May 7, 2014

Warner Bros. releases 3 animation features in 2017 -'18

Following the success of the LEGO Movie-$457 million to date-Warner Bros. is getting back into feature animation in a big way. They've already announced a sequel to the LEGO Movie, to be directed by Chris McKay and released on May 26, 2017. Now, they've set dates for two more animated features-both in 3D-for February 10, 2017 and February 9, 2018.

The names of the titles have not been released, though the new Warner Animation Group had previously announced two feature titles called Storks and Smallfoot, the latter of which is definitely still in active development.

With the exception of Happy Feet, almost all of Warner Bros.' animated efforts in the past decade have been duds, including Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Yogi Bear, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, The Ant Bully, and the Happy Feet sequel.

The studio admitted their total cluelessness last year when they launched a poor man's version of Pixar's “brain trust” which they dubbed a think tank”. The goal of that group is to release “one high-end animated motion picture per year.” It looks like audiences will have to wait until 2017 to see how well that tank thinks.

(source: Variety)