Illumination Entertainment

I have long been baffled by the films made by the studio Illumination Entertainment. There was nothing immediately obvious as to why I should dislike them. My own niece watched them numerous times and enjoyed them. By all accounts, they were fine. This, however, was before I learned more about the company started by Chris Meledandri. Meledandri received his start back in the early 90’s working at Disney. After that, he moved on to 20th Century Fox and was an executive in their animation department, playing a role in the acquisition of BlueSky Studios. He also produced one of my absolute favorite films, Ever After: A Cinderella Story. Though he found himself the president of Fox animation, he left the company in 2007 to form Illumination Entertainment. They were now a contender and ready to make some money. The studio was shortly thereafter positioned as an entertainment arm of NBCUniversal, retaining all creative control. In April 2016, NBCUniversal announced its acquisition of another competing studio, DreamWorks Animation, for $3.8 billion. It was announced that Meledandri would oversee both Illumination and DreamWorks following the completion of the merger. Such titles from Illumination include the following:

Despicable Me (DM) and sequels

Hop

The Lorax

The Secret Life of Pets (TSLOP) and a sequel

Sing

and The Grinch

What I didn't know, however, is that there may be a reason I often sighed heavily whenever a new trailer would hit. I happen to work with kids, and love animated movies. I grew up on Disney and Nickelodeon, so it was nothing new to me. Recently, there have been extremely moving pictures that are far more than simple children's movies: Inside Out, Zootopia, Frozen II, and I suspect the new Soul. They all had devoted creators and a budget over $150 million, each receiving high praise and stunning box-office numbers. Interestingly, Illumination adheres to a different low-cost model, recognizing that "strict cost controls and hit animated films are not mutually exclusive". Their first two releases were completed with significantly lower budgets, considering Despicable Me's $69 million budget and Hop's $63 million budget. One way the company sustains a lean financial model is by employing cost-conscious animation techniques that lower the expenses and render times of its computer graphics.

Clearly, they still landed on hits with the DM franchise, and TSLOP, but does this technique lend itself to movies of the same quality? Absolutely not, in my opinion, but I am not alone. Reviews have been mediocre, and there is a general consensus that there is promise. I personally loved The Lorax, and Despicable Me has its moments. The Lorax, based on the story by Dr. Seuss, appeals to my ever-present ecological concerns, while Despicable Me was a rather competent launch, about supervillain Gru adopting three orphans in the process of stealing technology from another villain. But too much of their movies seem like cheap products. Please, I do not want to see another minion and TSLOP advertisement ever again! And that's not even mentioning live action-animation mashups and cheesy jukebox musicals. Ugh. They put less money into production so more can be spent on advertising, and it shows. But why, with such a talented, titan of a studio, do they play it safe? There is no heart, no emotion, no wholesome message besides selling to children. They are not the first studio to do this, and they won't be the last, but I hope someday they find an identity not so shallow. Like I said, I think there is promise, talent, but no drive beside profit, and that is a shame. What are your thoughts?

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