Meledandri prefers to keep Illumination adhering to a low-cost model, recognizing that 'strict cost controls and hit animated films are not mutually exclusive'.

During the summer 2011, Illumination acquired the animation department of the French animation and visual effects studio Mac Guff, which animated Despicable Me (2010) and The Lorax (2012), and formed Illumination Mac Guff. As an independent production company, Illumination retains creative control and Universal exclusively distributes the films. By 2008, a deal was announced positioning Illumination as NBCUniversal’s family entertainment arm that would produce one to two films a year starting in 2010.

After leaving, he founded Illumination Entertainment.

While at those companies he supervised or executive produced movies including Ice Age (2002), its sequel Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Robots (2005), and Horton Hears a Who! (2008). Meledandri left his post as President of 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios in early 2007.

Universal animation studios