Paramount Animation Focus On Nick IP, Not Original Animation

Ramsey Naito, President of Paramount Animation, elaborates on Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins’ comments about “expensive” original animated movies.

Brian Robbins, the CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, states the studio will shift its focus from producing original animated movies in theaters to focusing on established IPs like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

In an interview with Variety, Robbins said “It’s not about Disney and Pixar anymore”,“people are looking for animated movies that are irreverent and have a comedic point of view.” and “We’re not going to release an expensive original animated movie and just pray people will come,” which suggested that Paramount/Nickelodeon was going to focus on franchises rather than original animations.

Naito elaborated, “Originals speak authentically to today’s audience, must be handled with care, and make their own mark in our legacy library… and hopefully stand the test of time. That said, we’re not a one-size-fits-all kind of studio and our budgets are designed to support the scope of our storytelling.”

Paramount Pictures will now focus on releasing theatrical animated movies based on popular IPs, such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, the upcoming animated movie based on the comic book franchise that Nickelodeon purchased in 2009, already announced a sequel is in the works, as well as a TV series for Paramount+, before the film’s Aug. 2 release.