Illumination

Chris Meledandri left as President of 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios in early 2007. While at those companies he supervised or executive-produced movies including Ice Age, Robots, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and Horton Hears a Who! After leaving, he founded his then-unnamed company and a deal was announced positioning his studio as Universal's family entertainment arm, that would produce one to two films a year starting in 2010. As part of the deal, Meledandri's then-unnamed unit retains creative control and Universal Pictures exclusively distributes the films.

In March 2008, Meledandri's studio deal with Universal revealed its company name as Illumination Entertainment.

In 2011, Illumination acquired the animation department of the French animation and visual effects studio Mac Guff, which animated Despicable Me and The Lorax, and formed Illumination Mac Guff (later Illumination Studios Paris).

On August 22, 2016, NBCUniversal acquired competing studio DreamWorks Animation, which fueled speculation that Meledandri was to oversee both studios. While he had been approached by NBCUniversal to oversee both studios, he turned down the offer and later explained "I love the process of making films and working with artists. I don't think I'm particularly great at managing companies." Meledandri instead became a consultant for the latter.

In February 23, 2017, Illumination tapped former Jim Henson Company exec Peter Schube as COO to replace Natalie Fischer.

On September 23, 2022, Illumination announced its hiring of former Netflix head of adult animation Mike Moon as senior creative advisor, and a new label led by Moon known as Moonlight, which will aim to "produce animated films that push beyond the family genre." However, Moon would leave Illumination in July 2024 to join Sony Pictures Animation, leaving the status of the division currently unknown.