Animation Is Having a Magical Year: Five Films Are Dominating the Box Office, and None Are From Pixar

The current state of animated cinema is undeniably thriving. This is not just due to the high quality of recent hits like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Boy and the World, and Nimona. The box office has also shown a strong interest in the diverse styles and subgenres within animated films.

The Wild Robot is one of the latest animated films to hit theaters. It follows the journey of a robot who must adapt to its harsh environment after being shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. It then becomes a foster mother to an orphaned baby goose. The film’s recent success reflects the industry’s wide range of innovative ideas and storytelling.

A historic milestone. For the first time in history, five animated films simultaneously entered the top 10 highest-grossing films in North America. The films are:

• The Wild Robot (#2) - $13.45 million in ticket sales
• Piece by Piece (#5) - $3.8 million in ticket sales
• Transformers One (#6) - $3.65 million in ticket sales
• My Hero Academia: You’re Next (#8) - $3.007 million in ticket sales
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (#9) - $2.3 million in ticket sales

What’s particularly noteworthy is the great variety of films. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a re-release of a beloved modern classic. Meanwhile, My Hero Academia and Transformers One are new additions to successful franchises, each with its own distinct style: traditional anime and family-friendly CGI, respectively. Piece by Piece stands out as a biopic presented in LEGO format, showcasing the life of singer and producer Pharrell Williams. Lastly, The Wild Robot, a family-oriented film from Universal Pictures and DreamWorks, introduces intriguing artistic elements.

An exceptional year. It’s important to note that Inside Out 2, a hit animated Pixar film, broke multiple records during the summer. With a worldwide gross of nearly $1.7 billion, it became the highest-grossing animated film of all time, the highest-grossing film of 2024 (surpassing Deadpool & Wolverine), and the eighth highest-grossing film in history. This success in the animated film industry, particularly from Pixar, indicates that the setbacks Disney faced in the past were only temporary.

Non-Pixar films. It’s also quite remarkable that there are still upcoming animated film releases expected to perform well at the box office before the end of the year. Some notable ones include the anniversary re-release of Coraline, Moana 2, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Mufasa: The Lion King, and the animated adaptation of the popular children’s book Dog Man, which is predicted to be a major hit during Christmas. Undoubtedly, the animation industry is currently in a sweet spot.

The Wild Robot’s success. The Wild Robot is vibrant in its aesthetics but very classic in the story it tells. In its third weekend, it managed to top the U.S. box office, only second to another unexpected hit, Terrifier 3, and surpassing Joker: Folie à Deux.

DreamWorks at the top of its game. DreamWorks Animation is on a winning streak. The Wild Robot is only its latest achievement. In spring, the studio released Kung Fu Panda 4, a worldwide hit, while its Trolls Band Together premiered in late 2023. Pixar has found an interesting rival in DreamWorks Animation, which has also released blockbusters like The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots, a Shrek spin-off, in recent years. Excitingly, Shrek is coming back in 2025. These are undoubtedly magical times for animation.

Image | Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Animation

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