The company was formed after Meledandri left as president of [[20th Century Fox Animation]] and [[Blue Sky Studios]] in early 2007. While at those companies, he supervised or executive-produced movies including the first two ''Ice Age'' films, ''Robots'', and ''Horton Hears a Who!''. After he left, a deal was announced positioning Illumination as Universal's family entertainment arm that would produce one to two films a year starting in 2010. During the summer the following year, Illumination acquired the animation department of the French animation and visual effects studio Mac Guff, and formed Illumination Mac Guff (now Illumination Studios Paris).
The studio is responsible for the ''Despicable Me'', ''The Secret Life of Pets'' and ''Sing'' franchises, and the movies ''Hop'', ''The Lorax'', ''The Grinch'', and the upcoming ''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'' (in association with [[Nintendo|Nintendo Pictures]]). The minions from the first title are the studio's mascots.
===(July 9, 2010-)===
Illumination (The Secret Life of Pets 2, Trailer).webp|''The Secret Life of Pets 2'' trailer
Illumination (How to Draw a Minion).png|''How to Draw a Minion'' and ''Saturday Morning Minions''
Illumination (Minions Holiday Special, End).jpeg|Trailer variant, seen on ''The Secret Life of Pets 2'', ''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'' and on the end of ''Minions Holiday Special'' (closing)
Illumination (Minions The Rise of Gru Trailer).png|''Minions: The Rise of Gru'' trailer 1
Illumination (Minions The Rise of Gru Trailer 2).png|''Minions: The Rise of Gru'' trailer 2
* ''The Secret Life of Pets''(final version) and ''Despicable Me 2''([[NBC National IDs|NBC]] airing): The text is nowhere to be seen. Bob from ''Minions'' walks in from the right, scatting a tune. Just then, the text "MIN" and "ION" (perhaps not coincidentally, the word "Minion") turns on like a large neon sign and flashes briefly, while the light above the "I" in "MIN" glows. The rest of the text turns on the same way. Bob looks at the text and is amazed. He then turns to the audience and shouts the company name twice before squeeing excitedly.
** A version that starts where he says the company name was seen on the shorts ''The Secret Life of Kyle'' and ''Minion Scouts''.
** There is also another version without the "ENTERTAINMENT" text. This can be seen on a trailer for ''The Secret Life of Pets 2'', and the second trailer for ''The Super Mario Bros. Movie''.
** Another one exists without Bob, which was seen at the start of four short films (''Mower Minions'', ''Norman Television'', ''Weenie'', and ''Yellow is the New Black'') and the end of ''Minions Holiday Special''. This version is still.
** On ''How to Draw a Minion'' and ''Saturday Morning Minions'', the logo is inverted (black text on a white background) and remade in 2D. Like ''The Secret Life of Kyle'' and ''Minion Scouts'', it is cut.
|