For three years running, Universal animated movies for families have trounced Disney movies targeting the same demographic. In fact, Universal has grossed double what Disney has.
Here's a breakdown of the numbers from the Wrap:
From Pixar's "Onward," which opened to a disappointing $39 million in March 2020 to Walt Disney Animation's "Strange World," which barely cracked $25.5 million in its first 12 days of domestic release, Disney's theatrically released animated films have grossed just over $1 billion worldwide.
Meanwhile, in that same period, with the same burdens of COVID and on much lower production budgets, Universal's combined theatrical output from Illumination and DreamWorks Animation have earned $2.06 billion worldwide from a series of animated hits like "Trolls: World Tour," "The Croods: A New Age," "Spirit Untamed," "The Boss Baby: Family Business," "Sing 2," "The Bad Guys" and "Minions: The Rise of Gru."
The contrast in box office performance has been stark. Disney's "Encanto" ($256 million) earned one-third less in late 2021/early 2022 than Universal's "Sing 2" ($407 million), while Disney/Pixar's "Lightyear" ($226 million) eventually earned less than both of Universal animated films from this spring and summer: Illumination's "Minions: The Rise of Gru" ($937 million) and DreamWorks Animations' "The Bad Guys" ($250 million).
I mean it's insane that "The Bad Guys," a little known newcomer beat out "Lightyear" part of the "Toy Story" franchise, which is one of the top ten highest grossing animated franchises ever.
The feat has Hollywood asking the question: How is Universal doing it? How is this animation David slaying the animation giant?
It's certainly not their budget. Disney has outspent Universal at every turn. Nor is it their animation talent; Disney's movies look much better.
Here's a crazy idea: maybe it's because Disney keeps inserting its political and sexual agenda into every stinking story it puts out: things that parents don't want their children seeing and that they don't want to see themselves.
