It’s no secret that animated films have become big business, but just how big are they? We’ve ranked the highest-grossing animated films of all time and compared them with live-action blockbusters. If you’re looking for new ideas for your next family movie night, look no further:
1. Minions
The Minions are the undisputed kings of the box office when it comes to animated movies. The world’s most famous henchman-esque sidekicks have shown that their appeal and influence goes well beyond their original movie, Despicable Me. In fact, Despicable Me 2 is second on this list with $970 million in total ticket sales—$368 million less than what Minions grossed during its run.
2. Despicable Me 2
Released in 2013, this film is part of the Despicable Me series. The movie was made by Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures, and directed by Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda. It starred Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt and Miranda Cosgrove.
3. The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd Disney animated feature film, and the fifth animated film produced during a period known as the Disney Renaissance. The story takes place in a kingdom of animals in Africa, and was influenced by William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was directed by Roger Allers, who also wrote its original stories with Irene Mecchi, and was produced by Don Hahn with songs composed by Elton John and Tim Rice (with additional songs written by Hans Zimmer). The voice cast consists of Matthew Broderick as adult Simba (the protagonist), Jonathan Taylor Thomas as young Simba (the protagonist in flashbacks), James Earl Jones as Mufasa (Simba’s father), Moira Kelly as Nala (Simba’s love interest), Nathan Lane as Ed (Zazu’s assistant) – all considered to be some of the greatest actors ever to grace this planet!
Minion make a lot of money!
The highest-grossing animated movie of all time is Minions, an American computer-animated 3D comedy film. It was released in 2015 and made $1,157,500,000 worldwide at the box office. Minions was the first Despicable Me spinoff to be produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, with Illumination Entertainment as its distributor. After its release in 2015, it became a cultural phenomenon that has been compared to the likes of Toy Story and Shrek.[2][3] The film received mixed reviews from critics but was still a financial success for both Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment; as such it would go on to become one of only 12 films ever to gross over $1 billion globally at the box office (less than ten years after James Cameron’s Avatar became the first). The plot follows Gru’s mom Lucy Wilde discovering Dr Nefario’s secret plans for world domination through a series of evil inventions that must be destroyed before they fall into wrong hands; so he sends two minions Kevin and Bob out into town without their master knowing it so that they can help their friend Stuart (who works at an ice cream parlor) stop this madness before it gets started!
It’s worth noting that not all Disney movies are included in this list, which means there are some other animated films with a lot of money behind them. So if you thought that the Minions were huge! The impact of these movies on their respective audiences will be felt for years to come as new generations grow up with these characters as their heroes!
