Top Animated Films of All Time

What's Coming in the world of animated films:

1. 4/11/14 - Rio 2 (BlueSky) - Rio 1 launched in 2011 and made $485 M. It's hard to make sequels as interesting as the original. Positives: Carlos Santana returns as director (Ice Age, IA2, IA3, Rio). His only ding was Robots (4/5 ain't bad). The story adds kids (didn't work for Shrek 3 or 4), but it introduces the father in law (worked very well for Shrek 2, Meet the Parents, and Meet the Fockers). Prediction: We'll see a slight improvement, due to the expertise of Santana and the father-in-law human interest bit... plus it looks like Santana is pulling a lot more humor from the villain. I give it $575 M, with a decent chance that they can give the film big heart and break $600 M.
2. 5/9/14 - Legend of Oz: Dorothy's Return (Clarius) - Not a sequel, though it plays off of what we know of Oz, like the James Franco Oz film. The director of Road to Eldorado and Home on the Range (Finn) teams with the director of Everyone's Hero (St. Pierre). From a studio that hasn't created its own film (they helped produce the Tinker Bell films) and a brand new Distributor (Clarius). Interestingly, it's based on a children's book by Roger Baum, the great-grandson of Oz-creator, Frank Baum. The Writers are from TV and bring no big successes to the table.  Positives: Good art style on most all the characters (a few poorly made models). So it looks up to par from first glance, as expected from two film veterans (the directors). Prediction: These directors have never connected. They are 0 for 3 and moving into a new studio, with a new distributor, writers without hits, and a $70 M budget (hard to make that up). So they have everything stacked against them. To make it worse, they cast the movie for older parents (young grandparents)... Patrick Stewart, Martin Short, Dan Aykroyd, Kelsey Grammar, Bernadette Peters, James Belushi, and Oliver Platt. Finn and St. Pierre don't have DW or Disney backing them anymore. Everyone's Hero made $17 M in 2006, Free Birds made $109 M in 2013 but cast much smarter, The Nut Job made $63 M in 2014 but also cast smarter, Escape from Planet Earth made $57 M in 2013 but also cast smarter. You can see a correlation from these independent animated films and how smartly they are cast, but that casting also ties directly into those stories. So I'm guestimating this to make $52 M, much more than Everyone's Hero, but still less than the better-cast films. You never know if they can inject the heart and story to push it over $100 M, but I'm guessing that with this team and the lack of fresh comedians, that they can't deliver on it and lose money from their $70 M investment.
3. 6/3/14 - How to Train Your Dragon 2 (DW) - 4 years later, we get the sequel! Prediction: The original made $495 M. The first film was a Dean DeBlois project that DW added Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch) on when he fell out with Lasseter (over the film that became Bolt). Sanders went on to direct Croods and is working on Croods 2. Meanwhile, they give DeBlois the solo director job. DeBlois directed Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon. Positive: A total revamp of the questionable art style! It looks beautiful! But the danger is that the more realistic it looks, the more you could lose the fun... ala Epic and Guardians. But I still count it a positive! Prediction: This is the first time DeBlois has directed on his own, and as a writer, he also wrote Mulan (which I loved). But the story is kind of the same as the first one... humans and dragons teaming together to save themselves from... wait for it... humans and dragons. So the story can't really drive them very far, but if it's got strong heart (like the first one did), and they figure out how to mix it up a bit, then it will do better simply from fandom and momentum, plus continued smart casting. My prediction is $585 M.
4. 7/18/14 - Planes 2: Fire & Rescue (DisneyToons) - Why is Disney giving us a sequel to a film from last year that only made $220 M? Because it was a budget film intended to be direct-to-DVD and thus only cost $50 M, 1/3rd of the usual price tag. Plus I love where they're headed... we've seen the racer culture in Cars 1, Cars 2, and Planes 1; it's time to give us a new premise, and Planes 2 delivers! They give us a new director, Gannaway, the director of Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings. Seems like a good choice, since a film director isn't going to take a chance on this. Positives: Good director choice and great story premise. Prediction: I was hoping they'd take this sequel to inject fresh-blooded comedians and names, but they missed their big opportunity. Dane Cook is your headliner, but with the main name cast as Fred Willard, Jerry Stiller, Ed Harris, and Erik Estrada... this is a direct-to-DVD cast. Still, the story and director should get a BO boost; I'm predicting $235 M, not a huge bump because the story and video momentum is evened out by the fact that they don't have the newness factor of the characters or the cool racing story. So if they keep it low budget, then it should still be worth it.
5.  8/27/14 - Underdogs (Wein) - This is a bit odd. You have a martials arts B movie actor, Philip Rhee, who directed a few of his films and convinces Weinstein to let him write, direct, and act in his own animated film, that's likely also about Martial Arts. This could be interesting, whether it's about animated dogs or humans, but he's a new animation director and the casting is not going to cut it. Positive: A martials arts dogs film could be funny. Prediction: $19 M. Loss.
6. 9/26/14 - Boxtrolls (Focus)
7. 10/3/14 - Hero of Color City (Magn)
8. 10/17/14 - Book of Life (Fox) - Whoa! Good casting around a Day of the Dead story, and they're looking at getting a pre-emptive strike on Lee Unkrich's (dir of Toy Story 3) next film on Day of the Dead at Pixar. This is a fully-funded film from Fox, taking a big chance on the director, Gutierrez, a fantastic animator but an unexperienced director. Looks like Fox is giving Reel FX, an effects studio, a chance to do animated films like they did with Blue Sky. Plus they're distributing DW animated films (took the honor from Paramount), so they're locking in the animated-film industry, behind Disney.
9. 11/7/14 - Big Hero 6 (Disney) - Ever since Disney bought Marvel, Iger (CEO) has been asking Lasseter to make a Marvel animated film. Of course, this has "bad idea" written all over it, so Lasseter was looking for a topic that isn't well known as being a Marvel brand. And he found the right idea. It looks amazing and a lot of fun, and it helps give Disney a film this year, since there were lots of schedule slips, including Pixar's Good Dinosaur. So we don't get a Pixar film this year. But Frozen carried over, Planes 2 is coming, and Big Hero 6... are all helping put Disney back on the map. Meanwhile, with this film, the comic creators also created Ben 10. The director Chris Williams came from Bolt and is teamed with Don Hall from Winnie the Pooh. Both are great films, but Bolt didn't do great and Winnie was a flop. So here's their chance to redeem themselves, and I think they will nail it was some fantastic material with a great chance for Disney to nail the heart of this story (newbie super heroes teaming together to save their city)! No casting news yet. The danger is that this idea of an action animation just flops, time and time again. The closest we've seen to success was The Incredibles, which was very stylized with the Pixar look and feel, and it focused on the family relationships. Can the audience connect with the visual style to enjoy the heart that this film will have? I think so. Positive: Beautiful film with a great story potential. Prediction: Williams and Hall are hungry. This is the last stand for both directors. They're going to do everything in their power to connect with an emotional and fun story. But the action feel and realistic look is going to weigh it down a bit (like how the Halo elements weighed Wreck-It Ralph down with its Mommy audience)... $535 M.
10. 11/26/14 - Home (DW) - Aliens hide on Earth, from this DreamWorks film from a book, The True Meaning of Smekday, renamed to Happy Smekday, Smekday, and now Home. This is our 3rd DW film this year (Mr Peabody, Train Your Dragon 2). Aliens didn't seem to work super well for Monsters VS Aliens (also DW), Megamind (DW), Mars Needs Moms (Disney), Escape from Planet Earth, Jimmy Neutron, or Planet 51. But that doesn't mean it's not possible! =^)   -- The casting is good, but not great. From the original DW director, Tim Johnson, the director of Antz, Sinbad, and Over the Hedge. He's getting another shot at it.

Here are the top animated films of all time! The box office amount is the international amount, because let's face it, who cares which country the money came from? I want to know which film sold the most tickets around the world!

1. Frozen (Disney) - $1.113 B  (2013)
2. Toy Story 3 (Pixar) - $1.063 B (2010)
3. The Lion King (Disney) - $988 M (1994)
4. Despicable Me 2 (Illum) - $971M (2013)
5. Finding Nemo (Pixar) - $937 M (2003)
6. Shrek 2 (DW) - $920 M (2004)
7. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (BlueSky) - $887 M (2009)
8. Ice Age 4: Continental Drift (BlueSky) - $877 M (2012)
9. Shrek the Third (DW) - $798 M (2007)
10. Shrek Forever After (DW) - $753 M (2010)
11. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (DW) - $747 M (2012)
12. Monsters University (Pixar) - $744 M (2013)
13. Up (Pixar) - $731 M (2009)
14. Kung Fu Panda 2 (DW) - $666 M (2011)
15. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (BlueSky) - $655 M (2006)
16. Kung Fu Panda (DW) - $632 M (2008)
17. Incredibles (Pixar) - $631 M (2004)
18. Ratatouille (Pixar) - $624 M (2007)
19. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (DW) - $604 M (2008)
20. Tangled (Disney) - $592 M (2010)
21. The Croods (DW) - $587 M (2013)
22. Monsters, Inc. (Pixar) - $563 M (2001)
23. Cars 2 (Pixar) - $560 M (2011)
24. Puss in Boots (DW) - $555 M (2011)
25. Despicable Me (Illum) - $543 M (2010)
26. Brave (Pixar) - $539 M (2012)
27. Madagascar (DW) - $533 M (2005)
28. Simpsons Movie (Fox) - $527 M (2007)
29. Wall-E (Pixar) - $521 M (2008)
30. Aladdin (Disney) - $504 M (1992)
31. How to Train Your Dragon (DW) - $495 M (2010)
32. Toy Story 2 (Pixar) - $485 M (1999)
33. Rio (BlueSky) - $485 M (2011)
34. Shrek (DW) - $484 M (2001)
35. Wreck-It Ralph (Disney) - $471 M (2012)
36. Cars (Pixar) - $462 M (2006)
37. Tarzan (Disney) - $448 M (1999)
38. Beauty & the Beast (Disney) - $425 M (1991)
39. The LEGO Movie (WB) - $425 M (2014)
40. Happy Feet (WB) - $384 M (2006)
41. Ice Age (BlueSky) - $383 M (2002)
42. Monsters VS. Aliens (DW) - $382 M (2009)
43. The Adventures of Tintin (Par) - $374 M (2011)
44. Shark Tale (DW) - $367 M (2004)
45. A Bug's Life (Pixar) - $363 M (1998)
46. Toy Story (Pixar) - $362 M (1995)
47. Hotel Transylvania (Sony) - $358 M (2012)
48. Dinosaur (Disney) - $350 M (2000)
49. The Lorax (Illum) - $349 M (2012)
50. Pocahontas (Disney) - $346 M (1995)
51. Over the Hedge (DW) - $336 M (2006)
52. Lilo & Stitch (Disney) - $273 M (2002)
53. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney) - $325 M (1996)
54. A Christmas Carol (Disney) - $325 M (2009)
55. Mega Mind (DW) - $322 M (2010)
56. Chicken Little (Disney) - $314 M (2005)
57. Bolt (Disney) - $310 M (2008)
58. The Polar Express (WB) - $308 M (2004)
59. Rise of the Guardians (DW) - $307 M (2012)
60. Mulan (Disney) - $304 M (1998)
61. Horton Hears a Who (BlueSky) - $297 M (2008)
62. Bee Movie (DW) - $288 M (2007)
63. Turbo (DW) - $283 M (2013)
64. Spirited Away (Ghibli) - $275 M (2002)
65. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Sony) - $272 M (2013)
66. Epic (BlueSky) - $268 M (2013)
67. The Princess and the Frog (Disney) - $267 M (2009)
68. Robots (BlueSky) - $261 M (2005)
69. Hercules (Disney) - $253 M (1997)
70. Brother Bear (Disney) - $250 M (2003)
71. Mr. Peabody & Sherman (DW) - $249 M (2014)
72. Rango (Par) - $246 M (2011)
73. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony) - $243 M (2009)
74. Chicken Run (DW) - $225 M (2000)
75. Planes (Disney) - $220 M (2013)
76. The Prince of Egypt (DW) - $219 M (1998)
77. The Little Mermaid (Disney) - $211 M (1989)
78. Ponyo (Ghibli) - $202 M (2009)
79. Open Season (Sony) - $197 M (2006)
80. Beowulf (Par) - $196 M (2007)
81. Gnomeo & Juliet (Disney) - $194 M (2011)
82. Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (DW) - $193 M (2005)
83. Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Disney) - $186 M (2001)
84. Flushed Away (DW) - $178 M (2006)
85. Rio 2 (BlueSky) - $177 M (2014)
86. Antz (DW) - $172 M (1998)
87. The Emperor's New Groove (Disney) - $169 M (2000)
88. Meet the Robinsons (Disney) - $169 M (2007)
89. Pokémon: The First Movie (WB) - $164 M (1999)
90. Happy Feet Two (WB) - $150 M (2011)
91. Surf's Up (Sony) - $149 M (2007)
92. Arthur Christmas (Sony) - $147 M (2011)
93. The Secret World of Arrietty (Ghibli) - $146 M (2012)
94. The Rugrats Movie (Par) - $141 M (1998)
95. Anastasia (Fox) - $140 M (1997)
96. Owls of Ga'Hoole (WB) - $140 M (2010)
97. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Par) - $140 M (2004)
98. The Jungle Book 2 (Disney) - $136 M (2003)
99. Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (WB) - $134 M (2000)
100. Coraline (Focus) - $125 M (2009)
101. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (DW) - $123 M (2002)
102. The Pirates: Band of Misfits (Sony) - $123 M (2012)
103. Corpse Bride (WB) - $117 M (2005)
104. Treasure Planet (Disney) - $110 M (2002)
105. Return to Neverland (Disney) - $110 M (2002)
106. Hoodwinked (Wein) - $110 M (2005)
107. ParaNorman (Focus) - $107 M (2012)
108. Planet 51 (Sony) - $106 M (2009)
109. Home on the Range (Disney) - $104 M (2004)
110. Jimmy Neutron (Par) - $103 M (2001)
111. The Wild (Disney) - $102 M (2006)
112. Free Birds (Relativity) - $101 M (2013)
113. The Tigger Movie (Disney) - $96 M (2000)
114. TMNT (WB) - $96 M (2007)
115. The Tale of Despereaux (Univ) - $87 M (2008)
116. An American Tale (Univ) - $85 M (1986)
117. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Sony) - $85 M (2001)
118. The Land Before Time (Univ) - $84 M (1988)
119. South Park - Bigger, Longer, Uncut (Par) - $83 M (1999)
120. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (DW) - $81 M (2003)
121. Frankenweinie (Disney) - $81 M (2012)
122. The Road to El Dorado (DW) - $76 M (2000)
123. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Disney) - $75 M (1993)
124. Oliver & Company (Disney) - $74 M (1988)
125. Escape from Planet Earth (Wein) - $72 M (2013)
126. Curious George (Univ) - $70 M (2006)
127. Pokémon 3: The Movie (WB) - $68 M (2001)
128. The Nut Job (Open Road) - $67 M (2014)
129. Space Chimps (Fox) - $65 M (2008)
130. The Fox and the Hound (Disney) - $63 M (1981)
131. Valiant (Disney) - $62 M (2005)
132. Fantasia 2000 (Disney) - $61 M (2000)
133. The Wild Thornberries (Par) - $61 M (2002)
134. Rugrats Go Wild (Par) - $59 M (2003)
135. The Ant Bully (WB) - $55 M (2006)
136. Pooh's Heffalump Movie (Disney) - $53 M (2005)
137. Alpha and Omega (Lion) - $51 M (2010)
138. 9 (Focus) - $48 M (2009)
139. Recess: School's Out (Disney) - $44 M (2001)
140. An American Tale: Fievel Goes West (Univ) - $41 M (1991)
141. Astro Boy (Summit) - $40 M (2009)
142. The Great Mouse Detective (Disney) - $39 M (1986)
143. Mars Needs Moms (Disney) - $39 M (2011)
144. Happily N'Ever After (Lion) - $38 M (2007)
145. Titan A.E. (Fox) - $37 M (2000)
146. Winnie the Pooh (Disney) - $33 M (2011)
147. Ferngully the Last Rainforest (Fox) - $33 M (1992)
148. Igor (MGM) - $31 M (2008)
149. James and the Giant Peach (Disney) - $29 M (1996)
150. The Rescuers Down Under (Disney) - $28 M (1990)
151. Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie (Artisan) - $26 M
152. The Black Cauldron (Disney) - $21 M (1981)

Now let's just look at the 2D Animations and Stop-Motion Animations (excluding the modern CG Animations):

1. The Lion King (Disney) - $987 M (1994)
2. Simpsons Movie (Fox) - $527 M (2007)
3. Aladdin (Disney) - $504 M (1992)
4. Tarzan (Disney) - $448 M (1999)
5. Beauty & the Beast (Disney) - $425 M (1991)
6. Pocahontas (Disney) - $346 M (1995)
7. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney) - $325 M (1996)
8. Mulan (Disney) - $304 M (1998)
9. Spirited Away (Ghibli) - $275 M (2002)
10. Lilo & Stitch (Disney) - $273 M (2002)
11. The Princess and the Frog (Disney) - $267 M (2009)
12. Hercules (Disney) - $253 M (1997)
13. Brother Bear (Disney) - $250 M (2003)
14. Chicken Run (DW) - $225 M (2000)
15. The Prince of Egypt (DW) - $219 M (1998)
16. The Little Mermaid (Disney) - $211 M (1989)
17. Ponyo (Ghibli) - $202 M (2009)
18. Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (DW) - $193 M (2005)
19. Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Disney) - $186 M (2001)
20. The Emperor's New Groove (Disney) - $169 M (2000)
21. Pokémon: The First Movie (WB) - $164 M (1999)
22. The Secret World of Arrietty (Ghibli) - $146 M (2012)
23. The Rugrats Movie (Par) - $141 M (1998)
24. Anastasia (Fox) - $140 M (1997)
25. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Par) - $140 M (2004)
26. The Jungle Book 2 (Disney) - $136 M (2003)
27. Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (WB) - $134 M (2000)
28. Coraline (Focus) - $125 M (2009)
29. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (DW) - $123 M (2002)
30. The Pirates: Band of Misfits (Sony) - $123 M (2012)
31. Corpse Bride (WB) - $117 M (2005)
32. Treasure Planet (Disney) - $110 M (2002)
33. Return to Neverland (Disney) - $110 M (2002)
34. ParaNorman (Focus) - $107 M (2012)
35. Home on the Range (Disney) - $104 M (2004)
36. The Tigger Movie (Disney) - $96 M (2000)
37. An American Tale (Univ) - $85 M (1986)
38. The Land Before Time (Univ) - $84 M (1988)
39. South Park - Bigger, Longer, Uncut (Par) - $83 M (1999)
40. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (DW) - $81 M (2003)
41. Frankenweinie (Disney) - $81 M (2012)
42. The Road to El Dorado (DW) - $76 M (2000)
43. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Disney) - $75 M (1993)
44. Oliver & Company (Disney) - $74 M (1988)
45. Curious George (Univ) - $70 M (2006)
46. Pokémon 3: The Movie (WB) - $68 M (2001)
47. The Fox and the Hound (Disney) - $63 M (1981)
48. Piglet's Big Movie (Disney) - $63 M (2003)
49. Fantasia 2000 (Disney) - $61 M (2000)
50. The Wild Thornberries (Par) - $61 M (2002)
51. Rugrats Go Wild (Par) - $59 M (2003)
52. Pooh's Heffalump Movie (Disney) - $53 M (2005)
53. Recess: School's Out (Disney) - $44 M (2001)
54. The Great Mouse Detective (Disney) - $39 M (1986)
55. Titan A.E. (Fox) - $37 M (2000)
56. Winnie the Pooh (Disney) - $33 M (2011)
57. Ferngully the Last Rainforest (Fox) - $33 M (1992)
58. James and the Giant Peach (Disney) - $29 M (1996)
59. The Rescuers Down Under (Disney) - $28 M (1990)
60. The Black Cauldron (Disney) - $21 M (1981)