Illumination

 (formerly Illumination Entertainment) is an American animation company that is owned by, itself a division of the division of. Founded in by, the company is famous for creating the  franchise, with the s from that franchise being Illumination's mascots. Other notable movies include ', ', of ', and  of ', the latter two based on popular books by.

Illumination's films are made on relatively smaller budgets compared to those of competing animation companies, usually rounding to $70 million. Nevertheless, Illumination has proven to be financially successful in spite of usually mixed critical reception. France-based Mac Guff, which Illumination acquired in 2012, provides the animation for most of its films.

On January 31, 2018, during a financial briefing, Nintendo announced that Illumination would be producing an animated Mario film, coproduced by Meledandri and Shigeru Miyamoto. The title was revealed to be The Super Mario Bros. Movie in a teaser trailer that debuted October 6, 2022. The film was initially released on April 5, 2023. The Illumination logo present prior to the start of the film depicts a Minion attempting to drive a kart themed after as the countdown from the Mario Kart series is heard while the logo lights up, but the Minion fails to get the kart started.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Several days after the deal was made, Miyamoto explained why Illumination was chosen for the project over other animation companies, saying he has been interested in producing an animated film for quite some time, and contrary to popular belief, making a movie and making a game are completely different procedures. Miyamoto wanted someone with experience in the film industry to coproduce the film, and after talking with numerous directors and producers, he was introduced to Illumination through, with whom Nintendo is making a theme park. Miyamoto also stated that when he began talks with Meledandri, the latter read numerous interviews about him and felt that they had a similar approach in creation. Miyamoto describes Meledandri as having experience in the field of animation beyond Illumination, being executive producer of  and other animated projects for, as well as Meledandri being "extremely cost-conscious and time-conscious in his quest to make successful movies." Miyamoto also mentioned that Nintendo and Illumination have mutually agreed to call the deal off if neither company could think of an interesting premise, but he also noted that the screenplay has been hashed out a number of times and talks are in progression, hoping to provide more information once the schedule has been ironed out.

On November 6, 2018, Meledandri said that he was glad the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film was not well-received, citing the primary reason being that the producers did not involve Nintendo, whereas Illumination is "embracing" Miyamoto and keeping him "front and center" in the film's creation. He said that Illumination's Mario film is in "priority development," and he hoped to release the film by 2022. Meledandri also noted that developing a Mario film is "an ambitious task," citing the challenge of adding depth to Mario that would simultaneously compromise generations of fans and feel organic to his iconography along with supporting a three-act structure. The movie was later delayed until April 7, 2023, in North America, with releases in Japan on April 28, 2023, and the rest of the world during spring 2023.

Trivia

 * Prior to its acquisition of the rights to adapt Mario, Donkey Kong had been mentioned in two Illumination films. In of ', during Ted's second visit with the Once-Ler, the Once-Ler says, "Why aren't you like other kids? Breakdancing and wearing Bell Bottoms and playing the Donkey Kongs?" During the final battle with Balthazaar Bratt in ', Bratt says, "It's on like Donkey Kong!" after being challenged to a dance fight by Gru. Ironically, Illumination's parent company Universal once sued Nintendo on Donkey Kong for infringing the copyright to  in 1982.
 * There is also a reference to the Mario games in , where a turtle belonging to the "Flushed Pets" is capable of curling inside his shell and bouncing back and forth, hitting anyone in his path, much like a Koopa Troopa, even making the Koopa Shell sound from the Mario games.
 * Illumination has also referenced a Nintendo console in one of its movies. In the first  film, during the scene where Gru tries to sneak into Vector's fortress to retrieve the shrink ray, Vector can be seen playing some sort of fighting game on the Wii, where he swings a Wii Remote around.