Netflix has officially secured a creative partnership with Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, the acclaimed directors behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. As announced on Tuesday, the duo will helm a slate of original animated films and series exclusively for the platform, while also granting Netflix first-look privileges on their live-action ventures.
Having established themselves as the visionary forces behind DC’s Teen Titans Go!, Jelenic and Horvath are no strangers to monumental success on the streamer. Between 2023 and 2025, Teen Titans Go! (seasons 1–5) and its cinematic spin-off garnered over 80 million views. Similarly, The Super Mario Bros. Movie dominated the global charts, remaining a top-ten fixture for 24 weeks and amassing a staggering 240 million views throughout the same period.
“The overwhelming performance of the Super Mario features and Teen Titans Go! on our service highlights just how much our global audience resonates with their distinct storytelling style,” said John Derderian, Netflix’s Vice President of Animation and Family Programming. “We are thrilled to welcome them into the fold and are eager to see what imaginative projects they bring to our members.”
“We are incredibly excited to collaborate with Netflix to produce immersive and captivating content,” Jelenic and Horvath remarked in a joint statement. “We deeply appreciate this opportunity and are looking forward to engaging with the largest audience in the world.”
The duo brings a wealth of industry expertise to the table. Jelenic, a veteran of Warner Bros. Animation, contributed to The Batman and served as a producer for ThunderCats and Teen Titans Go!. Notably, he also co-wrote “Peaches,” the chart-topping hit performed by Jack Black’s Bowser in the Mario film. Horvath’s impressive background includes overseeing the animation for Teen Titans Go! and developing Cartoon Network’s vibrant series Unikitty.
While the terms of this deal leave questions regarding their potential involvement in future Nintendo and Illumination productions, the pair’s track record is undeniable; the two animated Mario films have collectively grossed over $2.3 billion globally. With a new Nintendo project slated for 2028, industry watchers remain on high alert for further updates.
Source: Polygon
