In our analysis of the top 50 highest-grossing animated films we took a closer look at representation and creation. Our short study found some jarring statistics about these highest grossing animation movies:
How did we get this data? Let’s start off with a list of highest grossing animated films by box office numbers ...
What is the highest-grossing animated movie of all time? It’s the relatively recent smash hit for Disney: Frozen. Box office results show more than $400 million in domestic ticket sales and about $1.29 billion overall.
Adjusted for inflation, however, the most successful Disney movie may have been the original highest grossing animated movie. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The first Disney blockbuster brought in $984 million in today’s dollars, but since we’re not able to adjust foreign dollars for a total worldwide inflation-adjusted number, it’s difficult to say which film can claim the title of highest grossing animated film.
But what are the best animated movies of all time? “Best” is a bit more difficult to define, so we’ve compared the worldwide gross of these films with their Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score, which is created using critics’ recommendations. This can help us discover which on our list of highest grossing animated movies are also the highest-rated animated movies.
Comparing worldwide box office gross and Rotten Tomatoes scores, we see which studios have been the most financially and artistically successful over the years. It should surprise no one that the lightning-in-a-bottle creators seem to be the combination of Pixar and Disney. The top Disney movies, like Frozen, Incredibles 2, Toy Story 3, and Finding Dory, are also some of highest grossing animated films on our list. One of the most powerful newcomers, however, is Illumination Studios, which experienced a smash success with the Minions, which have become a cultural phenomenon all on their own.
With so many popular princesses, one would assume that female representation in animation wouldn’t be a problem, but male protagonists dominate our list of the highest grossing animated films. As we mentioned before, only 18% of these films feature a female main character, and that includes situations like Zootopia and Incredibles 2, which split attention between a female protagonist and a slightly-less-important male protagonist, or Inside Out, which features a fairly large main cast.
One might assume that the majority of animated characters would be white people, but that’s not so. The majority of main characters in the top-grossing animated feature films are animals, monsters, robots, or other types of creatures. More than half of the main characters on this list of the highest-grossing animated films of all time are creatures. But non-white representation is still a problem, with only three films featuring non-white characters. Big Hero 6’s Hiro Hamada is half-Japanese, bringing the number of not-100%-white characters up to four.
LGBTQ+ representations are notably absent on this list of the highest grossing animated films. This could change if rumors of Elsa’s sexuality end up being true; we may find out in the sequel to Disney’s Frozen.
For disability representation, one film that can be counted as potentially part of the conversation is How to Train Your Dragon 2 and the franchise’s other films that followed it, in which the main character, Hiccup, and his dragon friend, Toothless, both wear prosthetics after the events of How to Train Your Dragon, one of the highest grossing animated films of 2010.
Neurodiversity, which has been touch and go in children’s media, gets some representation in Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, and potentially Inside Out. These top grossing animated movies might not be the ideal form of representation, with not a lot available for autistic children, but it’s a world of difference from using neurodiversity as something to be made fun of in supporting characters.
On the list of highest grossing animated movies of all time, animated sequels takes up half of the data, but original ideas can get an incredible turnout, with classics like Up, Aladdin, and The Lion King staying put on the list despite several years passing since their release and our list not being adjusted for inflation. The trend toward sequels can be troubling, though, highlighting the need for more diverse stories and expanding the representation problems even further.
Is the “G” rating dying? It’s a question that’s been plaguing Hollywood for years. Some have complained that the functions of the “G” versus “PG” ratings are now completely off. This may be a logical result of the 1984 creation of the PG-13 rating, which now seems to be Hollywood’s moneymaker rating. This is true by and large, but not for animation, which appears to be seen in America as an exclusively for-children form of entertainment. With all that in mind, it makes complete sense that PG-rated animated movies would dominate this list of highest grossing animated movies of all time.
Find more about the author: Kim Hart
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