Illumination (company) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Illumination

Illumination's logo used since 2017
Formerly	Illumination Entertainment (2007–2017)
Type	Division
Industry	Animation Motion pictures Television specials
Founded	January 17, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-01-17)
Founder	Chris Meledandri
Headquarters	2105 Broadway, Santa Monica, California , United States
Key people	Chris Meledandri (CEO) Keith Feldman (COO)
Number of employees	100 (2016)
Parent	Universal Pictures
Divisions	Illumination Labs Moonlight
Subsidiaries	Illumination Studios Paris

Illumination is an American animation studio. It was started by Chris Meledandri on January 17, 2007. This studio is part of Universal Pictures. Universal Pictures helps fund and release Illumination's movies.

Illumination is famous for many 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 created The Super Mario Bros. Movie based on the Nintendo video game. The funny yellow characters called Minions from the Despicable Me movies are like the mascots for the studio.

Illumination has made 15 full-length movies. Many of their films have earned a lot of money. Three of their movies are among the highest-earning films ever made. These are Minions (2015), Despicable Me 3 (2017), and The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023). The Super Mario Bros. Movie had the biggest opening weekend for an animated film. Eight of their movies are also among the top 50 animated films by earnings.

Illumination's first movie, Despicable Me, came out on July 9, 2010. Their most recent film, Despicable Me 4, was released on July 3, 2024.

How Illumination Started

Illumination's logo used from 2010 to 2017

Before Illumination, Universal Pictures released animated movies from other studios. This happened from 1986 to 2009. Some of these movies included An American Tail and The Land Before Time. Universal's own animation studio also made Curious George in 2006.

Chris Meledandri used to be in charge of animation at 20th Century Fox. He helped make movies like Ice Age and Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!. He left that job in early 2007. Then, he started Illumination Entertainment.

Illumination made a deal with Universal Pictures. This deal meant Illumination would create one to two family movies each year. The first movie was planned for 2010. Illumination gets to decide how the movies are made. Universal Pictures is in charge of releasing them.

In 2011, Illumination bought the animation part of a French studio called Mac Guff. Mac Guff had animated Despicable Me. This new company became Illumination Studios Paris.

In 2016, another big animation studio, DreamWorks Animation, was bought by NBCUniversal. Chris Meledandri was asked to lead both studios. But he said no. He explained that he loves making films and working with artists. He felt he was not as good at managing big companies.

In 2022, Illumination hired Mike Moon, who used to lead adult animation at Netflix. He became a senior creative advisor. He also started a new part of Illumination called Moonlight. Moonlight plans to make animated films that are not just for families.

How Movies Are Made at Illumination

Illumination's main office is in Santa Monica. But they do not make their movies there. Instead, they work with other studios to do the animation. Most of their movies are animated by Illumination Studios Paris. This studio was formed when Illumination bought Mac Guff. The only Illumination movie not animated by them was Hop. That movie was animated by Rhythm & Hues Studios.

In the beginning, Illumination relied on a small group of directors and writers. For example, the directors of Despicable Me, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, also directed many other Illumination hits. These included Dr. Seuss' The Lorax and Minions. Writers like Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio also worked on many of their early films.

Illumination tries to keep its movie budgets lower than many other animation studios. Most of their films cost between $60 million and $80 million to make. Chris Meledandri believes that you can make successful animated movies without spending huge amounts of money. For example, Despicable Me cost $69 million. Hop cost $63 million. They use smart animation methods to save money and time. The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Despicable Me 4 are their most expensive films so far. Both cost $100 million.

Illumination Movies

Illumination's first movie, Despicable Me, was a big hit. It earned $543 million around the world. Their second movie was Hop, which mixed live-action and computer animation. It came out in 2011.

The Lorax, based on the Dr. Seuss book, was released in 2012. It also did very well, earning $348 million worldwide. The first sequel, Despicable Me 2, came out in 2013. It earned $970 million worldwide. This made it one of the highest-earning animated films of 2013. It also became the most profitable Universal Pictures movie at that time.

A spin-off movie from the Despicable Me series, called Minions, was released in 2015. It earned over $1.1 billion worldwide. This made it the highest-earning animated film of 2015.

The Secret Life of Pets was released in 2016. It earned $875 million worldwide. Later that year, Sing came out. It was the first Illumination movie released around Christmas. It earned $634 million worldwide.

Despicable Me 3 was released in 2017. It was the second Illumination movie to earn over $1 billion. It became the highest-earning animated film of 2017. In 2018, they released The Grinch. This movie earned $513 million worldwide. It became the highest-earning Christmas movie ever. The Secret Life of Pets 2 was released in 2019.

Sing 2 was released in 2021. It became the highest-earning animated film of 2021. It also earned the most money for an animated film released during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minions: The Rise of Gru was released in 2022 after being delayed. It earned $939 million worldwide. It then became the highest-earning animated film during the pandemic.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, based on the Mario video game, was released in 2023. It earned over $1.3 billion worldwide. This made it the third Illumination film to earn over $1 billion. It was also the second highest-earning film of 2023. Migration, an original movie, was released in December 2023. Despicable Me 4 was released in July 2024.

Illumination also works with Universal Parks & Resorts. They helped create the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem 3-D ride. This ride opened in Orlando in 2012, Hollywood in 2014, and Osaka in 2017. They also worked on The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash!, a ride at Universal Studios Hollywood. It opened in 2021.

Future movies include a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie planned for 2026. Minions 3 is also planned for 2026. Illumination is also working on other films. These include Big Tree, The Secret Life of Pets 3, and Sing 3. They are also talking with Mattel about making an animated movie based on Barbie.

Illumination also makes short online series. These include a Minions spin-off called Who's Who. These shorts are released on TikTok and YouTube.

Movie Series

See also

In Spanish: Illumination (empresa) para niños

• Illumination Studios Paris
• DreamWorks Animation
• Universal Animation Studios