Summary
- Box office receipts don’t always determine quality, as many brilliant animated films are dismissed as financial flops.
- Many animated movies need to make hundreds of millions just to break even, punishing smaller studios and experimental works.
- Animation, while expensive, pushes boundaries and creates beautiful stories that are often underappreciated commercially.
Box office receipts aren’t always the most reliable indicator of a movie’s quality, meaning that many brilliant animated movies have been dismissed as financial flops. Fortunately, there are plenty of beloved box office bombs out there, and many movies are reappraised long after their studios have been forced to write them off as a loss. Animation is expensive to produce, so it produces more than its fair share of commercial failures.
Due to the high costs involved, animated movies usually need to reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars before they break even. This isn’t usually a problem for juggernauts like Pixar and Disney, but it punishes more experimental animations from smaller studios. Pushing the boundaries of animation can create some interesting and beautiful stories, but audiences might not be won over by something so unfamiliar.
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10 The Iron Giant (1999)
$31.3 million
Brad Bird is most famous nowadays for directing two of Pixar’s most popular classics, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, but he made The Iron Giant using 2D animation a few years earlier. The Cold War story of a young boy who befriends an enormous alien robot has rightly gone down in animation history as a mistreated masterpiece. The Iron Giant earned just over $30 million on a budget of $50 million.
The Cold War story of a young boy who befriends an enormous alien robot has rightly gone down in animation history as a mistreated masterpiece.
After a few misfires with animated movies, Warner Bros. were hesitant to invest in marketing for The Iron Giant. While similar movies of the era had promotional tie-ins on cereal boxes and in fast food restaurants, The Iron Giant was allowed to fly under the radar. Fortunately, the movie has since been recognized for its quality, and it has inspired many other animated movies about robots. There might not be a WALL-E or Big Hero 6 without The Iron Giant.
9 Kubo & The Two Strings (2016)
$77.5 million
Kubo and the Two Strings failed to break even, but it was a big hit with critics. The stop-motion animated movie even earned two Academy Award nominations, but it lost Best Animated Feature to Zootopia. Kubo and the Two Strings follows a young boy with a magical shamisen who sets off on a quest with two new allies to avenge his mother’s death and find his father’s armor.
Kubo and the Two Strings
takes a few visual cues from origami, ink-wash paintings and other Japanese art forms to tie the story to the mythological tradition that it borrows from.
Kubo and the Two Strings takes a few visual cues from origami, ink-wash paintings and other Japanese art forms to tie the story to the mythological tradition that it borrows from. Despite this mixture of influences, Kubo and the Two Strings is an inventive and original story. It has some moments of humor, but it gives its young audience a lot of credit, telling a dark and emotional story with supreme confidence.
8 Osmosis Jones (2001)
$14 million
With a budget of $70 million, Osmosis Jones was a box office disaster, but this doesn’t accurately reflect the merits of the live-action/ animation hybrid. The live-action portions of Osmosis Jones follow Bill Murray playing a zookeeper with personal hygiene that’s even worse than the animals he looks after. Inside his body lives an entire animated world populated by blood cells and viruses.
Osmosis Jones
is a clever buddy cop parody for anyone old enough to understand it. For those too young, it’s still a fun adventure movie that can also educate children about the human body as a bonus.
The live-action segments of Osmosis Jones can be a little slow, and they aim for gross-out humor far too often, but the animation is lively and enjoyable. Chris Rock plays the titular white blood cell, who goes on a journey to track down a trouble-making virus. Osmosis Jones is a clever buddy cop parody for anyone old enough to understand it. For those too young, it’s still a fun adventure movie that can also educate children about the human body as a bonus.
7 Missing Link (2019)
$26.6 million
Missing Link
- Director
- Chris Butler
- Release Date
- April 12, 2019
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason for Missing Link‘s commercial failure. The stop-motion animated movie features plenty of great physical humor, two lovable heroes, and a touch of the mythical. However, none of this was enough at the box office, and Missing Link lost over $100 million. This was a big blow for Laika, and the stop-motion studio is taking its time with its next movie.
The stop-motion animated movie features plenty of great physical humor, two lovable heroes, and a touch of the mythical.
Missing Link stars Hugh Jackman as an ambitious adventurer who sets out to find a sasquatch so he can be accepted into a Victorian society of great men. When he does find the creature, played by Zach Galifianakis in typical oddball mode, Missing Link reveals itself to be an adventure about unlikely friendships. Laika is most famous for its kid-friendly horror moviesCoraline and ParaNorman, so Missing Link suggests the studio may look to diversify in the future.
6 The Red Turtle (2016)
$6.6 million
The Red Turtle
- Director
- Michael Dudok de Wit
- Release Date
- June 29, 2016
- Cast
- Emmanuel Garijo , Tom Hudson , Baptiste Goy , Axel Devillers , Barbara Beretta , Maud Brethenoux , Mickaรซl Dumoussaud , Elie Tertois
Studio Ghibli’s movies usually perform exceptionally well at the box office, but The Red Turtle was a rare exception to this rule. The Red Turtle was produced in collaboration with a few Western studios, so it doesn’t look much like Ghibli’s iconic art style, but it does share the studio’s storytelling magic. The Red Turtle is just as creative and interesting as any of the studio’s biggest hits.
T
he Red Turtle
may have alienated some audiences with its complete lack of dialogue. However, this bold choice sets the stage for some impressive visual storytelling.
The Red Turtle may have alienated some audiences with its complete lack of dialogue. However, this bold choice sets the stage for some impressive visual storytelling. The Red Turtle is a beautiful experimental tale about a shipwrecked man who meets a giant turtle just as he begins to lose all hope, and it showcases what animation is capable of, even without any words to carry the narrative.
5 Flushed Away (2006)
$178.3 million
Flushed Away
- Director
- David Bowers , Sam Fell
- Release Date
- October 22, 2006
Although a box office total of $178.3 million is nothing to be sniffed at, it still represented a loss for Flushed Away, thanks to the movie’s enormous $149 million budget. Taking its marketing costs into account, the movie’s poor financial return was enough to convince DreamWorks Animation to terminate their partnership with Aardman Animations. This is a shame, because there’s no telling how many other beloved children’s comedies may have come out of this collaboration.
the movie’s poor financial return was enough to convince DreamWorks Animation to terminate their partnership with Aardman Animations.
Flushed Away‘s animation style is a big factor in its huge budget, as Aardman tried to replicate their signature claymation style using CGI. Still, Flushed Away should be seen as a success, as it tells a creative and hilarious fish-out-of-water story about a domesticated mouse who is taken on a madcap adventure through London’s sewer system. If it had managed to keep its budget down, then Flushed Away would have the reputation it deserves.
4 Anomalisa (2015)
$5.7 million
Anomalisa
- Director
- Duke Johnson , Charlie Kaufman
- Release Date
- December 13, 2015
- Cast
- David Thewlis , Jennifer Jason Leigh , Tom Noonan
Anomalisa was always bound to face some trouble finding an audience, since there aren’t many R-rated animated movies out there. Anomalisa is revolutionary in more ways than one, however, and critics have praised its creative storytelling and its unsettling visual style. The psychological comedy-drama follows a man with a condition that makes him see everyone as the same person, except for one woman he crosses paths with in a hotel.
Anomalisa
was always bound to face some trouble finding an audience, since there aren’t many R-rated animated movies out there.
Charlie Kaufman is one of the most celebrated screenwriters of his generation, with critics heaping praise onto Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Anomalisa is somehow more bitter and intentionally hollow than any of these movies, and this makes it a remarkably urgent human story. The animation style is the perfect choice for a story about what it means to be human.
3 Treasure Planet (2002)
$109.6 million
While some of the movies on this list could only dream of a box office return of over $100 million, this still constituted a loss for Treasure Planet thanks to its $140 million budget. A rare financial failure from the animation powerhouse of Walt Disney Studios, Treasure Planet has nevertheless developed a cult following in the years since its release. Its home video sales were relatively strong compared to its ticket sales.
Treasure Planet
updates the swashbuckling story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s
Treasure Island
for an era where outer space is seen as the new romantic ideal for adventurers with a wanderlust for parts unknown.
Treasure Planet updates the swashbuckling story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island for an era where outer space is seen as the new romantic ideal for adventurers with a wanderlust for parts unknown. The movie’s visual grandeur, coupled with its fast-paced humor and memorable character designs, have made it more and more popular since 2002’s underwhelming release.
2 Rise Of The Guardians (2012)
$306.9 million
With a cast of characters including Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, DreamWorks Animation may have though that Rise of the Guardians had a lot of franchise potential. The main character is Jack Frost, who is enlisted by the Guardians to stop the Boogeyman from engulfing the world in darkness. As well as its crowd-pleasing humor, Rise of the Guardians attracted praise for its gorgeously expressive animation.
The failure of
Rise of the Guardians
was so drastic that it impacted DreamWorks’ ability to produce new movies for a while, and it contributed to the decision to lay off 350 employees.
DreamWorks Animations dreams of a franchise were shattered after Rise of the Guardians forced the studio to accept a loss of over $80 million, despite making over $300 million globally. DreamWorks had a lot riding on the movie, too much in hindsight. The failure of Rise of the Guardians was so drastic that it impacted DreamWorks’ ability to produce new movies for a while, and it contributed to the decision to lay off 350 employees.
1 Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
$46.2 million
Wes Anderson has amassed a devoted fan base over the years, and his new movies usually turn out to be reliable moneymakers. However, he has had one or two box office flops in his career, including 2009’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Many critics weren’t sure how to categorize the Roald Dahl adaptation, with some viewing it as a children’s movie, and others suggesting that it’s far more mature.
Many critics weren’t sure how to categorize the Roald Dahl adaptation, with some viewing it as a children’s movie, and others suggesting that it’s far more mature.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is now widely recognized as one of Wes Anderson’s best movies, but it didn’t achieve the financial success of The Grand Budapest Hotel or Moonrise Kingdom. Anderson’s version fills in the gaps of Dahl’s popular children’s story, turning it into a heist parody teeming with his trademark quirks. George Clooney’s protagonist may be a fox living in a tree, but his story is a mature drama about fatherhood and idealism.
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