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Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (WBPA), formerly known as Warner Animation Group (WAG), is an American animation studio that serves as the animated feature film label of Warner Br…
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Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (WBPA), formerly known as Warner Animation Group (WAG), is an American animation studio that serves as the animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established in January 2013, the studio is the successor to the traditional animation studio Warner Bros. Feature Animation, which dissolved in 2004, and is also a sister to the regular Warner Bros. Animation studio.
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (WBPA), formerly known as Warner Animation Group (WAG), is an American animation studio that serves as the animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established in January 2013, the studio is the successor to the traditional animation studio Warner Bros. Feature Animation, which dissolved in 2004, and is also a sister to the regular Warner Bros. Animation studio.
The studio has produced 11 feature films, its first being The Lego Movie, which was released on February 7, 2014, and the most recent being Coyote vs. Acme, which was released on August 28, 2026. Films produced by WBPA have grossed a total of $2 billion at the box-office. The Lego Movie is the studio's most commercially successful franchise, while the aforementioned The Lego Movie (2014), The Lego Batman Movie (2017), Smallfoot (2018), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), DC League of Super-Pets (2022) and the aforementioned Coyote vs. Acme (2026) are among the studio's most critically acclaimed films to date.
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 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.
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 spin-offs. It was met with critical praise and proved to be a box-office success. Due to the movie's success, a media franchise was created, with two spin-offs, The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie (both 2017), and a sequel, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019). While The Lego Batman Movie proved to be successful at the box office, The Lego Ninjago Movie and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part were both unable to recoup its budget, with Ninjago being the first film from Warner Animation Group to be a box-office flop.
WAG's second film, Storks, was released September 23, 2016. It received mixed reviews from critics. On December 14, 2017, Warner Bros. announced Allison Abbate had been named Executive Vice President, and Chris Leahy has been named Senior Vice President.
Smallfoot, released September 28, 2018, received mostly positive reviews from critics and became a box office success. In October 2019, Locksmith Animation formed a multi-year production deal with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Animation Group, which will distribute Locksmith's films.
An animated reboot of the Scooby-Doo film series titled Scoob! was initially set for a theatrical release on May 15, 2020, but then it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 21, 2020, it was announced that it would instead go to video on demand in response to the pandemic. It received mixed reviews from critics.
A live-action/animated film based on Tom & Jerry was released internationally on February 11, 2021, and in the United States on February 26, simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. The film also marked the debut of the company's new logo, made to match the November 2019 refresh of the Warner Bros. shield that itself debuted a month prior in Locked Down. It received generally negative reviews from critics, and is the first film from the company to have met so.
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (CC BY-SA)
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Space Jam: A New Legacy, starring LeBron James, was released on July 16, 2021, and was the first film from Warner Animation Group to incorporate traditional animation. It also received negative reviews from critics, due to its extensive product placement of WarnerMedia's intellectual properties.
An animated film based on the Legion of Super-Pets titled DC League of Super-Pets was released on July 29, 2022. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
A Christmas-themed spin-off prequel titled Scoob! Holiday Haunt, taking place in the gang's youth, with the actors who portrayed their younger selves reprising, was set for release in 2022 on HBO Max, but was cancelled following the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery in April 2022 by CEO David Zaslav on August 2, 2022, citing cost-cutting measures and a refocus on theatrical films rather than creating projects for streaming. Later that month, it was reported that the film would still be finished, even though Warner Bros. Discovery had no present plans to release it. Although the film was used as a tax write-off, the film was finally finished on November 4 that year.
Following the merger, it was announced in August that Allison Abbate would be leaving the studio.
On February 9, 2023, it was reported that former DreamWorks Animation chief creative officer Bill Damaschke was in talks to lead the studio. On May 5, 2023, it was confirmed in a Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call by Zaslav that Damaschke had been hired, and was hard at work with Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy on developing a new slate of films. On June 9, 2023, Damaschke announced the rebranding of the division into Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and stated that they planned to follow the creative lead of Abdy and De Luca.
Coyote vs. Acme, a live-action/animated hybrid film based on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies character Wile E. Coyote, was released on August 28, 2026. Initially scheduled for release on July 2023, the film was shelved that November, citing financial reasons similar to those that befell Scoob! Holiday Haunt the year prior. Following industry-wide backlash, the film's creative team was allowed to shop it around to potential distributors. Ketchup Entertainment would acquire worldwide rights in March 2025, with an intent t
