Whether it's made traditionally or digitally, animated films have dominated box-office numbers and fans' hearts for years. And yet, for all the praise that animation as a medium gets, stop motion films have not always earned the same widespread approval and praise as their contemporaries. Despite this, studios continue to pour their hearts and wallets into crafting impressive and entertaining stop-motion films.

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While stop motion animated films are traditionally less expensive than digitally animated ones, they still acquire massive budgets that can be shocking though warranted. After all, a massive amount of work goes into creating these stop-motion films, and as such their multi-million dollar budgets make sense.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - $40 Million

Mr. Fox looks back at the camera

Ranking as the tenth most expensive stop-motion animated film of all time is Wes Anderson's take on Roald Dahl's book of the same name, Fantastic Mr. FoxThe film features an all-star cast that includes George Clooney as Mr. Fox, a paternal fox who steals from his human neighbors thus endangering the lives of his family and the rest of his animal friends.

Fantastic Mr. Fox went on to earn $46.5 million at the box office which isn't that great as far as profits go, though the film did earn high critical acclaim. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score at the Academy Awards in 2010. Roughly a decade later, Wes Anderson would return to the world of stop motion with Isle of Dogs.

Corpse Bride (2005) - $40 Million

Victor and Victoria on their wedding day in the stop-motion film Corpse Bride

Tim Burton may focus much of his effort in the live-action filmmaking but he has dabbled in the art of stop-motion animation from time to time. Corpse Bride was the third stop-motion film Burton was involved with  (he directed Frankenweenie and only produced The Nightmare Before Christmas) and is his most expensive due to the fact that it was shot using digital cameras instead of traditional ones.

Corpse Bride follows Victor, a young man who's family has arranged him to marry Victoria. While practicing his vows, Victor accidentally ends up marrying himself to Emily, the Corpse Bride. He's then transported to the land of the dead and must figure out a way to get back to Victoria and the living in time for their wedding.

Chicken Run (2000) - $45 Million

Chickens on the farm in Chicken Run

Originally known for traditionally animated hits like The Prince of Egypt and digital ones like Shrek, DreamWorks entered the world of stop-motion animated by distributing Chicken RunAs the name suggests, the film focuses on a group of chickens who are on the run from their human owners after learning that their humans plan to turn them into chicken pies.

Interestingly enough, while the film is one of DreamWorks' cheapest films ever made, it ranks eighth on the list of most expensive stop-motion films ever made. Luckily, Chicken Run went on to be the highest-grossing stop motion animated film of all time.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) - $55 Million

Captain swinging off the boat in The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists!

Aardman Animations once again makes the list this time with The Pirates! Band of Misfits, which is also known in Europe as The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! As the title suggests, the film follows a pirate captain (Hugh Grant) as he travels the high seas in order to win the title of being the Pirate of the Year.

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Part of the reason for the hefty budget was due in part to the fact this was also Aardman Animations' first-ever 3D film. It went on to earn $123 million at the global box office and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Film.

Kubo & The Two Strings (2016) - $60 Million

Kubo smiling in Kubo and the Two Strings

In terms of budget, Laika Studios' Kubo and the Two Strings ties with four other films. The film revolves around Kubo who is on the run from a vengeful spirit he must learn to defeat in order to save himself and uncover the truth about his father's legacy.

Despite being a commercial failure, Kubo and the Two Strings did earn high praise from critics and the award circuits. In fact, it was nominated for two Academy Awards, one of which was for Best Visual Effects.

The Boxtrolls (2014) - $60 Million

Eggs from The Boxtrolls

Based on the Alan Snow novel Here Be Monsters!, Boxtrolls centers on Eggs, a human child who is taken in and raised by Boxtrolls. When his family is in danger, Eggs ventures into the human world where he befriends Winnifred, a human girl, who helps take down the evil Archibald Snatcher.

This film was a commercial and critical success for Laika and Focus Features earning $109.3 million at the global box office. It was also nominated for an Academy Award though it did not win.

ParaNorman (2012) - $60 Million

Norman and his friends escaping zombies in ParaNorman

Another Laika film to make the list with a $60 million budget is the underrated hit ParaNorman. The film follows Norman Babcock, a young boy who must figure out a way to communicate with the zombies who are threatening his town.

Part of the reason for ParaNorman's huge budget was due to the fact that the creative team used 3D color printers to create the characters' faces, which was a first for the field of stop motion. Additionally, ParaNorman was the second stop-motion film to be shot in 3D.

Coraline (2009) - $60 Million

Coraline and Other Mother

Based on Neil Gaiman's book of the same name, Coraline tells the story of the eponymous girl who discovers a parallel universe that is much like her own. While Coraline (not Caroline) loves this new world at first, she quickly realizes the dangers it poses and must figure out a way to escape and get back to her real life.

RELATED: Laika Animated Movies, Ranked According To IMDb

Coraline's $60 million budget allowed for the film to do a lot of things like being filmed on a huge sound stage that allowed the team to create 150 different sets for the film. Not only that, but Coraline took an insanely long time to film, with only 90-100 seconds of footage being filmed a week. For reference, the whole movie clocks in at 100 minutes.

The Little Prince (2015) - $77.5 Million

Stop motion in The Little Prince

What makes the recent French adaptation of The Little Prince unique is that it's a hybrid of digital and stop motion animation. Based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry seminal novella of the same name, The Little Prince follows The Little Girl as she learns a valuable life lesson when she meets The Aviator, who tells her the story of when he met the Little Prince.

The Little Girl's scenes were digitally animated, while The Little Prince's story were brought to life with stop motion. The Little Prince was meant to be screened in theaters in the United States, but budget cuts brought a stop to that plan. Instead, the film was released on Netflix.

Mr. Link and Sir Lionel Frost from Missing Link

With a budget of $100 million, Missing Link officially takes the title of being the most expensive stop-motion film made to date. The film follows Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis), a giant creature who wants to reunite with his long-lost family who live in Shangri-La. With the help of Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) and Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), the three learn that their friendship might mean more than anything else in the world.

Unfortunately, the massive budget did not ensure that Missing Link would be a commercial success. In fact, it was a massive flop, earning only $26 million against its massive budget. Though it lost a tremendous amount of money, Missing Link did earn praise from the award circuits and has since become something of a cult classic.

NEXT: Disney's 5 Most Expensive Animated Films (& The 5 Cheapest)