Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio and the main animation division and label of Warner Bros. owned by its Television Group division, the flagship television arm of Warner Bros. Discovery. It was established on March 15, 1980.
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. Turner Broadcasting System merged with WBD predecessor Time Warner in 1996. Warner Bros. Television Animation and Warner Bros. Feature Animation, as well as an outsourcing deal Warner Bros. Animation's group had with Chuck Jones Film Productions, an independent production company led by ex-Warner Bros. animator Chuck Jones, founded in 1993, and the company was dissolved in 1996.
1990–2004: Warner Bros. Feature Animation
During the rise of the animation renaissance in the early 1990s, Warner Bros. distributed its first animated films: The Nutcracker Prince 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 in 1991, whose title character is a dog whose look and mannerisms are inspired by his voice actor Rodney Dangerfield. Both films received negative reviews and under-performed at the box office due to lack of promotion. 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.
The first of Warner's animated features was Space Jam (1996), a live-action/animated hybrid which starred NBA star Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny (Jordan had previously appeared with the Looney Tunes in a number of Nike commercials). The film featured live-action sequences directed by Joe Pytka and animated sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone. Space Jam received mixed reviews from critics but proved to be a success at the box office. Animation production for Space Jam was primarily done at the new Sherman Oaks studio, although much of the work was outsourced to animation studios around the world.
Two years later, its second 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 third animated feature from Warner Bros. Feature Animation, Brad Bird's The Iron Giant (1999), received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences. However, the studio decided to rush its release to the end of the summer with a rushed marketing push, resulting it flopping at the box office.
The studio's next and fourth 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 fifth and final project, Looney Tunes: Back in Action was released in 2003. It was intended to be the starting point for a reestablishment of the classic cartoons brands, including a planned series of new Looney Tunes theatrical shorts, produced by Back in Action writer and producer Larry Doyle. After Back in Action, directed by Joe Dante (live-action) and Eric Goldberg (animation), received mixed reviews from critics and under-performed at the box office, production was shut down on the new shorts, and, in 2004, Warner Bros. Feature Animation was folded into Warner Bros. Animation, and Looney Tunes has been mostly relegated on television until 2021's Space Jam: A New Legacy.
{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Filmography
! rowspan="2" style="width:200px;" | Title
! rowspan="2" width="120" | Release date
! rowspan="2" | Director(s)
! colspan="2" | Writer(s)
! rowspan="2" | Producer(s)
! rowspan="2" | Co-production with
! rowspan="2" | Animation services
! rowspan="2" width="80" | Budget
! rowspan="2" width="50" | Gross
|-
!Story
!Screenplay
|-
| align="left" | Space Jam
|
| Live Action:<br />Joe Pytka<br />Animation:<br />Bruce W. Smith<br />Tony Cervone
| colspan="2" | Leo Benvenuti<br />Steve Rudnick<br />Timothy Harris<br />Herschel Weingrod
| Joe Medjuck<br />Daniel Goldberg<br />Ivan Reitman
| Warner Bros. Family Entertainment<br>Northern Lights Entertainment
| Main facility<br />Bardel Entertainment<br />Stardust Pictures<br />Heart of Texas Productions<br />Character Builders<br />Chuck Gammage Animation<br />Premier Films Ltd.<br />Rees / Leiva Productions<br />Spaff Animation<br />Uli Meyer Features
| $80 million
| $250.2 million
|-
| align="left" | Quest for Camelot
|
| Frederik Du Chau
| colspan="2" | Kirk DeMicco<br />William Schifrin<br />Jacqueline Feather<br />David Seidler
| Dalisa Cohen
| Warner Bros. Family Entertainment
| California and London WBFA facility<br />Yowza! Animation<br />A. Film A/S<br />Heart of Texas Productions
| $40 million
| $38.1 million
|-
| align="left" | The Iron Giant
|
| colspan="2" | Brad Bird
| Tim McCanlies
| Allison Abbate<br />Des McAnuff
|
| Main faculties<br />A. Film A/S (uncredited)<br />Duncan Studios (Signature Edition)
| $70–80 million
| $31.3 million
|-
| align="left" | Osmosis Jones
|
| Live-action:<br />Bobby Farrelly <br />Peter Farrelly<br />Animation:<br />Piet Kroon<br />Tom Sito
| colspan="2" | Marc Hyman
| Dennis Edwards<br />Bobby Farrelly<br />Peter Farrelly<br />Zak Penn<br />Bradley Thomas
| Conundrum Entertainment
| Main faculties<br />A. Film A/S (uncredited)<br />Yowza! Animation
| $70 million
| $14 million
|-
| align="left" | Looney Tunes: Back in Action
|
| Live-action:<br />Joe Dante <br />Animation:<br />Eric Goldberg
| colspan="2" | Larry Doyle
| Paula Weinstein<br />Bernie Goldman
| Baltimore Spring Creek Productions<br />Goldmann Pictures<br />Lonely Film Productions GmbH & Co. KG
| Main faculties<br />Yowza! Animation<br />Mercury Filmworks
| $80 million
| $68.5 million
|}
: Combines live-action with animation.
1996–2019: Acquisitions of libraries
Warner Bros.' parent company Time Warner merged with Turner Broadcasting System in 1996, not only regaining the rights to the previously sold Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts but also taking on two more animation studios: Turner Feature Animation and Hanna-Barbera Productions. Turner Feature was immediately folded into Warner Bros. Feature Animation, while Hanna-Barbera merged with Warner Bros. Animation itself. Until 1998, Hanna-Barbera operated on its original lot at 3400 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, California, one of the last "big name" studios with a Hollywood zip code. Studio operations, archives, and its extensive animation art collection were then moved northwest to Sherman Oaks. Hanna-Barbera occupied space in the office tower adjacent to the Sherman Oaks Galleria along with Warner Bros. Animation.
Following the death of William Hanna in 2001, Warner Bros. fully took over production of Hanna-Barbera related properties such as Scooby-Doo, producing a steady stream of Scooby direct-to-video films and two new series, What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002–2006) and Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006–2008). The Turner merger also gave Warner Bros. access to the pre-May 1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library, which included its classic cartoon library (including such characters as Tom and Jerry (originally created by the H-B duo), Droopy, Barney Bear, Screwy Squirrel, and George and Junior). WBA has since co-produced a series of direct-to-video films with Turner which starred Tom and Jerry. Besides producing content for the daytime market, Warner Bros. Animation also produced Baby Blues with sister company Warner Bros. Television and 3-South with MTV Animation for primetime.
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, 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. 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.
Warner Bros. Animation also produced DC Showcase, a series of short subjects featuring lesser-known comic book superheroes, released in tandem with direct-to-video films based on DC Comics properties.
On July 30, 2010, Coyote Falls, a 3D cartoon featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner was released, being the first time WB Animation produced theatrically released content since The Karate Guard (the last Tom and Jerry short) in 2005, and the first time the animation studio used full CGI and stereoscopic 3D. Two more theatrical Wile E./Road Runner cartoons followed during the year (Fur of Flying and Rabid Rider). On June 8, 2011, three more shorts were announced: I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat with Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny, which was released with Happy Feet Two; Daffy's Rhapsody with Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, which was released with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island; and Flash in the Pain starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. All of these 6 shorts, directed by Matthew O'Callaghan and produced by Reel FX Creative Studios are available on the official Warner Bros. Animation YouTube channel.
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. 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.
2019–present: Reconstruction with animation
On June 11, 2018, a new series of shorts, Looney Tunes Cartoons, was announced by Warner Bros. Animation. 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. The series made its worldwide debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 10, 2019, and premiered as part of HBO Max's launch library on May 27, 2020.
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.
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.
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 would not affect the studios' output or branding.
In July 2023, Warner Bros. Animation moved from the Warner Bros. Ranch to the new Warner Bros. Second Century building.
Filmography
<!--This list is only for films and TV shows produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is NOT for animated works that were only distributed, not produced, by Warner Bros.-->
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