Warner Bros. Animation - History - 1998-2004: The Rise and Fall of Warner Bros. Feature Animation

1998-2004: The Rise and Fall of Warner Bros. Feature Animation

Warner Bros., as well as several other Hollywood studios, moved into feature animation following the success of Disney's The Lion King in 1994. Max Howard, a Disney alumnus, was brought in to head the new division, which was set up in two studios: one in Sherman Oaks near the television studio, and the other 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 five of the six films it produced failed to earn money during their original theatrical releases (due to lack of promotion for their animated features). The first of Warners' animated features was Space Jam (1996), a live-action/animation mix which starred NBA star Michael Jordan opposite Bugs Bunny (Jordan had previously appeared with the Looney Tunes in a number of Nike commercials). Directed by Joe Pytka (live-action) and Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone (animation), Space Jam 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 featuring the performances of Macaulay Culkin and Christopher Lloyd with live-action segments serving as bookends for the film's story. Released by 20th Century Fox, the film was a financial and critical disappointment during its holiday release of 1994. After the merger with Turner and Warner Bros. in 1996, Turner Feature Animation completed its second and last feature, Cats Don't Dance (1997), which was met with warm critical and audience reception but bombed thanks to little marketing and fanfare. By the time of Cats' release however, Turner Feature Animation had merged with Warner Feature Animation and transferred a majority of its staff from said studio. The following year, the next film, Quest for Camelot (1998), underwent severe production difficulties and was panned by both critics and audiences, but its soundtrack (especially one of the songs, "The Prayer") did receive some accolades. The third animated feature from Warner Feature Animation, Brad Bird's The Iron Giant (1999), performed greatly with test audiences but the studio decided to rush its release to the end of the summer with a very small marketing push. It was not a commercial success, but Iron Giant received rave reviews and eventually became a modern classic. The studio's next film, Osmosis Jones (2001), was another animated/live action mix that suffered through another troubled production. This time, the animation segments, directed by Tom Sito and Piet Kroon, were completed long before the live-action segments were filmed, eventually directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly and starring Bill Murray. The resulting film was a box office flop, although it was successful enough on home video for Warner's Television Animation department to produce a related short-lived Saturday morning cartoon, Ozzy & Drix 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. The final Warner Bros. Feature Animation production was another live-action/animation mix, Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), which was meant to be the starting point for a reestablishment of the classic cartoons brands, including a planned series of new Looney Tunes theatrical shorts. The newer Looney Tunes were 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 and failed at the box office, production was shut down on the new shorts and the feature animation unit was dissolved. Several TV series based loosely upon the Looney Tunes property, Baby Looney Tunes (2002-2005), Loonatics Unleashed (2005–2007), and The Looney Tunes Show (2011–present) have assumed the place of the original shorts on television.