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The Highest Grossing Kids’ Movie Every Year Since ‘Toy Story’ Came Out

The Highest Grossing Kids’ Movie Every Year Since ‘Toy Story’ Came Out

Hollywood knows how to mine box-office gold, and since the release of the original “Toy Story” in 1995, worldwide grosses for children’s movies have soared. (These are the 40 most profitable kids’ movies of all time.)

To compile a list of the top-grossing kids movies every year since “Toy Story” came out, 24/7 Tempo ranked all movies released since 1995 by their worldwide box-office gross, using data from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by Nash Information Services.

In the 28 years since Pixar’s story about talking toys and their relationship with their human owners was released, there have been just two years – 1995 and 1997- in which worldwide gross for kids’ flicks have fallen under $1 billion. Worldwide gross eclipsed $7 billion in 2016 and 2019.

The number of children’s films released by the movie industry has leapt as well. In 1997, just nine kid-oriented motion pictures were released according to The Numbers. In 2019, there were 179.

“Toy Story” was a critical and box-office hit and spawned three sequels for Pixar Animation Studios, which produced its films sometimes in collaboration with Walt Disney Pictures. Other successes for Pixar included the Monsters and the Incredibles franchises. (Beware of the worst movie from every major franchise.)

As you might expect, Disney itself is well-represented on our list, with films such as “101 Dalmatians,” “Flubber,” “Dinosaur,” and “Frozen.”

DreamWorks Animation got on the children’s movie gravy train with runaway hit franchises such as Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda, while 20th Century Fox found success with the Ice Age franchise.

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

1995: Toy Story
> Worldwide box office: $519,776,702
> Est. avg. production budget: $37,500,000
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 1995: 15
> Main cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

1996: 101 Dalmatians
> Worldwide box office: $1,245,802,262
> Est. avg. production budget: $46,706,000
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 1996: 19
> Main cast: Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

1997: Flubber
> Worldwide box office: $473,204,530
> Est. avg. production budget: $44,000,000
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 1997: 9
> Main cast: Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher McDonald

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

1998: A Bug’s Life
> Worldwide box office: $1,207,845,196
> Est. avg. production budget: $47,437,500
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 1998: 12
> Main cast: Kevin Spacey, David Foley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

1999: Toy Story 2
> Worldwide box office: $1,188,514,901
> Est. avg. production budget: $43,100,000
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 1999: 12
> Main cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

2000: Dinosaur
> Worldwide box office: $1,742,749,842
> Est. avg. production budget: $55,966,667
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2000: 23
> Main cast: D.B. Sweeney, Juliana Margulies, Samel E. Wright

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

2001: Monsters, Inc.
> Worldwide box office: $1,936,346,714
> Est. avg. production budget: $44,416,667
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2001: 16
> Main cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Mary Gibbs

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

2002: Ice Age
> Worldwide box office: $2,082,713,035
> Est. avg. production budget: $47,882,353
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2002: 21
> Main cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

2003: Finding Nemo
> Worldwide box office: $2,328,122,547
> Est. avg. production budget: $57,454,545
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2003: 18
> Main cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould

Source: Courtesy of DreamWorks Distribution

2004: Shrek 2
> Worldwide box office: $3,034,453,945
> Est. avg. production budget: $63,076,923
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2004: 24
> Main cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz

Source: Courtesy of DreamWorks Distribution

2005: Madagascar
> Worldwide box office: $2,657,257,398
> Est. avg. production budget: $62,615,385
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2005: 17
> Main cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

2006: Ice Age: The Meltdown
> Worldwide box office: $3,717,184,328
> Est. avg. production budget: $71,785,714
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2006: 29
> Main cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

2007: Shrek the Third
> Worldwide box office: $2,355,530,934
> Est. avg. production budget: $110,333,333
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2007: 27
> Main cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

2008: Kung Fu Panda
> Worldwide box office: $1,814,956,870
> Est. avg. production budget: $63,100,000
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2008: 36
> Main cast: Jack Black, Ian McShane, Angelina Jolie

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

2009: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
> Worldwide box office: $3,114,911,412
> Est. avg. production budget: $68,934,615
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2009: 35
> Main cast: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

2010: Toy Story 3
> Worldwide box office: $4,313,371,062
> Est. avg. production budget: $77,473,684
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2010: 68
> Main cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

2011: Kung Fu Panda 2
> Worldwide box office: $4,474,753,322
> Est. avg. production budget: $80,970,588
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2011: 55
> Main cast: Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Angelina Jolie

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

2012: Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
> Worldwide box office: $3,606,210,433
> Est. avg. production budget: $63,417,647
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2012: 71
> Main cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

2013: Frozen
> Worldwide box office: $5,397,761,623
> Est. avg. production budget: $78,743,750
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2013: 76
> Main cast: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

2014: Rio 2
> Worldwide box office: $2,942,523,505
> Est. avg. production budget: $44,995,238
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2014: 73
> Main cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jemaine Clement

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

2015: Minions
> Worldwide box office: $5,012,242,982
> Est. avg. production budget: $48,857,423
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2015: 164
> Main cast: Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

2016: Finding Dory
> Worldwide box office: $7,000,729,815
> Est. avg. production budget: $65,970,833
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2016: 163
> Main cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Ed O’Neill

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

2017: Despicable Me 3
> Worldwide box office: $5,115,872,788
> Est. avg. production budget: $78,366,667
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2017: 160
> Main cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Trey Parker

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

2018: Incredibles 2
> Worldwide box office: $4,946,154,362
> Est. avg. production budget: $83,666,667
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2018: 177
> Main cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

2019: The Lion King
> Worldwide box office: $7,553,872,060
> Est. avg. production budget: $92,288,155
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2019: 179
> Main cast: Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Seth Rogen

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

2020: Sonic The Hedgehog
> Worldwide box office: $1,681,979,009
> Est. avg. production budget: $91,321,429
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2020: 116
> Main cast: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Jim Carrey

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

2021: Sing 2
> Worldwide box office: $1,874,884,614
> Est. avg. production budget: $82,000,000
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2021: 141
> Main cast: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

2022: Minions: The Rise of Gru
> Worldwide box office: $2,701,506,767
> Est. avg. production budget: $89,285,714
> Total kids’ fiction movies released in 2022: 173
> Main cast: Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Alan Arkin

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