Warner’s animation division has a new boss and it is Bill Damaschke. Damaschke is a familiar face in the animations industry – he most recently headed Skydance Media as President and was the Chief Creative Officer for DreamWorks Animation in the 2010s.
This weekend, Damaschke gave an insight into what we can expect during his tenure at the helms of affairs of Warner Bros Pictures Animations. First, he announced the division’s rebranding from Warner Animation Group to Warner Bros Pictures Animation.
On that decision, Damaschke said, "It’s honoring the past and rich history of the company. Warner Bros Pictures Animation released movies like Iron Giant, Space Jam, Corpse Bride, Polar Express, Happy Feet and The Lego Movie — benchmark films that broke new ground, new technology, new ways of telling stories and were successful, artist."
Damaschke told Deadline that an origin story of one of the most iconic animated television series, The Flintstones, is in development. The film will be titled Meet the Flintstones and will be based on a script by two of Hollywood’s most successful directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.
The duo directed The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which is currently the second-highest animated film ever with over $1.3 billion box office gross. We do not know whether they will direct Meet the Flintstones but with many talking about a Super Mario sequel, we doubt they will have the time.
As far as we know, Meet the Flintstones will come after Coyote vs. Acme releases at an undisclosed date this year and The Cat in the Hat scratches its way through theaters in 2025 or 2026.
From what we understand, Damaschke will give prominence to directors and writers during his reign. More importantly, he plans to develop new "new stories and worlds that audiences can anticipate and recognize for years to come" with the creatives leading the effort. Damaschke’s plans definitely remind us of his time at the helm of affairs of DreamWorks Animation where he implemented a similar strategy.
If you’ve seen a popular DreamWorks Animation project in the past two decades, Damaschke was likely involved. But, as the 52-year-old served as the company’s Chief Creative Officer from 2011 to 2015, supervising the successful productions of some of the most highly acclaimed animation projects in that period – How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar, The Croods, and Kung Fu Panda.
The co-chairs and co-CEOs of Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, who are Damaschke’s direct bosses, said this about his appointment, "Bill combines the unmatched creativity and imagination of an artist with the acumen, instincts and amazing track record of a born leader."
The duo praised his achievements in the industry, which they believe made him the standout candidate for the division’s top job.
In their words, "His decades of experience, passion for storytelling, and forward-focused vision align perfectly with our overall creative strategy for the studio and make him the ideal shepherd for Warner Bros’ groundbreaking and iconic film animation business."
