5 Highest-Grossing Animated Movie Franchises In History

Animated films are massive moneymakers. Long gone are the days when these features were perceived as a lower rung of financial notoriety than their live-action peers. Today, animated movies often occupy multiple spots on annual lists of biggest worldwide box office performers. The biggest Pixar movies of all time alone prove the record-shattering moolah to be made from animation. 

Animated films are often so lucrative they spawn countless sequels. Whereas animated sequels once went straight to the home video market, now it's customary to release these titles in theaters to massively profitable numbers. Many long-running animated movie franchises have produced enough hits to ensure staggering lifetime worldwide box office hauls. The five highest-grossing animated movie franchises in history (ranked below from "lowest" to highest) are prime examples of the enormous business animation is in the modern world. Not only are each of these sagas unspeakably profitable, but their biggest installments are a blueprint for what artistic qualities and external factors can inspire.

Above all else, breaking down the financial nuances of these popular franchises underscores the tremendous box office potential of animated cinema. Underestimate these films at your own peril. Clearly, audiences around the world just can't get enough of stories told in this medium.

It's absolutely staggering to consider just how massive the "Ice Age" franchise is. These five movies have grossed a combined $3.2 billion worldwide, with the third ("Dawn of the Dinosaurs") and fourth ("Continental Drift") entries making a combined $1.76 billion on their own. At the time of its release, "Dawn of the Dinosaurs" was the 15th biggest movie ever at the worldwide box office with a massive $883.7 million cume. Meanwhile, "Continental Drift" had $718 million international gross, making it one of only eight pre-2013 American movies to score a $700+ million overseas haul. Scrat could buy a lot of acorns with all that moolah.

How on Earth did these animated comedies consistently rank among the world's biggest movies at the box office? A Los Angeles Times profile on the franchise's box office success noted that these films were dubbed in international countries by massive local celebrities, making them deeply relevant for audiences across the globe. Meanwhile, its core universal themes about families (or "herds") sticking together resonated in many international communities. 

In addition, their leaning so heavily on dialogue-free comedic antics, most notably Scrat's various struggles getting the acorn, easily resonate across language barriers, which can't be discounted. Whatever has informed the immense financial success of the "Ice Age" movies, it's ensured these features are among the most lucrative animated films in history. No wonder Disney is preparing new installment "Ice Age: Boiling Point."

Back in 1994, "The Lion King" had a massive opening weekend in limited release, setting the kind of box office record that will never be broken. That impressive bow paved the way for a gargantuan run that, thanks to multiple theatrical re-releases, has amassed $979.16 million globally. Since then, any new project connected to Simba and his Pride Rock pals was bound to make serious bank. Even so, it's amazing how much all three theatrical "Lion King" movies have grossed worldwide. Over a trio of motion pictures, the "Lion King" saga has amassed $3.35 billion globally.

$1.66 billion of that, roughly half of the franchise's theatrical earnings, comes from 2019's "The Lion King," a realistically animated remake of the original 1994 film. As of this writing, 2019's "Lion King" is the 12th biggest movie in history at the worldwide box office. And while not as big as its predecessors, "Mufasa: The Lion King" was no slouch. This 2024 feature was a classic example of a movie that "flopped" on opening weekend but still became a box office hit thanks to an astonishingly leggy run. "Mufasa" ended up grossing $722.63 million worldwide, a tremendous cume, especially given its initially disappointing opening weekend numbers.

No matter the era, "Lion King" movies continue entertaining audiences, especially in international markets. That's one of the more lucrative elements of the Circle of Life.

All five mainline "Toy Story" movies have achieved box office success, an incredible feat in a world where even multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe features have fallen short financially. People just love Woody, Buzz, and the other toys populating these films that have, to date, grossed over $3.6 billion worldwide. "Toy Story 3" and "4" are so far the biggest entries, with each outing globally grossing $1.068 and 1.071 billion respectively. Before the end of its worldwide theatrical run, "Toy Story 5" should easily crack the $1+ billion threshold as well. More than 30 years since the original "Toy Story" debuted, this brand name remains as strong as ever. 

The secret behind this success isn't too complex. The "Toy Story" movies have a track record for quality with each entry (save for 2022's "Lightyear") getting only either A or A+ CinemaScore grades. With stories that play on very real feelings related to loneliness, growing up, or discovering what informs a "purposeful" life, the individual pieces of the "Toy Story" saga carry immense weight for audiences. Plus, the post-"Toy Story 2" outings constantly being positioned as massive summertime family movie events surely hasn't hurt their box office prowess.

Given the success of "Toy Story 5," don't be shocked if more installments get produced in this saga. The box office success of the "Toy Story" domain will just keep on going.

Many of the franchises on this list released their biggest installments after 2011, the year where international numbers spiked to unprecedented levels and markets like China ballooned in their box office potential. However, a notable exception to this is "Shrek," a saga that's current box office high came in the year of Usher's "Yeah!" with 2004's "Shrek 2" releasing only three years after the first film became a massive hit. Audience enthusiasm for the start of the entire "Shrek" timeline was tremendously positive, making a sequel an enticing prospect to many.

However, nobody could've imagined "Shrek 2" would be as big as it was. Right away, the film obliterated box office records by scoring what was at the time the largest single day box office haul over its opening weekend. That kicked off a deeply leggy run, eventually leading to "Shrek 2" amassing $933.84 million worldwide, nearly a fourth of the $4.03 billion worldwide gross of the "Shrek" franchise. That gargantuan lifetime haul was also made possible by two lucrative "Puss in Boots" spin-off movies, each of which made $484+ million worldwide.

With every single one of the six "Shrek" installments grossing at least $494.3 million globally (and nearly double that in the case of "Shrek 2"), it's no wonder "Shrek" is ahead of all but one animated movie franchise. Like onions, there's layers to the impressiveness of these box office feats. 

While it took "Toy Story" a little over three decades to reach six installments, the "Despicable Me" features, which also encompass the "Minions" spin-offs, reached the six movie mark in just 14 years. "Despicable Me" being the biggest animated film series of all time, though, goes beyond having more entries than other animated franchises. Starting with "Despicable Me 2" in 2013, these have been some of the most reliably lucrative motion pictures around, with each movie bringing in at least $937.7 million worldwide and sometimes as much as $1.15 billion. 

A good chunk of those grosses have come from international markets, where titles like "Despicable Me 4" grossed over $620 million. That's not surprising, since the "Despicable Me" adventures are perfectly equipped to translate to any country on the planet. The primary characters, those yellow Minions, speak a gibberish language anyone can grasp, while engaging in universally broad slapstick. Universal pushing the Minions on every product imaginable across the planet has also helped these characters become consistent box office powerhouses.

Even with all these elements at play, it's staggering to see how gargantuan the "Despicable Me" movies are worldwide. This fictional universe didn't even exist two decades ago. Yet it's now far and away the biggest animated franchise in history. That's a feat worthy of a celebratory banana or two.