
Warner Bros. has a new President of Feature Animation. It’s former DreamWorks Animation CCO Bill Damaschke. And he’s determined to make WB as much of an animation powerhouse as DreamWorks, Disney, Pixar, Illumination and Sony.
Warner Animation Group kicked-off in 2014 with blockbuster “The LEGO Movie” and found major success with spinoff “The LEGO Batman Movie”. But “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” and “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” underperformed. The rights for LEGO animated movies went from WB to Universal at the end of 2019. But Universal also has DreamWorks and Illumination movies, with the latter receiving resounding praise for Nintendo’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”. Seems like the “Mario” universe will be a priority for UNI as opposed to LEGO, at least for now.
Warner Animation Group’s most recent animated feature, last summer’s “DC League of Super-Pets”, earned $94 million domestically — an okay but far from stellar figure. It’s now officially the final film that will be released under that name, as Damaschke has changed the studio’s name to Warner Bros. Pictures Animation.
According to DEADLINE, the goal is for Warner Bros. Pictures Animation to release two movies a year. Expect it to come from in-house and through new partners. Animation takes a long time, so it’s going to be a bit before we see most of what’s in the works. For now — “Coyote vs. Acme” is still scheduled to be released at some point. “The Wizard of Oz” spin “Toto” (currently set to open in February 2024), did not receive an update today.
A new animated “Cat in the Hat” movie is coming in either 2025 or 2026. WB secured the rights to Dr. Seuss’ properties in 2018. (Blue Sky made 2008’s “Horton Hears a Who!” and Illumination made 2012’s “The Lorax” and 2018’s “The Grinch”.) It’s unclear if the “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” and “Thing One and Thing Two” movies announced in 2020 are still moving forward.
Damaschke revealed that “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic are writing a “Meet The Flintstones” origin movie for Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. And WB is teaming-up with Locksmith Animation (the studio behind 2021’s “Ron’s Gone Wrong”) to develop, produce and distribute features, including “Bad Fairies” and “The Lunar Chronicles”. Locksmith’s next movie is “That Christmas”, from Simon Otto and Richard Curtis, which will debut on Netflix in 2024. (Interestingly, WB was originally going to release “That Christmas” before Netflix swooped in last year.)
In a statement to DEADLINE, Damaschke praised the library of WB animated movies, including Brad Bird’s beloved “The Iron Giant”, holiday classic “The Polar Express”, Oscar-winning “Happy Feet” and hybrid “Space Jam”. We’ll see if the next chapter in the studio’s animated movie history can make as much magic.