The Boss Baby (franchise) explained

The Boss Baby
Creator:	Marla Frazee
Origin:	The Boss Baby (2010)
Owner:	DreamWorks Animation (Universal Pictures)
Years:	2017-present

The Boss Baby is a media franchise made by DreamWorks Animation, loosely based on the 2010 picture book of the same name by Marla Frazee.^[1] The franchise began with the 2017 film The Boss Baby and has since grown to include a 2021 sequel, Family Business; two television series, Back in Business (2018–2020) and Back in the Crib (2022–2023); two short films; and a 2020 interactive special, with a third film in active development.

The franchise's inciting incident is the birth of the titular character, later known as Ted, who arrives at 7-year-old Tim's home in a taxi, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, the series' timeline spanning to focus on a now 37-year-old Tim's daughters, the 7-year-old Tabitha and new Boss Baby Tina.

Feature films

Film	U.S. release date	Director	Screenplay by	Story by	Producer
The Boss Baby	March 31, 2017	Tom McGrath	Michael McCullers		Ramsey Ann Naito
	July 2, 2021		Michael McCullers	Tom McGrath and Michael McCullers	Jeff Hermann

The Boss Baby (2017)

See main article: The Boss Baby. The Boss Baby is a 2017 American animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox, following a 7-year-old boy named Tim helping his baby brother who is a secret agent in the war for adults' love between babies and puppies.

The film was scheduled for a March 2016 release, but the release date was moved to March 31, 2017. The Boss Baby was released on Digital HD on July 4, 2017, and was released on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and Ultra HD Blu-ray on July 25, 2017 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.^[2] The film features the voices of Alec Baldwin as the title character, along with Miles Bakshi, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow and Tobey Maguire.

The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)

See main article: The Boss Baby: Family Business. The Boss Baby: Family Business is a 2021 American sequel to the 2017 The Boss Baby film, again produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures, following the estranged Templeton brothers being reunited by Tim's daughters, one of whom is a new agent from BabyCorp on a mission to uncover the dark secrets behind Tabitha's school and its mysterious founder, Dr. Armstrong.^[3]

On May 25, 2017, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation announced that a sequel was set to be released on March 26, 2021, but was delayed to September 17, 2021.^[4] The film was moved up to July 2, 2021 and will also stream on Peacock on the same day for free.^[5] On May 8, 2020, production was being done remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6] Along with a returning Alec Baldwin, Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow, the film features the voices of James Marsden, Amy Sedaris, Ariana Greenblatt, Eva Longoria and Jeff Goldblum.

The Boss Baby: Riley & Robert (2025)

In June 2021, during a Q&A with Alec Baldwin and Amy Sedaris, a third Boss Baby film was announced to be in early development. In 2024, becomes Riley Andersen, Robert, SMG4 and SMG3, a third Boss Baby film was announced by 2025. ^[7]

Short films

The Boss Baby and Tim's Treasure Hunt Through Time (2017)

The Boss Baby and Tim's Treasure Hunt Through Time is a 2D and 3D animated short film released on July 25, 2017 on The Boss Baby Blu-ray and DVD pack, following Wizzie, the wizard from Tim's alarm clock, as he narrates Tim and Ted's (Boss Baby's) adventures in imagination.

Precious Templeton: A Pony Tale (2021)

Precious Templeton: A Pony Tale is a 2D animated short film released on September 14 on The Boss Baby: Family Business Blu-ray and DVD pack, following a bedtime story to Tina and Tabitha about Precious, the pony Ted gave Tabitha as a lavish gift, who tries to win a carnival talent show from a rival horse, being narrated by Ted himself (reprised by Alec Baldwin).

Television series

Series	Seasons	Episodes	First released	Last released	Showrunner(s)	Network(s)
	4	49	April 6, 2018	November 17, 2020	Brandon Sawyer	Netflix
	2	28	May 19, 2022	April 13, 2023

The Boss Baby: Back in Business (2018–20)

See main article: The Boss Baby: Back in Business. An animated television series based on the first film, titled The Boss Baby: Back in Business, aired on Netflix between April 6, 2018^[8] and March 16, 2020.^[9] A total of 37^[10] episodes were released. The cast featured new voice actors for the characters of Boss Baby (JP Karliak), Tim (Pierce Gagnon), Ted Templeton Sr. (David W. Collins), Janice Templeton (Hope Levy), Jimbo (Kevin Michael Richardson), and Staci (Alex Cazares), while Eric Bell Jr. reprised his role as The Triplets from the film. This series was produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by NBCUniversal Television.

The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib (2022–23)

See main article: The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib. On March 10, 2022, DreamWorks announced a new series and a possible continuation of Back in Business based on the characters from The Boss Baby: Family Business. It was released on May 19, 2022 on Netflix, with JP Karliak (the only actor reprising from Back in Business) reprising his role as the titular character, Ariana Greenblatt (the only actor reprising from Family Business) reprising her role as Tabitha, Max Mittelman replaces Pierce Gagnon from the first series as Tim, and Mary Faber and Krizia Bajos replace Amy Sedaris and Eva Longoria from the second film as Tina and Carol respectively.^{[11] [12] [13]} A 2nd season of the show released on April 13, 2023.^[14]

Television specials

The Boss Baby: Get That Baby! (2020)

The Boss Baby: Get That Baby!, an interactive special, was released on Netflix on September 1, 2020, featuring the cast of The Boss Baby: Back in Business television series.^[15]

The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus (2022)

The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus, a Christmas special, was released on Netflix on December 6, 2022, featuring the cast of both The Boss Baby: Back in Business and The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib television series.^[16]

Cast and characters

List indicator

• A dark gray cell indicates the character was not featured in the film.
• A indicates an actor or actress voiced a younger version of their character.

Characters
	Feature films		Short films		Television series		Television specials
	The Boss Baby (2017)	The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)	The Boss Baby and Tim's Treasure Hunt Through Time (2017)	Precious Templeton: A Pony Tale (2021)	The Boss Baby: Back in Business (2018–20)	The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib (2022–2023)	The Boss Baby: Get That Baby! (2020)	The Boss Baby Christmas Bonus (2022)
The Boss Baby	Alec Baldwin				JP Karliak
Timothy "Tim" Templeton	Tobey Maguire	James Marsden	Miles Bakshi	James Marsden	Pierce Gagnon	Max Mittelman	Pierce Gagnon	Max Mittelman
	Miles Bakshi					Pierce Gagnon		Pierce Gagnon
Janice Templeton	Lisa Kudrow				Hope Levy	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Hope Levy
Theodore "Ted" Templeton Sr.	Jimmy Kimmel				David W. Collins	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		David W. Collins
Jimbo	David Soren		style=background-color:#D3D3D3		David Soren	Kevin Michael Richardson
Staci	ViviAnn Yee				Alex Cazares
Triplets	Eric Bell Jr.	Nicholas Gist	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Nicholas Gist	Eric Bell Jr.
Francis Francis	Steve Buscemi
Eugene Francis	Conrad Vernon
The Big Boss Baby	Edie Mirman
Wizzie	James McGrath
Story Bear	James Ryan
Tabitha Templeton	Nina Zoe Bakshi	Ariana Greenblatt	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Ariana Greenblatt	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Ariana Greenblatt Maya Tanida	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Ariana Greenblatt
The New Boss Baby		Amy Sedaris	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Amy Sedaris	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Mary Faber	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Mary Faber
Carol Templeton	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Eva Longoria				Krizia Bajos
Dr. Erwin Armstrong	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Jeff Goldblum
Nathan Pickles	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Raphael Alejandro
Meghan Glick	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Serenity Brown
Dr. Tiffany Hamilton	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Tom McGrath
Lead Baby Ninja	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Raphael Alejandro
Mega Fat CEO / Mail Intern / Regular Baby					Flula Borg	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Flula Borg	style=background-color:#D3D3D3
Marisol Lopez-Lugo					Sarah-Nicole Robles	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Sarah-Nicole Robles	style=background-color:#D3D3D3
Magnus					David Lodge
Danny Petroski					Justin Felbinger			Justin Felbinger
Baby Hendershot					Brandon Scott		style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Brandon Scott
Frankie					Aparna Nacherla
R&D Baby Simmons					Kari Wahlgren	Mara Junot	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Kari Wahlgren
Marsha Krinkle						Kari Wahlgren
Buddy from HR					Kevin Michael Richardson
Chip					JP Karliak
Bootsy Calico					Jake Green	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Jake Green	style=background-color:#D3D3D3
Wendi					Wendie Malick	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Wendie Malick	style=background-color:#D3D3D3
Stevefan					Tony Hale
Gigi					Nora Dunn
Frederic Estes					Victor Raider-Wexler	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Victor Raider-Wexler	style=background-color:#D3D3D3
Turtleneck Superstar					Cynthia Erivo
Junior Fancy					Diedrich Bader
Board Baby Emiliano					Carlos Ponce
Bug the Pug					Dee Bradley Baker
Hermano Menor					Eric Lopez
Multi-Multi-Task CEO Baby					Cheri Oteri
Gina and Tina Namashita					Audrey Huynh
Dr. Kevin					Regi Davis
Happy Sedengry					Rhys Darby	style=background-color:#D3D3D3		Rhys Darby	style=background-color:#D3D3D3
Maria–Maria					Carla Tassara
OCB					Aasif Mandvi
JJ						Alex Cazares
Pip						Karan Soni
Dez						Zeke Alton
NannyCam No Filter CEO Baby						Nicole Byer
Board Member Bradley						Andy Richter
Yvette						Isabella Crovetti
Mia						Grace Kaufman
Antonio						Antony Del Rio
Austin						Ben Pierce
Sheriff Potty Pardner						Andy Daly
Ranger Safety Binkerton						Kyle Chandler
Santa Claus								George Lopez
PoopyDoopy								Matthew Moy
Jingly Jangly								Dana Davis
LaLa Doo-Da								Jodi Benson
Tippy Tappy Sloppy								Charles DeWayne
Diddly Doo								Kalen Chase
Ding Dong Dongle								Ray Chase
Noth Pole								Ben Lepley
French Girl								Amaryllis Aubel

Additional crew

Films

Film	Detail
	Composer	Editor	Production companies	Animation services	Distributor	Running time
The Boss Baby	Hans Zimmer Steve Mazzaro	James Ryan	DreamWorks Animation	DWA Glendale DWA India	20th Century Fox	1hr 37mins
		Mary Blee Mark Hester		DWA Glendale Jellyfish Pictures	Universal Pictures	1hr 47mins

|-! | Mary Blee
Mark Hester| DWA Glendale
Jellyfish Pictures| Universal Pictures| 1hr 57mins

Television series

TV series	Detail
	Composer(s)	Production companies	Distributor(s)	Network	Running time
	Ben Bromfield and Ryan Elder	DreamWorks Animation Television	NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Netflix	Netflix	22–24 minutes
					22 minutes

Reception

Box office performance

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Budget
		North America	Other territories	Worldwide
The Boss Baby	March 31, 2017	$175,003,033	$352,962,903	$527,965,936	$125 million	^[17]
	July 2, 2021	$57,300,280	$89,445,000	$146,745,280	$82 million	^[18] ^[19]
Total		$232,303,313	$442,407,903	$674,711,216	$207 million

Critical and public response

Film! scope="col" colspan="2"

Critical	Public
Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore	PostTrak
The Boss Baby	^[20]	50 (32 reviews)^[21]
The Boss Baby: Family Business	^[22]	39 (20 reviews)^[23]	^[24]	74%

Chronology

Chronological order of The Boss Baby franchise history:

1. The Boss Baby (2017)
2. The Boss Baby and Tim's Treasure Hunt Through Time (2017)
3. (2018–20) Seasons 1-3
4. The Boss Baby: Get That Baby! (2020)
5. (2018–20) Season 4
6. (2021)
7. Precious Templeton: A Pony Tale (2021)
8. (2022–2023)
9. The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus (2022)

Notes and References

1. News: Kit. Borys. Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey to Voice Star in DreamWorks Animation's 'Boss Baby'. October 15, 2014. The Hollywood Reporter. September 30, 2014.
2. News: Milligan. Mercedes. 'Boss Baby' Gets Home Delivery in July. May 25, 2017. Animation Magazine. May 24, 2017.
3. Web site: Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Greenblatt, Eva Longoria Join 'The Boss Baby: Family Business' . . Kit . Borys . September 17, 2020 . September 17, 2020.
4. Web site: 'Boss Baby' Sequel Delays Release to September 2021 . . McClintock . Pamela . December 28, 2020 . December 28, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201231142458/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/boss-baby-sequel-delays-release-to-september-2021 . December 31, 2020 . live.
5. Web site: 'Boss Baby 2' to Hit Theaters and Peacock on Same Day . . McClintock . Pamela . May 24, 2021 . May 24, 2021.
6. Web site: Anthony . D'Alessandro . How Animated Pics Like 'Tom & Jerry', 'SpongeBob Movie', 'Sing 2', Skydance's 'Luck' & More Are Working Through The COVID-19 Crisis . May 8, 2020 . Deadline Hollywood . Penske Media Corporation . June 25, 2020.
7. 1407056411515883526 . Dreamworks . DreamWorks Animation . DreamWorks Animation . Join Alec and Amy for a Twitter Q&A later today! Submit questions using #AskAlecandAmy . June 21, 2021 . July 7, 2021.
8. Web site: New Trailer for the Netflix Series The Boss Baby: Back in Business. comingsoon.net. March 3, 2018 . 3 March 2018.
9. Web site: Netflix: Everything coming (and disappearing) in March 2020 (including 'Ozark'). USA Today. Erin. Jensen. February 19, 2020. February 21, 2020.
10. Web site: 'The Boss Baby, just nominated for a Golden Globe, gets a Netflix series. Julia Alexander. Polygon. December 12, 2017 . December 12, 2017.
11. dreamworkstv. 1501935920798306316. DreamWorksTV. Back to work! The Boss Baby: Back In the Crib, an all new series, arriving May 19th on @netflix.. March 10, 2022. March 10, 2022.
12. Web site: Campione . Katie . Netflix Announces 'Boss Baby' Animated Series . TheWrap . March 10, 2022 . March 10, 2022.
13. Web site: Trailer: Nap Time's over for 'The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib' . April 14, 2022 .
14. Web site: 'The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib' Season 2 on Netflix . March 30, 2023 .
15. Web site: Toddle Up the Corporate Ladder in 'Boss Baby: Get That Baby!' Interactive Netflix Special. Animation Magazine. Mercedes. Milligan. August 17, 2020. August 19, 2020.
16. Web site: 'The Boss Baby' Unwraps New Christmas Special with George Lopez . November 8, 2022 .
17. 3874544 . The Boss Baby . February 20, 2021.
18. 6932874 . The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) . . July 9, 2021.
19. Boss-Baby-Family-Business-The-(2021)#tab=summary . The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) . July 9, 2021.
20. . The Boss Baby . m . .
21. the-boss-baby . movie . The Boss Baby . June 4, 2022 .
22. . The Boss Baby: Family Business . m . .
23. the-boss-baby-family-business . movie . The Boss Baby: Family Business . June 4, 2022 .
24. Web site: July 2, 2021 . Anthony . D'Alessandro . Universal's Double Feature Thursday: 'Boss Baby 2' & 'Forever Purge' Each Earn $1.3M . . June 4, 2022 .