Film studios like animated movies more than any other because they are available for anyone to watch, while entire families often head to the cinema together to purchase tickets at the same time.
That means, if an animated movie hits the right note, it can become a money-making goliath.
Officially, the highest-grossing animated movie of all time is the remake of The Lion King, which was released in 2019. Interestingly, the movie was called a 'live action' reboot by some at the time, but it is definitely animated, albeit by computer graphics this time, and it is definitely a monster hit, earning $1,657,713,459 at the box office.
Two movies within the same franchise are in second and third, with Frozen and Frozen II respectively which earned Disney a combined $2,740,026,933.
Pixar, as you would expect, is healthily represented in the top 10 with Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, Toy Story 3 and Finding Dory.
Rather interestingly, there is only one movie in the top 10 that is not part of a franchise and that is 2016's Zootopia.
All of the top 10 highest-grossing animated movies of all time have been released within the last decade.
They are all also computer generated. When looking at classically animated movies, the highest-grossing is the original Lion King.
Highest-grossing animated movies
Movie |
Worldwide Box Office |
Year of Release |
The Lion King |
$1,657,713,459 |
2019 |
Frozen II |
$1,450,026,933 |
2019 |
Frozen |
$1,290,000,000 |
2013 |
Incredibles 2 |
$1,242,805,359 |
2018 |
Minions |
$1,159,398,397 |
2015 |
Toy Story 4 |
$1,073,394,593 |
2019 |
Toy Story 3 |
$1,066,973,008 |
2010 |
Zootopia |
$1,042,533,689 |
2016 |
Despicable Me 3 |
$1,034,799,409 |
2017 |
Finding Dory |
$1,028,570,889 |
2016 |
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