The following are lists of animated feature films that were the most expensive to make.
For purposes of awarding Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines an animated film as
a motion picture in which movement and characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique, and usually falls into one of the two general fields of animation: narrative or abstract. Some of the techniques of animating films include but are not limited to hand-drawn animation, computer animation, stop-motion, clay animation, pixilation, cutout animation, pinscreen, camera multiple pass imagery, kaleidoscopic effects created frame-by-frame, and drawing on the film frame itself. Motion capture and real-time puppetry are not by themselves animation techniques. [1]
Further, at least 75 percent of the film's running time must contain animation. Narrative animated films must also include a significant number of animated major characters. [1]
The Academy defines a feature film as one with a running time of more than 40 minutes. [1]
The years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2016 are the most represented, with three films each.
Pixar is the most represented studio with fourteen films. Shrek is the most represented franchise with three of its four main films on the list, followed by Cars with two of its three main films.
Disney is the most represented studio with 14 films on the list. Winnie the Pooh is the most represented franchise with four films on the list. 2002 is the most represented year with four films.
The following films are all stop motion animated films that cost over $10 million to create. 2012 are the most represented years with 3 films each.
Laika is the most represented studio with 5 films. Wallace and Gromit is the most represented franchise with two films on the list.
Title | Year | Studio | Budget (est.) | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
Missing Link | 2019 | Laika | $100,000,000 | [118] |
The Little Prince | 2015 | ON Animation Studios | $77,500,000 | [119] |
Coraline | 2009 | Laika | $60,000,000 | [120] |
ParaNorman | 2012 | [121] | ||
The Boxtrolls | 2014 | [122] | ||
Kubo and the Two Strings | 2016 | [123] | ||
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! | 2012 | Aardman | $55,000,000 | [124] |
Chicken Run | 2000 | Aardman | $45,000,000 | [125] |
Corpse Bride | 2005 | Tim Burton | $40,000,000 | [126] |
Fantastic Mr. Fox | 2009 | AEP | [127] | |
Frankenweenie | 2012 | Tim Burton | $39,000,000 | [128] |
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | 2005 | Aardman | $30,000,000 | [129] |
Shaun the Sheep Movie | 2015 | $25,000,000 | [130] | |
The Nightmare Before Christmas | 1993 | Tim Burton | $18,000,000 | [131] |
Title | Year | Studio(s) | Budget (est. ¥ ) | Budget (est. $ ) | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Boy and the Heron | 2023 | Studio Ghibli | >¥5,200,000,000 | >$53,300,000 | [74] |
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya | 2013 | ¥5,200,000,000 | $53,300,000 | [75] | |
Stand by Me Doraemon | 2014 | Shirogumi / Robot Communications / Shin-Ei Animation | ? | $35,000,000 | [132] |
Ponyo | 2008 | Studio Ghibli | ¥3,400,000,000 | $34,000,000 | [75] [85] |
Space Pirate Captain Harlock | 2013 | Toei Animation / Marza Animation Planet | ¥3,000,000,000 | $31,000,000 | [133] |
The Wind Rises | Studio Ghibli | ¥3,000,000,000 | $31,000,000 | [75] | |
Pokémon: The First Movie | 1998 | Oriental Light and Magic (OLM) | ? | $30,000,000 | [91] |
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 | 1999 | Oriental Light and Magic (OLM) | ? | $30,000,000 | [92] |
Steamboy | 2004 | Sunrise / Bandai Visual | ¥2,400,000,000 | $26,000,000 | [134] [99] |
Howl's Moving Castle | 2005 | Studio Ghibli | ¥2,400,000,000 | $24,000,000 | [75] [108] |
Arrietty | 2010 | ? | $23,000,000 | [85] | |
My Neighbors the Yamadas | 1999 | ¥2,360,000,000 | $21,000,000 | [109] [110] | |
Princess Mononoke | 1997 | ¥2,350,000,000 | $20,000,000 | [112] | |
From Up on Poppy Hill | 2011 | ¥2,200,000,000 | $28,000,000 | [75] | |
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light | 2004 | Gallop / 4Kids Entertainment | ? | $20,000,000 | [116] |
Tales from Earthsea | 2006 | Studio Ghibli | ¥2,200,000,000 | $19,000,000 | [75] [135] |
Spirited Away | 2001 | ¥2,000,000,000 | $19,200,000 | [136] | |
Pokémon 3: The Movie | 2000 | Oriental Light and Magic (OLM) | ? | $16,000,000 | [137] |
When Marnie Was There | 2014 | Studio Ghibli | ¥1,200,000,000 | $11,300,000 | [75] |
The Red Turtle | 2016 | Studio Ghibli / Why Not Productions / Wild Bunch | ? | $11,000,000 | [138] |
Akira | 1988 | Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS Entertainment) | ¥700,000,000 | $5,500,000 | [139] |
Metropolis | 2001 | Madhouse | ¥1,000,000,000 | $15,000,000 | [140] [141] |
Dragon Ball Super: Broly | 2018 | Toei Animation | ? | $8,500,000 | [142] |
Robotech: The Movie | 1986 | Tatsunoko Production / Harmony Gold USA / AIC | ? | $8,000,000 | [143] |
Porco Rosso | 1992 | Studio Ghibli | ¥900,000,000 | $7,100,000 | [75] [144] |
Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie | 1994 | Group TAC / SEDIC / Sony Music Entertainment Japan | ? | $6,000,000 | [145] |
Kiki's Delivery Service | 1989 | Studio Ghibli | ¥800,000,000 | $5,800,000 | [146] [147] [148] |
Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise | 1987 | Gainax / Bandai Visual | ¥800,000,000 | $5,531,000 | [149] |
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' | 2015 | Toei Animation | ? | $5,000,000 | [150] |
Castle in the Sky | 1986 | Studio Ghibli | ¥800,000,000 | $4,700,000 | [75] [151] |
Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem | 2003 | Toei Animation / Daft Life / Wild Bunch / BAC Films | ? | $4,000,000 | [152] |
The Castle of Cagliostro | 1979 | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | ¥500,000,000 | $2,300,000 | [153] [154] |
In This Corner of the World | 2016 | MAPPA | ¥400,000,000 | $3,750,000 | [155] [156] |
Macross: Do You Remember Love? | 1984 | Studio Nue / Artland / Topcraft / Tatsunoko Production | ¥400,000,000 | $2,000,000 | [157] [158] |
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind | 1984 | Studio Ghibli | ¥400,000,000 | $2,000,000 | [75] [158] |
Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato | 1978 | Academy Productions / Group TAC | ¥360,000,000 | $3,600,000 | [159] |
Paprika | 2006 | Madhouse | ¥300,000,000 | $4,000,000 | [160] [161] |
Tokyo Godfathers | 2004 | ¥300,000,000 | $2,400,000 | [162] [163] | |
Millennium Actress | 2002 | ? | $1,200,000 | [163] [164] | |
Space Battleship Yamato | 1977 | Academy Productions / Group TAC | ¥200,000,000 | $745,000 | [165] |
Biohazard 4D-Executer | 2000 | Visual Science Laboratory | ¥150,000,000 | $1,400,000 | [166] [167] |
Title(s) | Year(s) | Studio | Budget (est. ¥ ) | Budget (est. $ ) | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fist of the North Star: The Legends of the True Savior | 2006–2008 | TMS Entertainment | ¥2,500,000,000 | $24,300,000 | [168] [164] |
My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies | 1988 | Studio Ghibli | ¥1,200,000,000 | $9,400,000 | [75] [148] |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2020) |
This section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic.(February 2020) |
The following is a timeline of the most expensive animated films since 1937.
Title | Established | Budget (est.) (millions) | Studio | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 | $1.49 | Disney | [169] |
Pinocchio | 1940 | $2.29 | [170] | |
Cinderella | 1950 | $2.9 | [171] | |
Peter Pan | 1953 | $4 | [172] | |
Sleeping Beauty | 1959 | $6 | [173] | |
The Black Cauldron | 1985 | $44 | [174] | |
The Lion King | 1994 | $45 | [80] | |
Pocahontas | 1995 | $55 | [175] | |
The Hunchback of Notre Dame | 1996 | $100 | [176] | |
A Bug's Life | 1998 | $120 | Pixar | [177] |
Tarzan | 1999 | $130 | Disney | [178] |
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within | 2001 | $137 | Square Pictures | [179] |
Treasure Planet | 2002 | $140 | Disney | [58] |
Shrek 2 | 2004 | $150 | DreamWorks Animation | [180] |
The Polar Express | 2004 | $165 | ImageMovers | [181] |
WALL-E | 2008 | $180 | Pixar | [19] [20] |
Toy Story 3 | June 2010 | $200 | [7] [8] | |
Tangled | November 2010 | $260 | Disney | [2] [3] [4] [5] |
Title | Established | Budget (est.) (millions) | Studio | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
Toy Story | 1995 | $30 | Pixar | [182] |
Antz | October 1998 | $42 | DreamWorks Animation | [183] |
A Bug's Life | November 1998 | $120 | Pixar | [177] |
Dinosaur | 2000 | $127.5 | Disney | [184] |
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within | 2001 | $137 | Square Pictures | [178] |
The Polar Express | 2004 | $165 | ImageMovers | [41] |
WALL•E | 2008 | $180 | Pixar | [19] [20] |
Toy Story 3 | June 2010 | $200 | [7] [8] | |
Tangled | November 2010 | $260 | Disney | [2] [3] [4] [5] |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2020) |
This section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic.(February 2020) |
Title | Established | Budget (est.) (millions) | Studio | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 | $1.49 | Disney | [169] |
Pinocchio | 1940 | $2.29 | [170] | |
Cinderella | 1950 | $2.9 | [171] | |
Peter Pan | 1953 | $4 | [172] | |
Sleeping Beauty | 1959 | $6 | [173] | |
The Black Cauldron | 1985 | $44 | [174] | |
The Lion King | 1994 | $45 | [80] | |
Pocahontas | 1995 | $55 | [175] | |
The Hunchback of Notre Dame | 1996 | $100 | [176] | |
Tarzan | 1999 | $130 | [178] | |
Treasure Planet | 2002 | $140 | [58] |
The following is a timeline of most expensive stop motion animated films of all time. Laika has hold the record the most with four.
Title | Established | Budget (est.) (millions) | Studio | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Nightmare Before Christmas | 1993 | $18 | Tim Burton | [131] |
Chicken Run | 2000 | $45 | Aardman | [125] |
Coraline | 2009 | $60 | Laika | [120] |
ParaNorman | 2012 | $60 | [121] | |
The Boxtrolls | 2014 | [122] | ||
The Little Prince | 2015 | $77.5 | ON | [119] |
Missing Link | 2019 | $100 | Laika | [118] |
Toy Story is a 1995 American animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the franchise of the same name, it was the first entirely computer-animated feature film, as well as the first feature film from Pixar. It was directed by John Lasseter and produced by Bonnie Arnold and Ralph Guggenheim, from a screenplay written by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow and a story by Lasseter, Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft. The film features music by Randy Newman, and was executive-produced by Steve Jobs and Edwin Catmull. The film features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, and Erik von Detten.
Antz is a 1998 American animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Pacific Data Images, and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson from a screenplay by Todd Alcott and the writing team of Chris and Paul Weitz. The film stars the voices of Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher Walken, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Danny Glover and Gene Hackman. Some of the main characters share facial similarities with the actors who voice them. The film involves an anxious worker ant, Z (Allen), who falls in love with Princess Bala (Stone). When the treacherous scheming of the arrogant officer General Mandible (Hackman) threatens to wipe out the entire worker population, Z must save the ant colony from the flooded tunnel and strives to make social inroads.
A Bug's Life is a 1998 American animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is Pixar's second feature-length film, following Toy Story (1995). The film was directed by John Lasseter, co-directed by Andrew Stanton, and produced by Darla K. Anderson and Kevin Reher, from a screenplay written by Stanton, Donald McEnery, and Bob Shaw, and a story conceived by Lasseter, Stanton, and Joe Ranft. It stars the voices of Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Hayden Panettiere. In the film, a misfit ant named Flik, looks for "tough warriors" to save his ant colony from a protection racket run by a gang of grasshoppers. However, the "warriors" he brings back were a troupe of Circus Bugs. The film's plot was initially inspired by Aesop's fable The Ant and the Grasshopper.
Tangled is a 2010 American animated musical adventure fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Loosely based on the German fairy tale "Rapunzel" in the collection of folktales published by the Brothers Grimm, the film was directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, and produced by Roy Conli, from a screenplay written by Dan Fogelman. Featuring the voices of Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Donna Murphy, Tangled tells the story of Rapunzel, a lost young princess with magical long blonde hair who yearns to leave her secluded tower. She accepts the aid of an intruder, the outlaw Flynn Rider, to take her out into the world which she has never seen.
Chicken Little is a 2005 American animated science fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Mark Dindal from a screenplay by Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Ron Anderson, based on a story by Dindal and Mark Kennedy, loosely inspired on the European folk tale "Henny Penny", known in the United States as "Chicken Little". In this version, the title character is ridiculed by his town for causing a panic, thinking that the sky was "falling". A year later he attempts to fix his reputation, followed by an unexpected truth regarding his past being revealed. The film is dedicated to Disney artist and writer Joe Grant, who died before the film's release. This also marked the final film appearance of Don Knotts during his lifetime, as his next and final film, Air Buddies, would be released posthumously.
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the third installment in the Toy Story series and the sequel to Toy Story 2 (1999). It was directed by Lee Unkrich, the editor of the first two films and the co-director of Toy Story 2, produced by Darla K. Anderson, and 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. The film's ensemble voice cast includes Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Jeff Pidgeon, Jodi Benson, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf and R. Lee Ermey, reprising their roles from previous films. Jim Varney, who voiced Slinky Dog in the first two films, died in 2000, 10 years before the release of the third film, so the role of Slinky was passed down to Blake Clark. The returning cast is joined by Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Whoopi Goldberg, Timothy Dalton, Kristen Schaal, Bonnie Hunt, and Jeff Garlin, who voice the new characters introduced in this film. In Toy Story 3, Andy Davis (Morris), now 17 years old, is going to college. Woody (Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Allen), and the other toys are accidentally donated to Sunnyside Daycare, a daycare center, by Andy's mother (Metcalf), and the toys must decide where their loyalties lie.
The Walt Disney Studios is a major division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company best known for housing its multifaceted film studio divisions. Founded on October 16, 1923, and based mainly at the namesake studio lot in Burbank, California, it is the seventh-oldest global film studio and the fifth-oldest in the United States, a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and one of the "Big Five" major film studios.
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene from its first synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928). Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney, it is the oldest-running animation studio in the world. It is currently organized as a division of Walt Disney Studios and is headquartered at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. Since its foundation, the studio has produced 62 feature films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Wish (2023), and hundreds of short films.
Fox Animation Studios was an American animation production company owned by 20th Century Fox and located in Phoenix, Arizona. After six years of operation, the studio was shut down on June 26, 2000, ten days after the release of its final film, Titan A.E.. Most of the Fox Animation Studios library was acquired by Disney on March 20, 2019. Anastasia is the studio's most critically praised and commercially successful film, as well as the most commercially successful film by Don Bluth.
Bolt is a 2008 American animated action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay written by Williams and Dan Fogelman. The film stars the voices of John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Malcolm McDowell, James Lipton and Greg Germann. This was also one of the final film roles for Lipton before his death in 2020, the other being Igor, which was released the same year as Bolt.
The Disney Renaissance was a period from 1989 to 1999 during which Walt Disney Feature Animation returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films. These were mostly musical adaptations of well-known stories, similar to the films produced during the era of Walt Disney from the 1930s to 1960s. The resurgence allowed Disney's animated films to become a powerhouse of successes at the domestic and foreign box office, earning much greater profits than most of the Disney films of previous eras.
Shrek is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book of the same name by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, it is the first installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. In the film, an embittered ogre named Shrek (Myers) finds his home in the swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures banished by the obsessive ruler Lord Farquaad (Lithgow). With the help of Donkey (Murphy), Shrek makes a pact with Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona (Diaz) in exchange for regaining control of his swamp.
Toy Story is an American media franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company. It centers on toys that, unknown to humans, are secretly living, sentient creatures. It began in 1995 with the release of the animated feature film of the same name, which focuses on a diverse group of toys featuring a classic cowboy doll named Sheriff Woody and a modern spaceman action figure named Buzz Lightyear.
Finding Dory is a 2016 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Angus MacLane, produced by Lindsey Collins, and written by Stanton and Victoria Strouse. The second installment to the Finding Nemo franchise, the film is a both a sequel and spin-off following the events of Finding Nemo (2003). Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks reprise their roles from the first film, with Hayden Rolence, Ed O'Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy joining the cast. The film focuses on the amnesiac fish Dory (DeGeneres), who journeys to be reunited with her parents.
[...]cost Disney $105 million to produce[...]
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