Warner Bros. Feature Animation

**Warner Bros. Feature Animation** was an animation department that was shut down in 2004 due to a string of four box-office failures, with the exception of *Space Jam*. It only produced six animated films. Many exceptions are *Rover Dangerfield*, *Thumbelina*, *A Troll in Central Park*, *The King and I*, *The Scarecrow*, *Clifford's Really Big Movie*, *The Polar Express*, *The Ant Bully*, *Happy Feet*, *Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole* and *Happy Feet Two* which are produced by other studios. A decade later, it was restarted back up into the spotlight as Warner Animation Group.

## History

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 and mixed reviews respectively 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.

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. 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 four of the five films, under-performed during its original theatrical releases (due to lack of promotion).

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.

Before the success of *Space Jam*, a Turner Entertainment-run studio that spun off from Hanna-Barbera were already producing animated features following the success of the Disney features. The first was *The Pagemaster*, a fantasy adventure directed by Joe Johnston (live-action) and Maurice Hunt (animation) that starred the performances of Macaulay Culkin and Christopher Lloyd with the live-action segments serving as bookends for the film's story. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film under-performed and received negative reviews from critics during its holiday release of 1994. After the merger with Turner and Warner Bros.'s parent company Time Warner in 1996, Turner Feature Animation completed its second and last feature, *Cats Don't Dance* (1997), directed by Mark Dindal, which was met with warm critical and audience reception but under-performed due to little marketing and fanfare. By the time of the film's release, however, Turner Feature Animation had merged with Warner Feature Animation and transferred a majority of its staff from said studio.

The following year, its next 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 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.

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 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 and merged into Warner Bros. Animation, and *Looney Tunes* has been mostly relegated on television until 2021's *Space Jam: A New Legacy*.