Netflix has announced an exciting Fall Lineup, releasing exclusive stills from Spellbound, dates for Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Season 2, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory: Season 2, Mighty MonsterWheelies, and more. As students prepare to head back to school, the streaming platform is offering a variety of family-centered entertainment that ranges from series’ to feature-length films. […]
Posts Tagged ‘Illumination’
INTERVIEW: “Despicable Me 4” Director Chris Renaud On Franchise Legacy, Sequels, And The Animation Industry
June 19th, 2024 
Lauren Ashton Illumination’s Despicable Me is extraordinarily successful- aside from being one of the highest-grossing animated film franchises of all time. 14 years after the original film became an immediate hit, director Chris Renaud talks with Animation Scoop on the upcoming installment, reflecting on the global appeal, legacy of the characters, and the franchise’s lasting impact over […]
Posted in Illumination 
Tags: despicable me, Disney, Illumination, Toy Story, Universal 
No Comments » INTERVIEW: Benjamin Renner On High-Flying “Migration”
December 15th, 2023 Jackson Murphy The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales director Benjamin Renner takes to the sky with Illumination’s new animated comedy Migration. It opens in theaters next Friday December 22nd. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, Renner talks about his love of hand-drawn and CG animation, ducky research and working with one of the most star-studded voice acting […]
TRAILER: Illumniation’s “Migratnion”
October 14th, 2023 Jerry Beck This holiday season, Illumination, creators of the blockbuster Minions, Despicable Me, Sing and The Secret Life of Pets comedies, invites you to take flight into the thrill of the unknown with a funny, feathered family vacation like no other in the action-packed new original comedy, Migration. From a screenplay by Mike White, the Emmy winning […]
INTERVIEW: “Minions” And “The Office” Collide For Annie Nominated Ad
February 21st, 2023 Jackson Murphy Remember when Gru and the Minions started working at Dunder Mifflin? Last summer, Universal and Peacock debuted a 30-second spot for Minions: The Rise of Gru featuring Illumination’s beloved characters in a version of the intro to The Office. It was a massive hit on TV and online. Now, this commercial is nominated for the […]
TRAILER: “Minions: The Rise of Gru”
March 30th, 2022 Jerry Beck This summer, from the biggest global animated franchise in history, comes the origin story of how the world’s greatest supervillain first met his iconic minions, forged cinema’s most despicable crew and faced off against the most unstoppable criminal force ever assembled. Minions: The Rise of Gru is said to feature more spectacular action than any […]
INTERVIEW: Director Garth Jennings Makes Triumphant Return With “Sing 2”
December 16th, 2021 Jackson Murphy Illumination’s Sing 2 is the highly-anticipated follow-up to their blockbuster 2016 musical hit. The main voice cast is back, along with director Garth Jennings. Sing 2 opens in theaters this Wednesday Dec. 22. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, Jennings discusses trying to top the original, bringing Bono on board, and the franchise’s cool connection to […]
Universal Unveils 2021 “Universal Animation Writers Program”
July 14th, 2021 Jerry Beck Universal Filmed Entertainment Group today announced the writers selected to participate in the newly launched 2021 Universal Animation Writers Program, a first-of-its-kind animation writing program for both feature film and television content. The Studio is proud to welcome its inaugural group of participants: Shari Coleman, Kiana Johnson, Senibo Myers, David Ngo and Joe Winters. These […]
TRAILER: Illumination’s “Sing 2”
June 24th, 2021 Jerry Beck Sing 2 is written and directed by acclaimed returning filmmaker Garth Jennings and features additional new characters played by music superstar Pharrell Williams, Black Panther’s Letitia Wright and comedians Eric Andre and Chelsea Peretti. The film is produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Janet Healy. This new chapter in Illumination’s animated […]
Hare Apparent: The 10th Anniversary of “Hop”
April 3rd, 2021 Michael Lyons When Hop opened in 2011, film critic Nick Schager in The Village Voice said that the film was “…just demented enough to deliver a fleeting sugar rush.” A perfect summation of Hop, the comedy from Illumination Entertainment, (the animation studio behind such films as the Despicable Me franchise), which looked to put a hip spin […]
TEASER for TRAILER of “Minions: The Rise of Gru”
February 2nd, 2020 Jerry Beck This summer, from the biggest animated franchise in history and global cultural phenomenon, comes the untold story of one 12-year-old’s dream to become the world’s greatest supervillain, in Minions: The Rise of Gru. The feature – directed by Kyle Balda – opens on July 3rd. In the meantime, because we know you can’t wait, here […]
Cast from ‘Secret Life of Pets’ Reprise Their Roles in Universal Studios Ride, “Off the Leash!”
January 22nd, 2020 Jerry Beck The voice talent behind the lovable furry stars of Illumination’s global blockbuster hits The Secret Life of Pets and The Secret Life of Pets 2 unleash their animal instincts to reprise their roles in Universal Studios Hollywood’s lively new ride, “The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash!,” opening in Spring 2020, which answer the […]
Universal Launches Animation Writers Program
November 14th, 2019 Jerry Beck Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG)’s Global Talent Development & Inclusion (GTDI) department today announced the launch of the Universal Animation Writers Program, a first-of-its-kind animation writing program for both feature film and television content. The one-year, paid program will partner with business units and production entities affiliated with UFEG including DreamWorks Animation, Illumination and Universal […]
INTERVIEW: Director Chris Renaud on “The Secret Life of Pets 2”
May 22nd, 2019 Jackson Murphy Chris Renaud has been with Illumination Entertainment from the very beginning, serving as co-director (with Pierre Coffin) on the studio’s first film, 2010’s Despicable Me. He also directed 2016’s The Secret Life of Pets and is now back with the sequel, which features a superhero storyline that brought Renaud back to his roots. Jackson Murphy: […]
Posted in Illumination, Universal Tags: Illumination, The Secret Life Of Pets, Universal Pictures No Comments »
Charles Solomon’s Animation Year End Review 2022
Although he wrote them in 1859, Charles Dickens might have been thinking of animation in 2022 when he penned the celebrated lines, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the […]