Illumination (formerly known as Illumination Entertainment) is an American computer

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals o ...

, founded by

Chris Meledandri Christopher Meledandri (; born May 15, 1959) is an American film producer and founder and CEO of Illumination. He previously served as President of 20th Century Fox Animation, and has worked as the producer of the ''Despicable Me'' franchise ...

in 2007. Illumination is owned by Meledandri and the Illumination brand is co-owned by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, a division of Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primaril ...

. Meledandri produces the films, while Universal finances and distributes them. The studio is responsible for the '' Despicable Me'', ''

The Secret Life of Pets ''The Secret Life of Pets'' is a 2016 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Yarrow Cheney (in his feature directorial ...

'' and '' Sing'' franchises and the film adaptations of

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' The Lorax'' and ''

How the Grinch Stole Christmas ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a Christmas children's story by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who tries to cancel Christmas by st ...

''. The Minions, characters from the ''Despicable Me'' series, are the mascots of the studio. Illumination has produced 12 feature films, with an average gross of $695.4 million per film. The studio's highest-grossing films are '' Minions'' ($1.159 billion) and ''

Despicable Me 3 ''Despicable Me 3'' is a 2017 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the sequel to ''Despicable Me 2'' (2013), the third main installment, and the fourth installment overall ...

'' ($1.034 billion). Both films are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all-time, and six of their films are among the 50 highest-grossing animated films.

History

Meledandri left as President of

20th Century Fox Animation 20th Century Animation, Inc. (originally known as Fox Family Films, Fox Animation Studios, and 20th Century Fox Animation and sometimes referred to as Fox Animation) is an American animation studio located in Century City, Los Angeles. Formed ...

and Blue Sky Studios in early 2007. While at those companies he supervised or executive-produced movies including ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

'', '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'', ''

Robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...

'', and '' Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!'' After leaving, he founded Illumination Entertainment and a deal was announced positioning Illumination Entertainment as

NBC Universal The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...

's family entertainment arm, that would produce one to two films a year starting in 2010. As part of the deal, Illumination retains creative control and Universal Pictures exclusively distributes the films. In 2011, Illumination acquired the animation department of the French animation and visual effects studio

Mac Guff Mac Guff (also known as Mac Guff Ligne) is a French visual effects company based in both Los Angeles, United States and Paris, France, where it is headquartered. Mac Guff specializes in the creation of computer graphics for commercials, music vid ...

, which animated '' Despicable Me'' and '' Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'', and formed Illumination Mac Guff (later

Illumination Studios Paris Illumination Studios Paris (formerly known as Illumination Mac Guff) is a French animated feature production company owned by Illumination, a division of Universal Pictures. Based in Paris, France, the company was created in 2011 as part of Univ ...

). On August 22, 2016, NBCUniversal acquired competing studio DreamWorks Animation, which fuelled speculation that Meledandri was to oversee both studios. While he had been approached by NBCUniversal to oversee both studios, he turned down the offer and later explained “I love the process of making films and working with artists. I don’t think I’m particularly great at managing companies”. On September 23, 2022, Illumination announced its hiring of former

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

head of adult animation Mike Moon as senior creative advisor, and a new label led by Moon known as Moonlight, which will aim to "produce animated films that push beyond the family genre".

Process

In a similar fashion to

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by So ...

and DreamWorks Animation, Illumination does not produce its films in-house where it is based in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

, but rather outsources the animation production of its films to other studios. Most of its films are animated by

, a subsidiary formed through the purchase of

(which animated the first ''Despicable Me''). So far, the only Illumination film not to be animated by Illumination Studios Paris or Mac Guff was ''Hop'', which was animated by Rhythm & Hues Studios. Not unlike

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

, in its early days Illumination depended on a core group of directors and writers to create its films. The directors of ''Despicable Me'',

Pierre Coffin Pierre-Louis Padang Coffin (born 16 March 1967) is a French animator, voice actor, director, producer, and writer best known for co-directing four films in the ''Despicable Me'' franchise and being the voice of the Minions, which won him the Ki ...

and

Chris Renaud Chris Renaud (born December 1966) is an American film producer, director, illustrator, designer, animator, and voice actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2006 animated short ''No Time for Nuts'', which featured the character Scrat ...

, also directed or co-directed '' Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'', ''

Despicable Me 2 ''Despicable Me 2'' is a 2013 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to ''Despicable Me'' (2010), it is directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, and ...

'', '' Minions'', ''

'', and ''

''. Screenwriters

Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio are American screenwriters. They are primarily known for writing screenplays for animated films, including ''Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who'', ''Despicable Me'', '' Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'', ''Despicable Me 2'', ''The Secre ...

(who had written '' Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!'' for Meledandri at Fox) wrote or co-wrote ''Despicable Me'', ''Hop'', ''Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'', ''Despicable Me 2'', ''The Secret Life of Pets'', and ''Despicable Me 3'', while screenwriter Brian Lynch wrote or co-wrote ''Hop'', ''Minions'', and ''The Secret Life of Pets''. Illumination's films have a budget between $60–80 million. Meledandri prefers to keep Illumination adhering to a low-cost model, recognising that "strict cost controls and hit animated films are not mutually exclusive". In an industry where film expenses often exceed $100 million, Illumination's first two releases were completed with significantly lower budgets, considering ''Despicable Me'' $69 million budget and '' Hop'' $63 million budget. One way the company sustains a lean financial model is by employing cost-conscious animation techniques that lower the expenses and render times of its computer graphics. To date, ''Sing 2'' is the studio's most expensive film, with an $85 million budget.

Projects

The studio's first film, '' Despicable Me'', directed by

and

, was released on July 9, 2010 and was commercially successful, earning $56 million on its opening weekend, and going on to ticket sales of $251 million domestically and $543 million worldwide. Illumination's second film was the live-action/CGI hybrid '' Hop.'' Directed by Tim Hill and released on April 1, 2011, the film had a $37 million opening, ending up with $108 million domestically and $183 million worldwide. ''Hop'' was followed by an adaptation of

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' The Lorax'' (also directed by Renaud), which debuted on March 2, 2012, earning $70 million on its opening weekend, and with eventual totals of $214 million in the US market and $348 million worldwide. The studio's first

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

, ''

'', again directed by Renaud and Coffin, opened in the United States on July 3, 2013 to a domestic five-day opening weekend of $142 million (and $82 million over the regular three-day frame), making it, at the time of its release, the biggest animated film to open on that frame. The film would go on to earn $368 million domestically and $970 million worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing 2013 animated film and breaking a record as the most profitable

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

film in its 100-year history. A spin-off of the ''Despicable Me'' franchise, titled '' Minions'', directed by Coffin and newcomer

Kyle Balda Kyle Balda (born March 9, 1971) is an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing the Illumination films ''The Lorax'' (2012), with Chris Renaud; '' Minions'' (2015), with Pierre Coffin; and '' Minions: The Rise of Gru'' ( ...

, was released on July 10, 2015 to a domestic opening weekend of $115 million. The film would go on to gross $336 million domestically and $823 million overseas, amounting to a worldwide total of $1.159 billion, making it the highest-grossing animated film of 2015 and, at the time of its release, the second highest-grossing animated film of all time, behind

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

' '' Frozen'' (2013). ''

'' was released on July 8, 2016. Directed by Renaud and

Yarrow Cheney Yarrow Cheney (born 1973) is an American artist, film director, designer, author, illustrator, and animator. He is best known for his works as a production designer in ''Despicable Me 2'' (2013), ''The Lorax'' (2012), and ''Despicable Me'' (2010 ...

, the film would earn $104 million in its opening weekend, going on to gross $368 million domestically, and $875 million worldwide. '' Sing'', a comedy written and directed by

Garth Jennings Garth Jennings (born 9 July 1972) is an English director, screenwriter and actor. Films he has directed include ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', ''Son of Rambow'', ''Sing'', and ''Sing 2''. He co-founded the production company Hammer ...

, was released on December 21, 2016. It was the first movie for the studio to have a Christmas release. The film would earn $56 million in its first 5 days, grossing $270 million stateside and $634 million worldwide. It also holds the record for the highest-grossing film not to ever be at No. 1 in its run. ''

'', which reunited Coffin and Balda as directors, was released on June 30, 2017 to a $75 million domestic opening weekend. The film would then go on to gross $264 million domestically and $1.034 billion worldwide, making it the second film from the studio to cross the $1 billion mark, as well as highest-grossing animated film of 2017. At the time of its release, it also set a record for the highest theatre count ever with 4,536 theatres in its second week. The film that followed was an adaptation of Dr. Seuss' ''

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a Christmas children's story by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who tries to cancel Christmas by st ...

'', simply titled ''

The Grinch The Grinch is a fictional character created by Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the main character of the 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many different actors, including Boris Karloff, ...

,'' which was released on November 9, 2018, with

Scott Mosier Scott A. Mosier (born March 5, 1971) is an American film producer, director and editor best known for his work with director Kevin Smith, with whom he occasionally co-hosts the weekly podcast, ''SModcast''. Early life Mosier was born in Vanco ...

and Cheney as directors and featuring a screenplay by Michael LeSieur and Tommy Swerdlow. The film opened to $67 million in its first domestic weekend and went on to earn $271 million stateside and $513 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Christmas film of all time. ''

The Secret Life of Pets 2 ''The Secret Life of Pets 2'' is a 2019 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination, directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Jonathan del Val, and written by Brian Lynch. It is the sequel to '' The Secret Life of Pets'', ...

'', again directed by Renaud, was released on June 7, 2019 to a domestic opening weekend of $47 million, going on to gross $159 million stateside and $446 million worldwide, making less than half of its predecessor. It was followed by ''

Sing 2 ''Sing 2'' is a 2021 American computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to ''Sing'' (2016) and the second film in the franchise, it was again written and directed ...

'', again directed by Jennings, which was released on December 22, 2021. Despite opening to a modest $41 million over a five-day weekend (and $23 million over the normal three-day frame), the film would eventually become the highest-grossing animated film of 2021, as well as the highest-grossing animated film released during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, earning $163 million stateside and $408 million worldwide. '' Minions: The Rise of Gru'', directed by Balda, was released on July 1, 2022, after a delay of two years caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The film earned $125 million stateside over the four-day July 4 weekend, a new record over said timeframe. The film would go on to overtake ''Sing 2'' as the highest-grossing animated film during the pandemic, with $368 million domestically and $933 million worldwide. On May 19, 2011, Illumination announced that it would be working with Universal Studios to create ''

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is a computer-animated simulator ride attraction located at Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Japan, and Universal Studios Beijing, as well as upcoming to Universal Studios Si ...

'', a 3-D ride at

Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Parks & Resorts, also known as Universal Studios Theme Parks or solely Universal Theme Parks, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme par ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

, Hollywood, and

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

. The ride officially opened on July 2, 2012 in Orlando, in Hollywood on April 12, 2014, and in Osaka on April 21, 2017. In April 2019, it was announced they would collaborate again on the creation of ''The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash!'', a

dark ride A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, su ...

attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood. While its opening was scheduled for March 27, 2020, it was delayed until further notice due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. It eventually opened on April 8, 2021. Future projects include '' The Super Mario Bros. Movie'', an animated film based on the ''

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

'' franchise as a collaboration with Nintendo on April 7, 2023, an original film titled ''Migration'' on December 22, 2023, and ''Despicable Me 4'' on July 3, 2024. Other films the studio has in development include ''Big Tree'', a film based on an illustrated novel by

Brian Selznick Brian Selznick (born July 14, 1966) is an American illustrator and author best known as the writer of '' The Invention of Hugo Cabret'' (2007), '' Wonderstruck'' (2011), ''The Marvels'' (2015) and ''Kaleidoscope'' (2021). He won the 2008 Caldeco ...

from an idea by Meledandri and Steven Spielberg, '' The Secret Life of Pets 3,'' and an original animated film with frequent collaborator and musician Pharrell Williams that will be "made from scratch."

Franchises

References

External links