Illumination's New Acquisition

When you're a cartoon studio on a roll, you want to keep the big ball bouncing along.

Illumination Entertainment has signed a first-look deal with South Korean animation studio Mofac Alfred, an individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap.

The deal includes Illumination optioning the rights to the animated short “Johnny Express,” which was written and directed by Mofac’s head Kyungmin Woo.

“Johnny Express” is the story of a delivery man in space. Every time he tries to deliver a package, hilarious mishaps occur. ...

One of the things IE is really good at: hilarious mishaps. You need look no further than a Mionions trailer to understand that.

Illumination no doubt understands that small yellow side-kicks only carry a production company so far, so it's good the House of Melandri is branching out with new endeavors.