Allison Abbate is stepping down as Executive Vice President of Warner Animation Group after more than 20 years with the studio, Deadline reports. Having helped bring a nmber of hit animated features to the big screen, the producer-turned-top exec will be moving on with a mix of filmmaking opportunities on deck.
Before her long stint at WAG, Abbate honed her craft at Walt Disney Feature Animation, on The Little Mermaid, Rescuers Down Under and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Abbate joined WB in 1996 to co-produce Space Jam, which grossed $230 million and was followed last year by Space Jam: A New Legacy, which made over $163M globally and helped spur HBO Max subscriptions. She produced Brad Bird’s BAFTA-winning The Iron Giant and Looney Tunes Back in Action before reuniting with Burton on the Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated Corpse Bride, setting up a U.K. stop-motion studio for the project. She returned to the U.S. in 2012 to executive produce Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s smash hit The LEGO Movie ($468M).
She was also a producer on the Oscar-nomianted features Fantastic Mr. Fox, from Wes Anderson, and Burton’s Frankenweenie.
The producer was named EVP of Warner Animation Group in 2017, and has since overseen a raft of franchsie hits and originals including LEGO Ninjago, Scoob!, Smallfoot, Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, The LEGO Movie 2, Tom and Jerry, Space Jam: A New Legacy and most recently DC League of Super-Pets, which opened at No. 1 domestically and has gotten its paws on $110M worldwide so far.
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