Warner Bros. Pictures Animation

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum



Background

On January 7, 2013, Warner Bros. relaunched their feature animation division as Warner Animation Group, with the first film from the division, The Lego Movie, being released on February 7, 2014. On June 9, 2023, the division was rebranded as Warner Bros. Pictures Animation.

1st Logo (February 1, 2014-November 17, 2020)


Visuals: The sequence starts with the normal 1998 Warner Bros. Pictures logo, but the shield is rendered differently and with considerably less detail. When its original animation is complete, it flips around to reveal a shield similar-looking to the standard Warner Bros. Pictures logo, but has a white border and red interior (similar to the one seen in the Looney Tunes intros), and the letters "WB" are replaced by "WAG", while the wording on the banner reads "warner • animation • group" (later using the uppercase letters, reading "WARNER • ANIMATION • GROUP"). The banner is also lower than usual. The byline is seen below.

Bylines:

  • February 1, 2014, September 22, 2017: "A TimeWarner Company" (with "TimeWarner" in its own custom font, called Bodoni BE Regular, while the rest of the byline is in FF Meta)
  • September 23, 2016-June 5, 2018: "A TimeWarner Company" (with "TimeWarner" in its own logo font, called Bodoni BE Regular, while the rest of the byline is in the Proxima Nova font and is smaller than the Time Warner logo).
  • September 21, 2018-May 15, 2020: "A WARNERMEDIA Company", with "WARNERMEDIA" in its own logo font, called AT&T Aleck Sans Bold, while the rest of the byline is in the standard variation of the same font. The shadow behind "MEDIA" is also not there.
  • November 17, 2020: "a WarnerMedia company" in its own logo font, called AT&T Aleck Sans Bold, while the rest of the byline is in the standard variation of the same font.

Variants:

  • On the teaser trailer for Storks, the shield is still, smaller, and less shiny, the background is a gradient purplish-gray, and the TimeWarner byline is larger and red.
  • On Storks, the logo is in a white background and the WB shield stands still at the beginning.
  • Each film has a different variant of this logo, all of which can be described here.

Technique: CGI by Devastudios and Reel FX.

Audio: The opening theme of the movie.

Audio Variants:

  • The Master and The Lego Batman Movie both feature the opening narration.
  • Scoob! (2020) uses the 1999 Warner Bros. Pictures fanfare for the WB part and the film's opening theme ("California Love" by 2Pac ft. Dr. Dre) for the WAG part and the film's prologue.

Availability: Seen on films produced by this company, beginning with The Lego Movie (the studio's first film) and ending with Scoob! (that film being the normal logo's only appearance).

  • Also seen on trailers and TV spots for those films, with the exception of The Lego Movie, as well as the short films The Master and Super Soozie.
    • The Master was used to promote The Lego Ninjago Movie and was released alongside Storks in theaters, while Super Soozie was released alongside Smallfoot on home media.
  • This logo does not appear on Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, as those films were both produced by Warner Bros. Animation instead.
  • It was last seen on the trailer and some TV spots for Tom & Jerry (2021), while the next logo made its debut on the actual movie.

Legacy: A very well known logo among fans of The Lego Movie franchise. The colors of the WAG shield are more reminiscent of how the shield appeared in Looney Tunes cartoons that were released in the 1950s.

2nd Logo (February 11, 2021-July 27, 2022)


Visuals: The sequence starts with the normal 2021 Warner Bros. Pictures logo. When its original animation is complete, the byline fades in below the shield (earlier than the normal WB logo). Then the shield flips around to reveal a shield similar-looking to the 2019 Warner Bros. shield. Like the previous logos, it has the same white border and red interior (similar to the one seen in the Looney Tunes intros), and the letters "WB" are replaced by "WAG", but this time, it does not have the "WARNER • ANIMATION • GROUP" banner. Just like the standard WB logo, the shield then shines.

Bylines:

  • February 11-July 16, 2021: "a WarnerMedia company"
  • July 27, 2022: "A WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY COMPANY"

Variants:

  • Sometimes, the sun appears first, then the footage of the studio lot fades in.
  • On films animated in the 2:39 aspect ratio, the shield and byline are a bit smaller.

Technique: CGI, again done by Devastudios. Like the normal WB logo, the sky and clouds were done using Terragen from Planetside Software, while the backlot, due to COVID-19 restrictions, were created using drone footage, original blueprints from the Warner Bros. Studio Facilities and available photography and videography from Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood and Google Earth, all in order to reconstruct it in CGI.

Audio: The opening theme of the movie.

Availability: This logo only appeared on three films within less than two years before the company was renamed to Warner Bros. Pictures Animation.

  • It first appeared on Tom & Jerry (2021, albeit using a variant).
  • The normal version debuted on the Japanese trailer for Space Jam: A New Legacy and later appeared on the movie itself.
  • The version with the Warner Bros. Discovery byline debuted on the trailer for DC League of Super-Pets and the full version appeared on the film itself under the WAG banner before the company was renamed to Warner Bros. Pictures Animation.

Legacy: Although this logo was originally considered an appropriate successor to the previous logo due to its CGI, it's nowadays considered a wasted effort due to it only appearing on three films within less than two years before the company was renamed to Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, and the fact that two of the three films this logo was used on/associated with (Tom & Jerry (2021) and Space Jam: A New Legacy) were poorly received by critics and audiences doesn't help its reputation. However, its reputation would later be tarnished by its current association with Warner Bros. Discovery (and their infamous decisions to write off Scoob! Holiday Haunt and Coyote vs. Acme for tax purposes).


Logo (201?)

Visuals: Three main variants of this are known:

  • On a red background with a "W" in the background, there is the titular character from The Iron Giant chasing Marvin the Martian, who is beaming up a border of the shield from his flying saucer with screws flying around. Then there is Tom Cat, Jerry Mouse and Bugs Bunny in the border of the shield, with an "A" in the background. Again, there is the Iron Giant, with Batman from The Lego Movie franchise and the Road Runner on the Giant's shoulder and Marvin in the background, and cuts to a shot of the 2016 WAG shield from the previous logo with the Giant's legs behind it and Scooby-Doo in front of the shield.
  • In a background composed of various shield borders, there is the Lego version of Batman, a 2D Bugs Bunny, young Mumble from Happy Feet, the titular character from Corpse Bride, and the Iron Giant with Batman in front of it, as the WAG shield is seen in front of it, but like the second logo, it does not have the "WARNER • ANIMATION • GROUP" banner. Everything, except the shield, fades out to black.
    • A variant with a slightly different concept exists. Here, the color grading is more redder and there are more characters, such as Scooby-Doo and the Justice League from the 2001 animated series of the same name.
  • Various shots of a metallic red Looney Tunes-like concentric circle pattern are seen. First, there is key art from Looney Tunes: Back in Action, with Bugs Bunny centered, the Iron Giant, and key art from The Lego Movie. The WAG shield is then seen animating like the 1998 WB logo in the same pattern, which is again bannerless and has a stone texture in it.

Technique: CGI by Reel FX Animation Studios and Nathaniel Howe Studios.

Audio: Unknown, as only style frames and model rotation GIFs exist.

Availability: Unused. Can only be seen in the form of style frames and and model rotation GIFs (of the first variant) on the Nathaniel Howe Studios website here.

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