Until Toy Story 2 made its debut, animated movies just didn’t get theatrical sequels. A little over 20 years later, that’s so weird to think about considering that Frozen 2 just smashed the box office and Trolls World Tour is close on the horizon. What’s even weirder is that...there actually aren’t that many animated franchises.
Just so we have some ground rules, we’re only counting franchises with three or more films that were released in theatres. Out of fairness to the medium, no live-action remake films will be counted towards the overall ranking. Based on box office revenue and critical acclaim, here are the top 10 highest performing animated movie franchises.
The LEGO Movie
Number of Movies: 4
Average Worldwide Gross: $273,849,785
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%
The LEGO Movie came out of nowhere, taking the world by storm with CGI stop motion, amazing attention to detail, and unparalleled humor. When we first saw the trailers, we all knew this movie was either going to be amazing or it was going to be so bad it was good. Turns out, it was so good that it was good, partially due to LEGO giving Warner Bros. Animation free reign in storytelling.
What works against this franchise is when the studio decides to release the movies. It’s not exactly a franchise meant for the summer box office, so the overall revenue is much lower than any of the other movies on this list. However, the score should speak for itself.
Ice Age
Number of Movies: 5
Average Worldwide Gross: $643,353,306
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 47%
Did anyone else miss the fact that Ice Age launched a fifth movie?
Going all the way back to 2002, when CG animation was still extremely new and Shrek was crushing the market, Blue Sky Studios produced Ice Age. Unfortunately, this is one of the franchises that went downhill with every installment.
The first movie is still enjoyable, keeping the heart of its main character - Manny the mammoth - front and center. The humans primarily communicate non-verbally, which is an interesting choice and highlights how important body language is in animation and to us as an audience.
Hotel Transylvania
Number of Movies: 3
Average Worldwide Gross: $453,919,792
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 54%
Surprisingly charming, Hotel Transylvania is produced by Sony Pictures Animation. It’s no Into the Spider-Verse (though hopefully soon, that will indeed turn into a full-fledged franchise), but Hotel Transylvania a fun take on classic horror characters.
On paper, it also looks like one of those series that gets better as it goes on. The average critical reviews have typically become more positive with every installment and series seems to engage both parents and kids for the entirety of its 90min run time.
Cars
Number of Movies: 3
Average Worldwide Gross: $468,449,333
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 61%
The thing with Cars is that its success comes from the marketability of everything else besides the movies. Considered by many to be the black sheep of the Pixar movies, Cars has consistently received some of the lowest critical scores in Pixar history.
However, you cannot deny the buying power of Cars. It’s popular enough to be a multi-billion dollar franchise and have its own land in the Disney Parks. It’s impossible to ride Radiator Springs without going on it single-rider style.
Madagascar
Number of Movies: 4
Average Worldwide Gross: $556,600,274
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%
Released in 2005 at the start of the summer blockbuster time period, Madagascar tells the story of a fictitious version of the Central Park Zoo, where the animals are catered to and pampered. But Marty, the zebra, wants to live in the wild. Shenanigans happen and the zoo crew gets sent on an adventure to the island of Madagascar.
The movie spawned two more installments as well as a spin-off TV series and another movie solely dedicated to the penguins. Because honestly, we’re all in it for the penguins.
Shrek
Number of Movies: 4
Average Worldwide Gross: $744,784,559
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%
The (in)famous ogre takes a middle slot. Shrek can be credited with revolutionizing certain aspects of the animated movie industry, though not to the extent where it overcomes everything Pixar accomplished between Toy Story and Toy Story 2.
Birthed from a grudge match with Disney’s feature animation department, Shrek takes every fairy tale we know and love (or tolerate) and turns it upside down. Keep in mind that the early 2000s was the period right after the Disney Renaissance when The Little Mermaid took the world by storm and reestablished the musical princess movies. To many, Shrek was a breath of fresh, swampy air.
But like all things that go on for too long, Shrek gave into the tropes it was trying to subvert, resulting in both lower critical scores and lower revenue.
Kung Fu Panda
Number of Movies: 3
Average Worldwide Gross: $605,972,968
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
The unsung king of the DreamWorks franchises, Kung Fu Panda proves to be a really solid trilogy. This series highlights the artistry that DreamWorks can produce, integrating 2D sequences amid a primarily CG movie. And the humor is always on point.
Overall, it feels like a cohesive story about Po’s journey of self-discovery and reconnecting with his lost people and culture. Intentionally or not, it mirrors experiences that many Chinese adoptees have gone through. But one series cemented itself a bit more in our hearts...
How to Train Your Dragon
Number of Movies: 3
Average Worldwide Gross: $546,071,928
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
Welcome to Berk, home of the dragons! Very loosely based on the children’s novels by Cressida Cowell, How to Train Your Dragon was an unexpected success for DreamWorks. They took it in stride, churning out two more beautiful movies to complete the trilogy.
With Cowell consulting on the side, many of the events in the last two movies better coincide with events in the books. Hiccup was always supposed to become the chief and the dragons were always going to disappear. Say what you will about the ending of the third movie, but having Hiccup and Toothless reunite years after the danger has passed, is the type of optimism we need right now. And just because they do reunite doesn’t take away from the heartbreak of having to separate years before.
Despicable Me
Number of Movies: 4
Average Worldwide Gross: $927,019,449
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%
We all knew Despicable Me was a juggernaut, but wow. Averaging almost $1 billion per movie puts Despicable Me in league with the Transformers movies and boasting a higher critical score at that!
Say what you will about minions, but Illumination got the formula right with this one. Unlike most other Illumination movies, Despicable Me consistently offers some solid storytelling, comedic timing, and a little bit of heart to tie it all together. The central focus of the series is about found family, which resonates with everyone. Of course, a well-timed fart joke is always appreciated.
Toy Story
Number of Movies: 4
Average Worldwide Gross: $747,607,778
Average Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
Nobody can topple Pixar from its rightful throne among animated movies. Pixar set the standard for animated franchises by being the first to release an animated sequel in theatres. Everyone said it wasn’t possible and that the sequel wouldn’t live up to the Toy Story standard. Even with the entire movie almost being erased, Toy Story 2 persevered to the theatres and earned itself a perfect 100%.
No Toy Story movie has dipped below 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is downright amazing. This franchise is monetarily successful, critically acclaimed, and changed the landscape for all feature animation studios. It’s just too big of a deal to not put at the top. Also, Tom Hanks is always a win.