turner Entertainment Co.
- DC Entertainment
- List of Warner Bros. theatrical animated feature films
- List of unproduced Warner Bros. Animation projects
- List of animation studios owned by Warner Bros. Discovery
Notes
- ^ Co-produced with Turner Feature Animation in post-production after Time Warner's acquisition of Turner.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-45-225993-5.
- California Secretary of State. January 18, 2022. Archived from the originalon March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
- ^ a b c Horn, John (June 1, 1997). "Can Anyone Dethrone Disney?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
- ^ Broeske, Pat H. (September 30, 1990). "Eh, What's Up, Doc?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
- ^ Solomon, Charles (August 19, 1990). "The New Toon Boom". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
- ^ "The Nutcracker Prince". EW.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
- ^ "MOVIE REVIEW : Animated 'Nutcracker' Stumbles Badly". Los Angeles Times. November 21, 1990. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
- ^ "A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : DOG DAZE : Why (Woof) Can't (woof) I ( woof) Get (woof) Any (woof) Respect (woof) ?". Los Angeles Times. September 22, 1991. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
- ^ Kenyon, Heather (April 1998) "An Afternoon with Max Howard, President, Warner Bros. Feature Animation Archived June 20, 2021, at the Wayback Machine". Animation World Network. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
- ^ "Warner Bros. Animation". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (October 24, 2014). "TV Review: Adult Swim's 'Mike Tyson Mysteries'". Variety. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ Keene, Allison (October 22, 2014). "'Mike Tyson Mysteries': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ "'Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas' TV Review on NBC". Variety. December 15, 2014. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
- ^ Patrick Hipes (June 11, 2018). "'Looney Tunes' Getting Short-Form Revival At WB Animation". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
- ^ Pedersen, Erik (August 10, 2021). "Jason DeMarco Named SVP Anime & Action Series/Longform For Warner Bros Animation & Cartoon Network Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 12, 2022). "Tom Ascheim Exits As President Of Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classic". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
- ^ "Warner Bros. TV Group Lays off 82 Staffers, Consolidates Some Unscripted and Animation Departments in Belt-Tightening Restructure". October 12, 2022. Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
Bibliography
- Jones, Chuck (1990). Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist. New York: ISBN 978-0-374-12348-2.
- Maltin, Leonard (1987) [1980]. Of Mice and Magic. New York: ISBN 978-0-45-225993-5.
External links
Media related to Warner Bros Animation at Wikimedia Commons
