Illumination (formerly known as Illumination Entertainment) is an American computer animation studio, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007. Illumination is owned by Meledandri and the Illumination brand is co-owned by Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Meledandri produces the films, while Universal finances and distributes them. The studio is the creator of the Despicable Me, Hop The Secret Life of Pets and Sing franchises and the film adaptations of Dr. Seuss' books The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Minions, characters from the Despicable Me series, are the mascots of the studio.
History[]
Meledandri left his post as President of 20th Century Fox Animation in early DreamWorks and Pixar 2007 where he supervised or executive produced movies including Ice Age (2002), its sequel Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Madagascar (2005), Cars (2006), and Horton Hears a Who! (2008). After leaving, he founded Illumination Entertainment. By 2008, a deal was announced positioning Illumination as NBC Universal’s family entertainment arm that would produce one to two films a year starting in 2010. As an independent production company, Illumination retains creative control and Universal exclusively distributes the films. During the Summer of 2011, Illumination acquired the animation department of the French animation and visual effects studio Mac Guff, which animated Despicable Me (2010) and The Lorax (2012), and formed Illumination Mac Guff.
Filmography[]
Feature films[]
Released films[]
# | Title | Release date | Animation service(s) | Budget | Gross | RT | MC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Despicable Me | July 9, 2010 | Mac Guff | $69 million | $543.2 million | 80% | 72 |
2 | Hop | April 1, 2011 | Rhythm and Hues | $63 million | $184.4 million | 24% | 41 |
3 | The Lorax | March 2, 2012 | Illumination Mac Guff | $70 million | $349.2 million | 54% | 46 |
4 | Despicable Me 2 | July 3, 2013 | $76 million | $970.8 million | 75% | 62 | |
5 | Minions | July 10, 2015 | $74 million | $1.159 billion | 56% | 56 | |
6 | The Secret Life of Pets | July 8, 2016 | $75 million | $894.3 million | 70% | 61 | |
7 | Sing | December 21, 2016 | $75 million | $634.3 million | 71% | 59 | |
8 | Despicable Me 3 | June 30, 2017 | $80 million | $1.034 billion | 59% | 49 | |
9 | The Grinch | November 9, 2018 | $90 million | $526.8 million | 60% | 51 | |
10 | The Secret Life of Pets 2 | June 7, 2019 | $80 million | $431.1 million | 60% | 55 | |
11 | Sing 2 | December 22, 2021 | Illumination Studios Paris | $85 million | $408.4 million | 72% | 49 |
12 | Minions: The Rise of Gru | July 1, 2022 | $80 million | $939.6 million | 70% | 56 | |
13 | The Super Mario Bros. Movie | April 5, 2023 | $100 million | $1.360 billion | 59% | 46 | |
14 | Migration | December 22, 2023 | $ million | $ billion | 73% | ||
15 | Despicable Me 4 | July 3, 2024 | $ million | $ billion |
Short films[]
# | Title | Release date | Animation service | Release with | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Home Makeover | December 14, 2010 | Mac Guff | Despicable Me | Home media release |
2 | Orientation Day | ||||
3 | Banana | ||||
4 | Brad & Gary | April 1, 2011 | Illumination Mac Guff | Hop | Theatrical release |
5 | Phil's Dance Party | March 23, 2012 | Rhythm and Hues | Home media release | |
6 | Wagon-Ho | August 7, 2012 | Illumination Mac Guff | The Lorax | |
7 | Forces of Nature | ||||
8 | Serenade | ||||
9 | Puppy | December 10, 2013 | Despicable Me 2 | ||
10 | Panic in the Mailroom | ||||
11 | Training Wheels | ||||
12 | Cro Minion | December 8, 2015 | Minions | ||
13 | Competition | ||||
14 | Binky Nelson Unpacified | ||||
15 | Mower Minions | July 8, 2016 | The Secret Life of Pets | Theatrical release | |
16 | Norman Television | December 6, 2016 | Home media release | ||
17 | Weenie | ||||
18 | Gunter Babysits | March 21, 2017 | Sing | ||
19 | Love at First Sight | ||||
20 | Eddie's Life Coach | ||||
21 | The Secret Life of Kyle | December 5, 2017 | Despicable Me 3 | ||
22 | Yellow is the New Black | November 9, 2018 | The Grinch | Theatrical release | |
23 | The Dog Days of Winter | November 23, 2018 | Trolls Holiday | Television release | |
24 | Santa's Little Helpers | February 5, 2019 | The Grinch | Home media release | |
25 | Super Gidget | August 27, 2019 | The Secret Life of Pets 2 | ||
26 | Minion Scouts | ||||
27 | Minions & Monsters | June 11, 2021 | Minions: The Rise of Gru | Television release | |
28 | For Gunter's Eyes Only | March 29, 2022 | Illumination Studios Paris | Sing 2 | Home media release |
29 | Animal Attraction | ||||
30 | Post Modern Minions | September 6, 2022 | Minions: The Rise of Gru | ||
31 | Penglai | April 5, 2023 | One and All Animation Studio | The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Theatrical release |
32 | Mooned | December 22, 2023 | Illumination Studios Paris | Migration | Theatrical release/Home video release |
33 | Fly Hard | February 27, 2024 | Home video release | ||
34 | Midnight Mission | ||||
35 | Benny's Birthday | August 6, 2024 | Despicable Me 4 | ||
36 | Game Over and Over | ||||
37 | Sing: Thriller | October 16, 2024 | Minions & More 3 | Netflix release |
Upcoming films[]
# | Title | Release date |
---|---|---|
16 | The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 | April 3, 2026 |
17 | Minions 3 | July 1, 2026 |
18 | Sing 3 | TBA |
19 | Big Tree | TBA |
20 | An untitled Pharrell Williams film | TBA |