This article contains too many or too-lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry. (May 2018) |
Included on the list are charts of the top box-office earners, a chart of high-grossing animated films adjusted for inflation.
Animated family films have performed consistently well at the box office, with Disney films enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home video era. Disney also enjoyed later success with its Pixar brand, of which the Toy Story films, the Finding Nemo films, and Inside Out have been the best performers; beyond Pixar, the Shrek , Ice Age , Madagascar and Despicable Me series have met with the most success. The Jungle Book and Mickey Mouse series saw successful returns after lying dormant for decades.
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), also referred to as Disney Animation, headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, is an American animation studio that creates animated feature films, short films and television specials for The Walt Disney Company. Founded on October 16, 1923, it is a division of Walt Disney Studios. The studio has produced 57 feature films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018).
Pixar Animation Studios is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California, that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, owned by The Walt Disney Company. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the Lucasfilm computer division, before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986, with funding by Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, who became the majority shareholder. Disney purchased Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion by converting each share of Pixar stock to 2.3 shares of Disney stock, a transaction that resulted in Jobs becoming Disney's largest single shareholder at the time. Pixar is best known for CGI-animated feature films created with RenderMan, Pixar's own implementation of the industry-standard RenderMan image-rendering application programming interface, used to generate high-quality images.
Toy Story is a computer animated film series and Disney media franchise that began with the 1995 film of the same name, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The franchise is based on the anthropomorphic concept that all toys, unknown to humans, are secretly alive, and the films focus on a diverse group of toys that feature a classic cowboy named Sheriff Woody and a modern spaceman named Buzz Lightyear. The group unexpectedly embark on adventures that challenge and change them.
—Rule Seven - Special Rules For The Animated Feature Film Award : I. Definition
Rank | Title | Gross | Year | Ref [1] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Finding Dory | $486,295,561 | 2016 | [2] |
2 | Shrek 2 | $441,226,247 | 2004 | [3] |
3 | The Lion King | $422,783,777 | 1994 | [4] |
4 | Toy Story 3 | $415,004,880 | 2010 | [5] |
5 | Frozen | $400,738,009 | 2013 | [6] |
6 | Finding Nemo | $380,843,261 | 2003 | [7] |
7 | The Secret Life of Pets | $368,384,330 | 2016 | [8] |
8 | Despicable Me 2 | $368,061,265 | 2013 | [9] |
9 | Inside Out | $356,461,711 | 2015 | [10] |
10 | Zootopia | $341,268,248 | 2016 | [11] |
11 | Minions | $336,045,770 | 2015 | [12] |
12 | Shrek the Third | $322,719,944 | 2007 | [13] |
13 | Up | $293,004,164 | 2009 | [14] |
14 | Monsters, Inc. | $289,916,256 | 2001 | [15] |
15 | Sing | $270,329,045 | 2016 | [16] |
16 | Monsters University | $268,492,764 | 2013 | [17] |
17 | Shrek | $267,665,011 | 2001 | [18] |
18 | The Incredibles | $261,441,092 | 2004 | [19] |
19 | The Lego Movie | $257,760,692 | 2014 | [20] |
20 | Despicable Me | $251,513,985 | 2010 | [21] |
22 | Moana | $248,757,044 | 2016 | [22] |
23 | Toy Story 2 | $245,852,179 | 1999 | [23] |
24 | Cars | $244,082,982 | 2006 | [24] |
24 | Shrek Forever After | $238,736,787 | 2010 | [25] |
25 | Brave | $237,283,207 | 2012 | [26] |
26 | WALL-E | $223,808,164 | 2008 | [27] |
27 | Big Hero 6 | $222,527,828 | 2014 | [28] |
28 | Beauty and the Beast | $218,967,620 | 1991 | [29] |
29 | How to Train Your Dragon | $217,581,231 | 2010 | [30] |
30 | Aladdin | $217,350,219 | 1992 | [31] |
31 | Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted | $216,391,482 | 2012 | [32] |
32 | Kung Fu Panda | $215,434,591 | 2008 | [33] |
33 | The Lorax | $214,030,500 | 2012 | [34] |
34 | Coco | $209,726,015 | 2017 | [35] |
35 | Ratatouille | $206,445,654 | 2007 | [36] |
36 | Tangled | $200,821,936 | 2010 | [37] |
37 | Monsters vs. Aliens | $198,351,526 | 2008 | [38] |
38 | Happy Feet | $198,000,317 | 2006 | [39] |
39 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | $196,573,705 | 2009 | [40] |
40 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | $195,330,621 | 2006 | [41] |
41 | Madagascar | $193,595,521 | 2005 | [42] |
42 | Toy Story | $191,796,233 | 1995 | [43] |
43 | Cars 2 | $191,452,396 | 2011 | [44] |
44 | Wreck-It Ralph | $189,422,889 | 2012 | [45] |
45 | The Croods | $187,168,425 | 2013 | [46] |
46 | The Polar Express | $185,551,168 | 2004 | [47] |
47 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | $184,925,486 | 1937 | [48] |
48 | The Simpsons Movie | $183,135,014 | 2007 | [49] |
49 | Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa | $180,010,950 | 2008 | [50] |
50 | Home | $177,397,510 | 2015 | [51] |
Rank | Title | Gross | Year | Ref [52] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Finding Dory | $486,295,561 | 2016 | [2] |
2 | Shrek 2 | $441,226,247 | 2004 | [3] |
3 | Toy Story 3 | $415,004,880 | 2010 | [5] |
4 | Frozen | $400,738,009 | 2013 | [6] |
5 | Finding Nemo | $380,843,261 | 2003 | [7] |
6 | The Secret Life of Pets | $368,384,330 | 2016 | [8] |
7 | Despicable Me 2 | $368,061,265 | 2013 | [9] |
8 | Inside Out | $356,461,711 | 2015 | [10] |
9 | Zootopia | $341,268,248 | 2016 | [11] |
10 | Minions | $336,045,770 | 2015 | [12] |
11 | Shrek the Third | $322,719,944 | 2007 | [13] |
12 | Up | $293,004,164 | 2009 | [14] |
13 | Monsters, Inc. | $289,916,256 | 2001 | [15] |
14 | Monsters University | $268,492,764 | 2013 | [17] |
15 | Sing | $270,395,425 | 2016 | [16] |
16 | Shrek | $267,665,011 | 2001 | [18] |
17 | The Incredibles | $261,441,092 | 2004 | [19] |
18 | The Lego Movie | $257,760,692 | 2014 | [20] |
19 | Despicable Me | $251,513,985 | 2010 | [21] |
20 | Moana | $248,757,044 | 2016 | [22] |
21 | Toy Story 2 | $245,852,179 | 1999 | [23] |
22 | Cars | $244,082,982 | 2006 | [24] |
23 | Shrek Forever After | $238,736,787 | 2010 | [25] |
24 | Brave | $237,283,207 | 2012 | [26] |
25 | WALL-E | $223,808,164 | 2008 | [27] |
26 | Big Hero 6 | $222,527,828 | 2014 | [28] |
27 | How to Train Your Dragon | $217,581,231 | 2010 | [30] |
28 | Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted | $216,391,482 | 2012 | [32] |
29 | Kung Fu Panda | $215,434,591 | 2008 | [33] |
30 | The Lorax | $214,030,500 | 2012 | [34] |
31 | Ratatouille | $206,445,654 | 2007 | [36] |
32 | Tangled | $200,821,936 | 2010 | [37] |
33 | Monsters vs. Aliens | $198,351,526 | 2008 | [38] |
34 | Happy Feet | $198,000,317 | 2006 | [39] |
35 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | $196,573,705 | 2009 | [40] |
36 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | $195,330,621 | 2006 | [41] |
37 | Madagascar | $193,595,521 | 2005 | [42] |
38 | Toy Story | $191,796,233 | 1995 | [43] |
39 | Cars 2 | $191,452,396 | 2011 | [44] |
40 | Wreck-It Ralph | $189,422,889 | 2012 | [45] |
41 | The Croods | $187,168,425 | 2013 | [46] |
42 | The Polar Express | $185,551,168 | 2004 | [47] |
43 | The Simpsons Movie | $183,135,014 | 2007 | [49] |
44 | Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa | $180,010,950 | 2008 | [50] |
45 | Home | $177,397,510 | 2015 | [51] |
46 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 | $177,002,924 | 2014 | [35] |
47 | Ice Age | $176,387,405 | 2002 | [53] |
48 | Hotel Transylvania 2 | $169,700,110 | 2015 | [54] |
49 | Kung Fu Panda 2 | $165,249,0630 | 2011 | [55] |
50 | A Bug's Life | $162,798,565 | 1998 | [56] |
The following is a list of highest-grossing stop motion animated films in Canada and the United States.
Rank | Title | Gross | Year | Ref [57] |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chicken Run | $106,834,564 | 2000 | [58] |
2 | Coraline | $75,286,229 | 2009 | [59] |
3 | The Nightmare Before Christmas | $75,082,668 | 1993 | [60] |
4 | Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | $56,110,897 | 2005 | [61] |
5 | ParaNorman | $56,003,051 | 2012 | [62] |
6 | Corpse Bride | $53,359,111 | 2005 | [63] |
7 | The Boxtrolls | $50,837,305 | 2014 | [64] |
8 | Kubo and the Two Strings | $48,023,088 | 2016 | [65] |
9 | Fantastic Mr. Fox | $46,471,023 | 2009 | [66] |
10 | Frankenweenie | $35,291,068 | 2012 | [67] |
11 | The Pirates! Band of Misfits | $31,051,126 | 2012 | [68] |
12 | Isle of Dogs | $30,871,993 | 2018 | [69] |
13 | James and the Giant Peach | $28,946,127 | 1996 | [70] |
14 | Fantastic Mr. Fox | $21,002,919 | 2009 | [66] |
15 | Shaun the Sheep Movie | $19,375,982 | 2015 | [71] |
16 | Early Man | $8,267,544 | 2018 | [72] |
17 | Monkeybone | $5,411,999 | 2001 | [73] |
18 | Anomalisa | $3,759,286 | 2015 | [74] |
19 | The Little Prince | $1,339,152 | 2016 | [75] |
20 | Wallace & Gromit: The Best of Aardman Animation | $1,009,577 | 1996 | [76] |
These charts was compiled based on data from Box Office Mojo, by dividing the gross by the average ticket price to calculate an estimate of the total number of admissions. [124] Admissions better reflect the popularity of older films, since they are less susceptible to the effects of inflation.
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1999, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. The website is widely used within the film industry as a source of data.
Many of the films on this list released prior to the availability of home video have had multiple releases. Note these lists are based on 2016 prices.
Rank | Title | Adjusted gross | Year | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | $927,590,000 | 1937 | [125] |
2 | 101 Dalmatians | $850,295,800 | 1961 | [126] |
3 | The Lion King | $758,636,100 | 1994 | [4] |
4 | Fantasia [127] | $706,700,000 | 1940 | [128] |
5 | The Jungle Book | $627,016,100 | 1967 | [129] |
6 | Sleeping Beauty | $618,473,200 | 1959 | [130] |
7 | Shrek 2 | $604,643,400 | 2004 | [3] |
8 | Pinocchio | $573,602,400 | 1940 | [65] |
9 | Bambi | $542,192,900 | 1942 | [131] |
10 | Finding Nemo | $524,101,200 | 2003 | [7] |
Rank | Title | Adjusted gross | Year | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Shrek 2 | $604,643,400 | 2004 | [3] |
2 | Finding Nemo | $524,101,200 | 2003 | [7] |
3 | Finding Dory | $477,970,600 | 2016 | [2] |
4 | Toy Story 3 | $444,237,900 | 2010 | [5] |
5 | Monsters, Inc. | $419,995,000 | 2016 | [15] |
6 | Frozen | $417,339,100 | 2013 | [6] |
7 | Toy Story 2 | $407,088,800 | 1999 | [23] |
8 | Shrek | $402,443,300 | 2001 | [18] |
9 | Shrek the Third | $399,178,300 | 2007 | [13] |
10 | Despicable Me 2 | $399,068,800 | 2013 | [9] |
Rank | Title | Adjusted gross | Year | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chicken Run | $168,675,700 | 2000 | [58] |
2 | The Nightmare Before Christmas | $134,396,500 | 1993 | [60] |
3 | Coraline | $85,882,800 | 2009 | [59] |
4 | Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | $74,486,500 | 2005 | [61] |
5 | Corpse Bride | $70,840,300 | 2005 | [63] |
6 | ParaNorman | $61,153,600 | 2012 | [62] |
7 | James and the Giant Peach | $55,731,100 | 1996 | [70] |
8 | The Boxtrolls | $52,134,300 | 2014 | [64] |
9 | Kubo and the Two Strings | $48,023,100 | 2016 | [65] |
10 | Frankenweenie | $37,318,200 | 2012 | [67] |
Rank | Title | Adjusted gross | Year | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | $927,590,000 | 1937 | [125] |
2 | 101 Dalmatians | $850,295,800 | 1961 | [126] |
3 | The Lion King | $758,636,100 | 1994 | [4] |
4 | Fantasia [133] | $706,700,000 | 1940 | [128] |
5 | The Jungle Book | $627,016,100 | 1967 | [129] |
6 | Sleeping Beauty | $618,473,200 | 1959 | [130] |
7 | Pinocchio | $573,602,400 | 2016 | [65] |
8 | Bambi | $542,192,900 | 1942 | [131] |
9 | Cinderella | $513,165,200 | 1950 | [134] |
10 | Lady and the Tramp | $474,303,900 | 1953 | [135] |
Modern animation of the United States from the late 1980s and 1990s onward is sometimes referred to as the "renaissance age of American animation". During this period, many large American entertainment companies reformed and reinvigorated their animation departments following a general decline during the 1960s to 1980s. The United States has had a profound effect on animation worldwide. Since the late 1990s and the 2000s traditional animation would lose interest against digital and Flash animation, naming this current period as the "millennium age of American animation".
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated, comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the sequel to 2001's Shrek and the second installment in the Shrek film franchise. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, who reprise their respective voice roles of Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona. They are joined by new characters voiced by Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders. Shrek 2 takes place following the events of the first film, with Shrek and Donkey meeting Fiona's parents as her zealous Fairy Godmother, who wants Fiona to marry her son Prince Charming, plots to destroy Shrek and Fiona's marriage. Shrek and Donkey team up with a swashbuckling cat named Puss in Boots to foil her plans.
Andrew Ralph Adamson is a New Zealand film director, producer and screenwriter based mainly in Los Angeles, where he made the animation films, Shrek and Shrek 2 for which he received an Academy Award win. He was director, executive producer, and scriptwriter for the 2005 production of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He also worked on the movies Batman Forever and Batman & Robin as a visual effects supervisor.
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the third installment in Pixar's Toy Story series, and the sequel to 1999's Toy Story 2. It was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor of the first two films and the co-director of Toy Story 2, written by Michael Arndt, while Unkrich wrote the story along with John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton, respectively director and co-writer of the first two films.
Nickelodeon Movies is the theatrical motion picture production arm of the American children's cable channel Nickelodeon. Founded in 1996, the company released its first film Harriet the Spy in 1996. It has produced family features and films based on Nickelodeon programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects. Its films are co-produced and/or distributed by Viacom division Paramount Pictures. The studio's highest-grossing films are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), which grossed $493.3 million worldwide, The Adventures of Tintin (2011), which grossed $374 million worldwide, and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), which grossed $323.4 million worldwide.
Madagascar is a 2005 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Mark Burton, Billy Frolick, Darnell, and McGrath, and features the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith, with Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter voicing secondary characters. The film's plot revolves on four animals from the Central Park Zoo who unexpectedly find themselves stranded on the island of Madagascar, and must learn to adapt to the wild.
Despicable Me is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment as its debut film and project and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was animated by the French animation studio Mac Guff, which was later acquired by Illumination. Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud in their directorial debuts with a story by Sergio Pablos, the title references the main character as he refers to himself and is accompanied by a song by Pharrell Williams.
Shrek Forever After is a 2010 American computer-animated, comedy film by DreamWorks Animation. It is the fourth installment in the Shrek film franchise and the sequel to Shrek the Third (2007). The film was directed by Mike Mitchell from a script by Josh Klausner and Darren Lemke, and stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, and John Cleese reprising their previous roles, with Walt Dohrn introduced in the role of Rumpelstiltskin. The plot follows Shrek struggling as a family man with no privacy, who yearns for the days when he was once feared. He is tricked by Rumpelstiltskin into signing a contract that leads to disastrous consequences.
Despicable Me 2 is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated comedy film and the sequel to the 2010 animated film Despicable Me. Produced by Illumination Entertainment for Universal Pictures and animated by Illumination Mac Guff, the film was directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, and written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. Steve Carell, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Elsie Fisher, and Dana Gaier reprise their roles as Gru, Dr. Nefario, Margo, Agnes, and Edith respectively. Kristen Wiig, who played Miss Hattie in the first film, voices agent Lucy Wilde, while Ken Jeong, who played the Talk Show Host, voices Floyd Eagle-san. New cast members include Benjamin Bratt as Eduardo "El Macho" Pérez and Steve Coogan as Silas Ramsbottom, head of the fictional Anti-Villain League (AVL).
Minions is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated comedy film, serving as a spin-off prequel to the Despicable Me franchise. Produced by Illumination Entertainment for Universal Pictures, it was directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, written by Brian Lynch, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy. The film stars the voices of Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, and Jennifer Saunders, with the narration provided by Geoffrey Rush. It was first foreshadowed in the end credits of Despicable Me 2 (2013), where Kevin, Stuart, and Bob, three of the Minions and the film's main characters, are seen auditioning for the film.