Warner Animation Group

The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is the feature animation division of Warner Bros. Global Kids & Young Adults, itself a 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. Its first film The Lego Movie was released on February 7, 2014 and its latest release was The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part on February 8, 2019; with their next release being a Scooby-Doo animated film on May 15, 2020.

History
In January 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, Glenn Ficarra, Nicholas Stoller, Jared Stern, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Warner Bros. created the group with the hope that the box office reception of their films will be competitive with other animation studios' releases. The group 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.

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.

On January 7, 2013, Warner Animation Group announced their second film Storks, which was originally scheduled for a 2015 release but was pushed to February 10, 2017 and later to September 23, 2016. On the same day, they announced their third film Smallfoot, based on the book Yeti Tracks by Sergio Pablos, was originally going to have a 2016 release as it was first announced on January 7, 2013. Then it was scheduled for release on February 9, 2018 but was later moved to September 14, 2018 and then September 28, 2018. Storks was animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks and was met with mixed to positive reviews from critics. Smallfoot was created by the same service and received a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with mostly positive reviews from critics and has grossed over $192 million worldwide. There are possible plans for a sequel.

On February 7, 2014, the same day The Lego Movie was released, it was reported that Jared Stern and Michelle Morgan were hired to write The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. The sequel was announced to be released on May 26, 2017, but later that year it was reported that a spin-off film featuring Batman from The Lego Movie might take the sequel's release date thus pushing the sequel to May 18, 2018. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returned to script and co-direct the sequel. Rob Schrab was set to direct the film, but was later replaced by Mike Mitchell due to "creative differences". On June 2016, the release date was again pushed to February 8, 2019.

On February 10, 2017, Warner Animation Group released The Lego Batman Movie, which also received positive reviews from critics and box office success.

The Lego Ninjago Movie, based on the Lego Ninjago theme of Lego 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.

Smallfoot, based on the book Yeti Tracks by Sergio Pablos, was released on September 28, 2018. The film received a moderately positive reception from critics and a box office success.

On March 27, 2015, it was reported that Jason Segel and Drew Pearce were going to co-direct and write a script to a new "Lego Movie" spin-off film titled The Billion Brick Race.

Other WAG films in development are Speedy Gonzales and Bone.

In September 2015 it was reported that Warner Animation Group was working on an animated musical film titled Meet The Beatles, which is to be based on The Beatles and directed by Paul King, who also directed Paddington.

In March 2016, Warner Animation Group announced plans for a shared universe of animated films based on various Hanna-Barbera characters starting with a reboot of the Scooby-Doo film series, originally scheduled for September 21, 2018 in the United States. In October 2018, it was announced that the film is now set to be released in the first quarter of 2020. Another film part of the Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe will be based on The Jetsons, with Conrad Vernon set to direct and Matt Lieberman writing the screenplay. Other films part of the upcoming Hanna-Barbera Cinematic Universe also include a Flintstones and a Wacky Races film.

On January 24, 2018, it was announced that an animated Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat film was in development as part of a creative partnership with Seuss Enterprises.

On May 23, 2018, it was announced that WAG will produce an animated adaptation of The Ice Dragon, a children's fantasy book by George R. R. Martin. Martin will produce and possibly write the script for the film.

On July 12, 2018, it was announced that WAG will produce an animated film about Toto from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The new film will be based on the children's book Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of The Wizard of Oz.

On August 29, 2018, Warner Animation Group announced Coyote vs. Acme, a Wile E. Coyote animated film with The Lego Batman Movie director Chris McKay on board to produce.

In October 2018, it was announced that a live action/animated hybrid film based on Tom and Jerry is in development and that it would begin production in 2019.

On December 5, 2018, Chris McKay announced a sequel to The Lego Batman Movie was in the works at Warner Bros. with him once again directing.

On January 27, 2019, Warner Bros. confirmed that a film based on the Funko toys is in development.

On February 22, 2019, A Space Jam sequel, starring LeBron James, is scheduled for release on July 16, 2021.

Process
Similar to other animation studios such as Sony Pictures Animation and Paramount Animation, the studio outsources their animated films to different animation and visual effects studios. This would include Animal Logic (The Lego Movie franchise and the upcoming Bone film), Sony Pictures Imageworks (Storks and Smallfoot) and Reel FX Creative Studios (the upcoming Scooby-Doo film).

The studio is also planning to push for more original films like Smallfoot and Scooby-Doo as well as more that feature both animation and live-action with Space Jam 2 and Tom and Jerry starting out this tactic.

The budget for their films tend to range within $60–80 million. Their most expensive film is The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part at $99 million.

Films in development

 * Combines live-action with animation.

Trivia

 * This company has not yet made a G-rated production, as every one of its feature-length films so far has been rated PG by the MPAA, due to stricter reasons.