Summary
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 ofbeloved box office bombsout 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.
10 Iconic Movies That Changed Animation Forever
Movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Toy Story, and Spirited Away revolutionized the storytelling and technology of the animation industry.
Brad Bird is most famous nowadays for directing two of Pixar’s most popular classics,The IncrediblesandRatatouille,but he madeThe Iron Giantusing 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 Giantearned 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 forThe Iron Giant.While similar movies of the era had promotional tie-ins on cereal boxes and in fast food restaurants,The Iron Giantwas allowed to fly under the radar. Fortunately, the movie has since been recognized for its quality, and it has inspired many otheranimated movies about robots.There might not be aWALL-EorBig Hero 6withoutThe Iron Giant.
Kubo and the Two Stringsfailed 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 toZootopia.Kubo and the Two Stringsfollows 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 Stringstakes 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 Stringstakes 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 Stringsis 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.
8Osmosis Jones (2001)
$14 million
With a budget of $70 million,Osmosis Joneswas a box office disaster, but this doesn’t accurately reflect the merits of the live-action/ animation hybrid. The live-action portions ofOsmosis Jonesfollow 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 Jonesis 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 ofOsmosis Jonescan 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 Jonesis 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.
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason forMissing 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, andMissing Linklost 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 Linkstars 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 Linkreveals itself to be an adventure about unlikely friendships.Laika is most famous for its kid-friendly horror moviesCoralineandParaNorman,soMissing Linksuggests the studio may look to diversify in the future.
Studio Ghibli’s moviesusually perform exceptionally well at the box office, butThe Red Turtlewas a rare exception to this rule.The Red Turtlewas 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 Turtleis just as creative and interesting as any of the studio’s biggest hits.
The Red Turtlemay have alienated some audiences with its complete lack of dialogue. However, this bold choice sets the stage for some impressive visual storytelling.
The Red Turtlemay have alienated some audiences with its complete lack of dialogue. However, this bold choice sets the stage for some impressive visual storytelling.The Red Turtleis a beautiful experimental taleabout 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.
Although a box office total of $178.3 million is nothing to be sniffed at, it still represented a loss forFlushed 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 styleis a big factor in its huge budget, as Aardman tried to replicate their signature claymation style using CGI. Still,Flushed Awayshould 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, thenFlushed Awaywould have the reputation it deserves.
Anomalisawas always bound to face some trouble finding an audience, since there aren’t many R-rated animated movies out there.Anomalisais 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.
Anomalisawas 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 ontoBeing John Malkovich, AdaptationandEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.Anomalisais 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.
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 forTreasure Planetthanks to its $140 million budget. A rare financial failure from the animation powerhouse of Walt Disney Studios,Treasure Planethas nevertheless developed a cult followingin the years since its release. Its home video sales were relatively strong compared to its ticket sales.
Treasure Planetupdates the swashbuckling story of Robert Louis Stevenson’sTreasure Islandfor an era where outer space is seen as the new romantic ideal for adventurers with a wanderlust for parts unknown.
Treasure Planetupdates the swashbuckling story of Robert Louis Stevenson’sTreasure Islandfor 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.
With a cast of characters including Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, DreamWorks Animation may have though thatRise of the Guardianshad 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 Guardiansattracted praise for its gorgeously expressive animation.
The failure ofRise of the Guardianswas 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 afterRise of the Guardiansforced 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 ofRise of the Guardianswas 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.
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’sThe 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. Foxis now widely recognized as one ofWes Anderson’s best movies, but it didn’t achieve the financial success ofThe Grand Budapest HotelorMoonrise 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.
10 Great Animated Movies That Prove 2D Isn’t Dead
3D has taken over the animation industry, but movies including Suzume, Blue Giant, and The Boy and the Heron prove that 2D is still alive and well.
