Pitch Sale: “Untitled Winsberg & Corson animation project”

From Daily Variety:

Warner Bros. is in final negotiations to snag an untitled animated pitch centered on a peacock from the team of Austin Winsberg and Heath Corson and set it up at Underground Film & Television, with partners Trevor Engelson and Nicholas Osborne producing.

“Centered on a peacock?” Shouldn’t Universal/NBC have bought this project?

Interesting to see Warner Bros. buy an animation project. Their last one was Happy Feet which was released in 2006, likely put into development in 2003. Although it was a successful movie, grossing over $384M worldwide, WB has been notably inactive in animation field. 

Could this deal signal a shift in emphasis to include more animation projects in WB’s future?