Skydance Media acquires the animation unit of Ilion Studios in Madrid

April 12 2020

Added Ignacio Pérez Dolset, Ilion founder, president and creative director, “We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Skydance Animation and to further collaborate with Skydance founder David Ellison and elite talents such as John Lasseter and Holly Edwards [president , Skydance Animation]. This is a phenomenal growth opportunity for our team in Spain and we are proud to be an integral part of Skydance's exciting future. "

Previous Ilion films include Mortadelo and Filemon, planet 51, and Paramount Animation Wonder Park.

In general terms, the deal looks similar to Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment's acquisition of the animation division of French studio Mac Guff Ligne, which has been renamed Illumination Mac Guff. That 2011 deal allowed Illumination to produce its roster of blockbusters, including the Despicable Me e Secret life of pets franchises, at a lower cost than the fully American studio counterparts, while maintaining a high standard of quality.

Skydance has indicated that it will not only use Ilion for its next feature-length series, but also for several television series yet to be announced that are currently in various stages of development.

The other notable aspect of this deal is that the acquisition puts the entire animation studio under Lasseter's supervision. Skydance and Ilion had already worked closely together prior to this announcement, but presumably Lasseter will now exercise a more hands-on approach in developing Ilion's animation capabilities to American industry standards.

Lasseter started as head of animation at Skydance in January 2019, just nine days after his contract with the Walt Disney Company ended. Lasseter's immediate hiring of Skydance, despite widespread and credible allegations of sexual misconduct against him, caused a mini furor in the animation industry.

The biggest relapse was the withdrawal of Emma Thompson from the voice actress role Luck. Additionally, media reports have suggested that Lasseter's arrival has strained the relationship between Skydance Animation and its co-production partner Paramount Animation.

After that first publicity blast in early 2019, a cloak of secrecy has risen around Skydance Animation and Lasseter in particular. As far as we know, Lasseter hasn't made any public statements or appearances in the year and change since taking on Skydance.

However, there are signs that it wasn't all smooth behind the scenes. A few months ago, it was revealed that Alessandro Carloni has resigned as director Fortuna on "creative differences". He was replaced in the position by Peggy Holmes, a dance choreographer turned animation director whose unidentified animation resume includes some Disney direct-to-video projects supervised by Lasseter.

Here is a list of Skydance's announced film projects:

Fortuna, directed by Peggy Holmes (The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning) and written by Kiel Murray (Cars, Cars 3) and Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (the Kung Fu Panda series): when the most unfortunate girl alive stumbles in the world never seen before good and bad luck, she must join magical creatures to discover a force more powerful than luck itself.
spellbound (tentative title), directed by Vicky Jenson (Shrek, Shark Tale) and written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin (Mulan [2020]) and Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the beast, the lion king): A musical fantasy set in a world of magic in which a girl sets out to break the spell that has divided her kingdom in two.
Pookoo (tentative title / currently under development). Written and directed by Nathan Greno (tangled) and produced by Jennifer Magee-Cook (The Princess and the Frog).