'''Illumination''' (also known as '''Illumination Entertainment''') is an animation studio owned by [[Universal Pictures]], a division of NBCUniversal. It was founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007, after leaving as president of [[20th Century Fox Animation]] and [[Blue Sky Studios]]. The company was originally announced as Universal's family entertainment arm which would produce one to two films a year, starting in 2010. In Summer 2011, the company acquired French animation and visual effects studio Mac Guff to form Illumination Mac Guff (which was renamed to [[Illumination Studios Paris]] in 2021).
The studio is responsible for the ''Despicable Me'', ''Sing'', ''Minions'' and ''The Secret Life of Pets'' and ''Sing'' franchises. The minions from the first titleand third titles are the studio's mascots.
{{clear}}
* ''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'': The text is darkened and seen above a minion inside a rocket-powered go-kart (similar to those in the film and the ''Mario Kart'' series, and the go-kart itself appears to be themed after Gru's jet bike from ''Minions: The Rise of Gru''). He is behind a starting line, and starts to rev his engine. As the countdown sound from ''Mario Kart 8'' plays, segments of the text light up {{color|red}} like race starting lights, with each quarter of letters lighting up with each chime, then all light up {{color|green}}. The minion attempts to start the go-kart, only for it to stall out. As that happens, the text turns white. The minion hits the go-kart in frustration, causing it to suddenly blast off-screen. The minion yells out the company name as he zooms away.
* ''Migration'': The preceding [[Universal Pictures]] logo has the fanfare done with a slightly off-key kazoo melody, which skips the first two notes of the tennine-note score, and a ukulele rhythm, based on the 1997 version. When it fades out, it then fades to the minion trio sitting on a rock in the middle of a lake at night, with Stuart playing the ukulele, and Bob playing the kazoo, while Kevin does some fishing, asvisibly irritated by the music. The screen zooms out to reveal the text above. When the fanfare is finished, Bob pants, and says the company name in a tired manner. The minions are then startled by Mack's opening lines (voiced by Kumail Nanjiani), but then sigh in relief upon hearing the words "bedtime story". The screen then turns like a page, transitioning to the film's opening shot.
** On TV spots for the film, a minion is shown running to the rightleft, afterbeing chased by Mack, while another version has the chase reversed.
|-|
* ''Despicable Me'': Here are the two announcers in this variant:
** Miles Neff: A tiny one-eyed creature peeks out and waves at us. Behind him, light shines through the words, "ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT". Its brilliance blows past the creature like wind. The light fades. The creature falls flat on its face and crawls out of view.
** James O'Hara: A small animated character with one eye runs up and waves. "ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT". The little character falls over and crawls off.
* ''Hop'': Now words appear: “ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT”. A frolicking minion tosses candy from a basket. He wags a bunny tail at a one-eyed minion but throws candy at his goggles. Embarassed, he takes off the bunny ear headband and grins.
* ''Sing'': Big silver letters read “ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT”. Some letters flicker out.
* ''Despicable Me 3'': Big silver letters spell “ILLUMINATION”. Three small yellow minions knock each other out. A fourth minion uses green gas to knock out the third, then reads from a piece of paper. One of the knocked out minions sprays gas behind.
* ''The Grinch'': The minion Bob holds a sparkler and stands under the word, “ILLUMINATION”. Snowball the rabbit drops down and pyrotechnics go off. Sprinklers put out the sparks. Bob hands Snowball his sparkler. Fade to white.
* ''The Secret Life of Pets 2'': A ball bounces under the word, “ILLUMINATION”. A group of leashed dogs pulls a minion into view. The dogs crouch around the ball, and the minion smiles. The ball bounces away, and the dogs pull the minion out of view.
* ''Sing 2'': The minions Bob, Stuart and Kevin stand together. Bob leads them in song. They sing with countless other minions. Above them, a glowing word reads “ILLUMINATION”.
* ''Minions: The Rise of Gru'': A logo reads “ILLUMINATION”. The minion Stuart swings on a disco ball and knocks several letters away, leaving the word “MINION”. He gets squished between the letters.
|