Illumination (company) facts for kids
Logo used since 2017
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Formerly
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Illumination Entertainment (2007–2017) |
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| Founded | January 17, 2007 |
| Founder | Chris Meledandri |
| Headquarters | 2049 Colorado Ave,
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Key people
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Number of employees
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100 (2016) |
| Parent | Universal Pictures |
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| Subsidiaries | Illumination Studios Paris |
Illumination, once called Illumination Entertainment, is an American animation studio. Chris Meledandri started it in 2007. It is now a part of Universal Pictures. Chris Meledandri makes the movies, and Universal Pictures helps pay for and release them.
Illumination is famous for creating popular movie series. These include Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing. They also made movies based on Dr. Seuss books like The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. More recently, they adapted Nintendo video games, starting with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The Minions, who are characters from the Despicable Me movies, are like the mascots for the studio.
Illumination has made 14 feature films so far. On average, each movie has earned a lot of money. Their biggest movies include The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), Minions (2015), and Despicable Me 3 (2017). These films are among the highest-earning movies of all time. Many of their animated films are also among the top-grossing animated movies ever.
Contents
The Story of Illumination
Chris Meledandri used to be in charge of 20th Century Fox Animation. He also worked at Blue Sky Studios. While there, he helped make movies like Ice Age and Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!. He left those companies in early 2007.
After leaving, he started Illumination Entertainment. They made a deal with Universal Pictures. This deal meant Illumination would make one or two family movies each year, starting in 2010. Illumination gets to decide how the movies are made. Universal Pictures then releases them to theaters.
In 2011, Illumination bought the animation part of a French studio called Mac Guff. Mac Guff had animated Despicable Me and Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. This new company became Illumination Studios Paris.
In 2022, Illumination hired Mike Moon from Netflix. He became a senior creative advisor. He also leads a new part of the company called Moonlight. Moonlight plans to make animated movies that are not just for families.
How Illumination Makes Movies
Illumination does not make its movies right where its main office is in Santa Monica. Instead, they work with other studios to animate their films. Most of their movies are animated by Illumination Studios Paris. This studio was formed when Illumination bought Mac Guff. Only one Illumination movie, Hop, was animated by a different studio.
Like some other animation studios, Illumination used a small group of directors and writers when they first started. The directors of Despicable Me, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, worked on many other Illumination films. Writers like Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio and Brian Lynch also wrote many of their early hits.
Illumination tries to keep its movie budgets lower than many other studios. Most of their films cost between $60 million and $80 million to make. Chris Meledandri believes that making great animated movies does not have to be super expensive. For example, Despicable Me cost $69 million, and Hop cost $63 million. They use smart animation methods to save money and time. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is their most expensive film so far, costing $100 million.
Illumination's Movies
Illumination's first movie was Despicable Me. It came out on July 9, 2010. The movie was a big success, earning a lot of money around the world.
Their second movie was Hop, released on April 1, 2011. This movie mixed live-action with computer animation. It also did well at the box office.
Next came The Lorax on March 2, 2012, based on the Dr. Seuss book. It was another hit for the studio.
The first sequel they made was Despicable Me 2, released on July 3, 2013. This movie earned even more money than the first one. It became one of the highest-grossing animated films of 2013. It also set a record for Universal Pictures as a very profitable movie.
A spin-off movie from the Despicable Me series, called Minions, came out on July 10, 2015. This movie was a massive success, earning over $1 billion worldwide. It was the highest-grossing animated film of 2015.
The Secret Life of Pets was released on July 8, 2016. This movie also earned a lot of money, both in the US and globally.
Sing, a musical comedy, came out on December 21, 2016. It was the first Illumination movie released around Christmas. It was very popular and earned a lot of money.
Despicable Me 3 was released on June 30, 2017. This was the second Illumination movie to earn over $1 billion worldwide. It was the highest-grossing animated film of 2017.
An adaptation of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, simply called The Grinch, came out on November 9, 2018. It became the highest-grossing Christmas film of all time.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 was released on June 7, 2019. It earned less than the first movie but was still popular.
Sing 2 came out on December 22, 2021. Even though it was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, it became the highest-grossing animated film of 2021. It was also the highest-grossing animated film released during the pandemic.
Minions: The Rise of Gru was released on July 1, 2022, after being delayed by the pandemic. It set a new record for the July 4th weekend in the US. It also became the highest-grossing animated film during the pandemic, earning a lot worldwide.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie, based on the famous video game, was released on April 5, 2023. This movie was a huge hit! It broke several box office records and earned over $1 billion worldwide. It was one of the highest-grossing films of 2023.
Migration, an original movie, was released on December 22, 2023.
Illumination also works with Universal Parks & Resorts to create rides. They made the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem 3-D ride. This ride is at Universal Studios in Orlando, Hollywood, and Osaka. They also created The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash! at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Future movies include Despicable Me 4 in 2024 and a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2026. They are also working on Big Tree, The Secret Life of Pets 3, Sing 3, and an original animated film with musician Pharrell Williams.
In addition, two short web series are being made by Pierre Coffin. One is a Minions spin-off called Who's Who. The other is an original series called Bones Story. These shorts will be available on TikTok and YouTube.
Movie Series
| Title | Films | Shorts | Release dates |
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| Despicable Me | 5 | 18 | 2010–present |
| The Secret Life of Pets | 2 | 3 | 2016–present |
| Sing | 5 |
See also
In Spanish: Illumination (empresa) para niños
- Illumination Studios Paris
- DreamWorks Animation
- Universal Animation Studios
- List of Universal Pictures theatrical animated feature films
- List of animated feature films of the 2010s
- List of highest-grossing animated films of the 2010s
