The Boss Baby (franchise)

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 Boss Baby
Official franchise logo
Created by	Marla Frazee
Original work	The Boss Baby (2010)
Owners	DreamWorks Animation (Universal Pictures)
Years	2017-present
Films and television
Film(s)	The Boss Baby (2017) The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) The Boss Baby 3 (TBA)
Short film(s)	Treasure Hunt Through Time[broken anchor] (2017) Precious Templeton: A Pony Tale (2021)
Animated series	Back in Business (2018–2020) Back in the Crib (2022–2023)
Television special(s)	Get That Baby! (2020) Christmas Bonus (2022)
Audio
Soundtrack(s)	The Boss Baby Family Business

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.

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
The Boss Baby: Family Business	July 2, 2021		Michael McCullers	Tom McGrath and Michael McCullers	Jeff Hermann

The Boss Baby (2017)

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)

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.

Untitled third Boss Baby film (TBA)

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.^[7]

Short films

• The Boss Baby and Tim's Treasure Hunt Through Time (2017): 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.^[2]
• Precious Templeton: A Pony Tale (2021): 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)
The Boss Baby: Back in Business	4	49	April 6, 2018	November 17, 2020	Brandon Sawyer	Netflix
The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib	2	28	May 19, 2022	April 13, 2023

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

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.^[9] This series was produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by NBCUniversal Television.^[10]

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

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 ^Y 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[broken anchor] (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)
Theodore "Ted" Templeton Jr. 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 BakshiY					Pierce GagnonY		Pierce GagnonY
Janice Templeton	Lisa Kudrow				Hope Levy		Hope Levy
Theodore "Ted" Templeton Sr.	Jimmy Kimmel				David W. Collins		David W. Collins
Jimbo	David Soren			David Soren	Kevin Michael Richardson
Staci	ViviAnn Yee	Character is silent			Alex Cazares
Triplets	Eric Bell Jr.	Nicholas Gist		Nicholas Gist	Eric Bell Jr.
Francis Francis Super Colossal Big Fat Boss Baby	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		Ariana Greenblatt		Ariana Greenblatt Maya Tanida		Ariana Greenblatt
Tina Templeton The New Boss Baby	Character is silent	Amy Sedaris		Amy Sedaris		Mary Faber		Mary Faber
Carol Templeton		Eva Longoria				Krizia Bajos
Dr. Erwin Armstrong		Jeff Goldblum
Nathan Pickles		Raphael Alejandro
Meghan Glick		Serenity Brown
Dr. Tiffany Hamilton		Tom McGrath
Lead Baby Ninja		Raphael Alejandro
Mega Fat CEO / Mail Intern / Regular Baby					Flula Borg		Flula Borg
Marisol Lopez-Lugo					Sarah-Nicole Robles		Sarah-Nicole Robles
Magnus					David Lodge
Danny Petroski					Justin Felbinger			Justin Felbinger
Baby Hendershot					Brandon Scott			Brandon Scott
Frankie					Aparna Nacherla
R&D Baby Simmons					Kari Wahlgren	Mara Junot		Kari Wahlgren
Marsha Krinkle						Kari Wahlgren
Buddy from HR					Kevin Michael Richardson
Chip					JP Karliak
Bootsy Calico					Jake Green		Jake Green
Wendi					Wendie Malick		Wendie Malick
Stevefan					Tony Hale
Gigi					Nora Dunn
Frederic Estes					Victor Raider-Wexler		Victor Raider-Wexler
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		Rhys Darby
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 Ron								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 Kyle								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
The Boss Baby: Family Business		Mary Blee Mark Hester		DWA Glendale Jellyfish Pictures	Universal Pictures	1hr 47mins

|- ! The Boss Baby: Riley & Robert | 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
The Boss Baby: Back in Business	Ben Bromfield and Ryan Elder	DreamWorks Animation Television	NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Netflix	Netflix	22–24 minutes
The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib					22 minutes

Reception

Box office performance

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Budget	Ref.
		North America	Other territories	Worldwide
The Boss Baby	March 31, 2017	$175,003,033	$352,962,903	$527,965,936	$125 million	[17]
The Boss Baby: Family Business	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

Each film is linked to the "Critical response" section of its article.

Critical and public response of The Boss Baby films

Film	Critical		Public
	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore	PostTrak
The Boss Baby	53% (179 reviews)[20]	50 (32 reviews)[21]	A−[22]	—
The Boss Baby: Family Business	46% (102 reviews)[23]	39 (20 reviews)[24]	A[22]	74%[22]

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^{[broken anchor]} (2017)
3. The Boss Baby: Back in Business (2018–20)
4. The Boss Baby: Get That Baby! (2020)
5. The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)
6. Precious Templeton: A Pony Tale^{[broken anchor]} (2021)
7. The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib (2022–2023)
8. The Boss Baby: Christmas Bonus (2022)