Warner Bros. Feature Animation

Background
In 1994, Warner Bros. launched a feature animation division after the success of Disney's The Lion King. Space Jam was the first film produced by the studio and, despite mixed reviews, was a box office success. Their second feature, Quest for Camelot, was a critical and commercial failure, the first of many. Their third, The Iron Giant, received critical acclaim but was a box office bomb due to a rushed marketing campaign; it has since received a second life thanks to video/DVD and TV showings and is now considered a classic.

After the critical and commercial failures of Osmosis Jones and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Warner Bros. decided to close the studio in 2004, with much of the staff being integrated into the Television Animation division; several of their later animated films were animated by other companies (such as The Polar Express and the Happy Feet films). In 2013, the studio was re-established as the Warner Animation Group (now Warner Bros. Pictures Animation).

1st Logo (1998)


Visuals: On a black background is a studios version of the then-current Warner Bros. Pictures logo, but "Times New Roman" replaces "Times New Roman".

Trivia: This was supposed to appear on Quest for Camelot, but was scrapped for unknown reasons; the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment logo was used instead.

Technique: None.

Audio: The trailer's opening theme.

Availability: Only seen on a promotional trailer for Quest for Camelot, a snippet of which was included in the documentary The Giant's Dream on The Iron Giant Signature Edition Blu-ray.

2nd Logo (August 6, 1999)
Visuals: On a black background, a bannerless WB shield slowly zooms in. In the background, the Looney Tunes rings (as in the Warner Bros. Cartoons logo) appear as a  banner with "Times New Roman" displayed on it fades in over the shield. The byline "Times New Roman" fades in below, then the rings disappear as the shield turns dark and fades away.

Trivia: The Iron Giant was originally going to open with the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment logo, but director Brad Bird was against the idea, feeling it didn't set the proper tone for the film. The studio initially denied Bird's request to create a custom logo, but about a month before the film's release, they gave him permission to do so. According to Bird, "[The team] thought it was a much cooler way to make a nod at a famous animation heritage but to do it in a much classier way."

Variants:
 * On pan-and-scan prints of The Iron Giant, the logo is open-matte.
 * On a trailer for The Iron Giant, a prototype version was used, which had the shield zooming in faster than the final version. This variant is bylineless as well.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: Only the opening ambience to The Iron Giant: a Sputnik-like beeping sound.

Audio Variant: The prototype version has the opening theme of the trailer.

Availability: Seen only on The Iron Giant.