Being in the animation industry, I am interested in being aware of which animated feature films are making the most box office profits. Today I am running through this list of the 20 highest grossing animated films of all time and I would like to share my views on why I think these films did as well as they did. They will compose my recommended recipe for an animated feature blockbuster.
1. Shrek 2 (3D): $ 436,471,036
2. Finding Nemo (3D): 339,714,978
3. The Lion King (2D) – 328,539,505
4. Shrek the Third (3D): $ 322,719,944
5. Shrek (3D): 267,665,011
6. The Incredibles (3D) – 261,657,004
7. Monsters, Inc. (3D): 255,870,172
8. Toy Story 2 (3D): $ 245,852,179
9. Cars (3D): $ 244,082,982
10. Aladdin (2D) – 217,350,219
11. Ratatouille (3D): $ 206,445,654
12. Happy Feet (3D): $ 198,000 317
13. Ice Age: Meltdown (3D) – $ 195,330,621
14. Madagascar (3D): $ 193,595,521
15. Toy Story (3D): $ 191,780,865
16. The Simpsons Movie (2D) – $ 183,135,014
17. The Polar Express (3D): $ 179,100,434
18. Ice Age (3D) – 176,387,405
19. Beauty and the Beast (2D): $ 171,350,553
20. Tarzan (2D): $ 171,091,819
Shrek – Crop Top
Shrek 2 takes the lead as you can see from the list. In fact, the Shrek trilogy occupies the 1st, 4th and 5th positions, all in the top 5 positions. This is a very impressive feat and in my opinion Shrek took the cake because the stories were really good and the jokes were good. Of course, it helped a lot that 4 major stars were cast: Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas and Mike Myers. In fact, out of the Shrek trilogy, it was the one I enjoyed the most in Shrek 2, so personally I’m not surprised that it performed the best of the three.
3D versus 2D
From the list below, we can see that 3D movies take 15 of the seats, compared to their 2D counterparts that only take 5 seats. From this statistic, it would appear that the audience is favoring 3D animation over 2D animation. Even 2D / 3D fusion programs like Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Treasure Planet didn’t seem to please them enough. It would seem that The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Tarzen are only in the top 20 positions due to their strong family-oriented stories and classic brand. The Simpsons Movie basically benefited through a large fan base through its television series. Barring such unique franchises, it would seem that a 3D show would defeat a 2D one any day. Animation studios seem to be echoing this sentiment, as the number of 2D animated features produced has dropped dramatically in recent years.
A solid story
This is probably not new to you, but I’ll say it anyway. I think one of the biggest factors driving an animated feature would be a strong and compelling story. In fact, I would venture to say that if you forget everything else, you must have a great story to tell! Every movie on the list tells an interesting story (well, almost) and they all did well enough to make it into the top twenty.
Laughter, the best medicine
People like to laugh. They like to laugh at others. They like to laugh at themselves. They just like to laugh. Everything is constant, I think Shrek takes three of the top five positions because of his original jokes and jokes. And let’s not forget the two masters of comedy, Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy, who performed the voice-overs for Shrek and Donkey respectively. How can you beat that deadly duo?
A strong cast of voice-overs
It’s a fact that a star-studded cast for voiceovers draws a crowd, especially when celebrities are well-loved and great performers. Again, check out the cast of Shrek. With Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, how can the movie go wrong?
The importance of recognizable characters within the show
This is just my theory, but I strongly believe that in addition to having a solid story, animated features should also show recognizable characters. And when I say recognizable characters, I don’t mean simple human characters. I mean monsters. I mean animals. I mean superheroes. With characters that are more interesting than humans, they are instantly more recognizable. Look at the list closely. Besides a couple of the old 2D movies, what other movie had a cast that only had simple human beings as the leads? Having interesting and identifiable characters will definitely attract ticket sales because people want to pay to see interesting characters in an animated function, not just a human being! I don’t have to remind you again how unsuccessful Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was, do I?
My personal favorites
In case you’re wondering, my personal favorites are Monster Inc, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Shrek 2, and Ice Age, in that order. My reason? They all have strong and compelling stories. And I put them in this order based on how much I enjoyed each individual movie. I must say that Monster Inc gave me the best enjoyment factor!
conclusion
So here is my recommended recipe for an animated feature blockbuster:
1. The film must be made in 3D.
2. You must have a compelling story to tell.
3. Inject a lot of humor into the show.
4. Get a strong cast to be your voice over talents
5. Character designs must be interesting and memorable.
I hope this article has been an interesting read. Visit my websites to read more of my articles or just to see what I am up to.