Guillermo del Toro among critics of Paramount boss's animation comments

Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro is among those to have criticised Paramount CEO Brian Robbins over his comments relating to the future of animated movies at the studio.

In a profile piece with Variety, Robbins said that Paramount will be moving away from releasing original animated movies in cinemas and that the focus will be on existing intellectual property.

Robbins said: “We’re not going to release an expensive original animated movie and just pray people will come.”

Del Toro, whose 2022 film Pinocchio won the Best Animation Oscar earlier this year, was among those who reacted on Twitter with the Pan's Labyrinth director simply commenting "dear lord".

Christopher Miller, who has co-directed a number of successful animated films including The Lego Movie, and produces the Spider-Verse movies said: "This is an ignorant attitude. No studio head would say they wouldn’t make an original drama, or action movie or biopic, or comedy, or wouldn’t have made Avatar.

"To suggest animation alone needs to be IP is absurd."

Read more: Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio is not for 'small children' warns Christoph Waltz

Rogue One screenwriter Gary Whitta also criticised the comments, saying: "Amazing how easily these people forget that so many of cinema’s biggest blockbuster IPs – Star Wars, Fast & Furious, Toy Story, Avatar, The Incredibles, Frozen, Indiana Jones, John Wick, Ghostbusters, Minions – started with someone taking a chance on an original idea."

Shannon Tindle, an animator who has worked on Curious George and The Croods, also pointed out that all successful franchises start off as original ideas: "Toy Story, The Incredibles, Inside Out, Frozen, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, etc. were all original films that generated millions upon release and continue to make BILLIONS in merchandise."

Read more: What you need to know about the new Ninja Turtles movie

Paramount's next animated release is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem which is due in cinemas from 31 July. A sequel and a spin-off series are already in the works to the movie which is co-written by Seth Rogen.

Watch below: Guillermo del Toro plans to only make animated films in the near future