Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of Illumination (Despicable Me, Minions), has now officially joined Nintendo’s board of directors.

The move was announced in May of this year, with Meledandri nominated as an Outside Director during Nintendo’s fiscal year-end March 2021 report. His role will involve “management from an objective perspective, while providing valuable advice to our organization, based on his broad experience and insight gained as a leader in the field of entertainment.” 

Now, VGC reports the move has been made official. When appointed, Meledandri was not expected to be a member of the Audit and Supervisory Committee.

Meledandri helped Fox acquire Blue Sky Studios, and saw him supervising or executive producing Ice Age, Robots, Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who! and more. Leaving 20th Century Fox Animation in early 2007, he founded Illumination; producing the Despicable Me and Minions franchises, The Secret Life of Pets, Sing, and The Grinch (2018).

Illumination are handling the upcoming animated Super Mario movie (premiering 2022). Meledandri’s history in film animation and Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa’s comments on Nintendo looking into animation, and it seems Meledandri’s focus will be Nintendo’s future animated shows and films.

We shall keep you posted on Nintendo’s future in animation.

Image: YouTube