Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment has joined forces with Australian digital production studio Animal Logic to produce a slate of animated and hybrid family films. Over the next five years, the partnership will develop, produce and finance six feature-length projects.

Equity financing is currently being raised to fund 50% of the five-year term’s production and development. Target production budgets are estimated at US$75 to $85 million.

Imagine’s previous forays into family entertainment include feature films How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and TV series Curious George (2006 – 2015), while recent projects from Animal Logic include animation on the Oscar-winning film Happy Feet and the wildly successful Lego Movie franchise (pictured).

In addition to being box office hits, The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie also netted successful consumer products programs. Lego reported record-breaking revenue in 2016 and the company has been steadily building a global merchandising program around the franchise.

Animal Logic is currently producing Peter Rabbit for Columbia Pictures. The film is set for a 2018 release.

The deal with Animal Logic comes as Imagine Entertainment looks to further tap into the coveted animation genre. Just this past weekend, DreamWorks’ animated film Boss Baby was number one at the US box office with a US$50.1 million debut (US60.8 million internationally), according to Box Office Mojo.