Highest-Grossing Kids’ Movies of All Time

Disney’s 52nd animated feature film follows an arcade game villain known as Wreck-it Ralph, who wants to be the good guy for once. He and his fellow game characters socialize when their arcade closes for the night. Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) sets off on an adventure through other games with the best of intentions, but all he knows how to do is destroy. The film set the record for what was then the highest opening weekend for any Disney animated movie, with ticket sales of $49 million.

Owen Wilson voices the car Lightning McQueen in this sequel to “Cars” – once again set in a world of anthropomorphic talking vehicles. McQueen has gone from a hungry rookie on the racetrack to a perennial champion. He soon learns of a new World Grand Prix and sets off to Tokyo to compete. “Cars 2” had what was, at the time, the second-largest opening day at the box office for a Pixar film.

In 1995, audiences were introduced to a world where toys come alive when there are no people around. However, not all of them understand that they’re toys. This was the first entirely computer-animated feature film and the first feature from Pixar. It was the highest-grossing domestic film of any kind in 1995, and its massive success surprised even its creators.

This DreamWorks Animation production follows a motley group of New York City Zoo animals as they try to escape from their lives in captivity. Their first attempt fails but animal activists push zoo authorities to send them to a Kenyan wildlife preserve. On the way to Kenya, some mischievous penguins in the group hijack the ship and end up stranding everybody on the island of Madagascar. The film opened third at the box office the year of its release, behind “Star Wars: Episode III” and “The Longest Yard.”

The second installment in the “Ice Age” series finds Manny the wooly mammoth, Sid the sloth, and Diego the smilodon living peacefully in a valley surrounded by a massive ice wall. Unfortunately, they soon learn that the wall is actually a dam holding back a massive reservoir of water and will soon break. As they scramble for safety, they meet a host of creatures also looking to escape the impending disaster. The film opened with $68 million at the box office in its first weekend.

Set one year after “The Meltdown,” the third installment in the series finds the protagonists once again living peacefully. Sid the sloth stumbles upon three unhatched eggs and brings them home to fulfill his desire of having a family of his own. However, the eggs soon hatch into baby Tyrannosaurus rexes and their mother comes looking for her lost offspring. Worldwide, “Dawn of the Dinosaurs” was the third-highest-grossing film of 2009.

“Happy Feet” features an ensemble voice-acting cast playing musical penguins living in Antarctica. Emperor penguins use their ability to sing to find a mate, but young penguin Mumble (Elijah Wood) was dropped by his father as an egg and cannot sing. He can tap dance, however, and must learn to navigate the penguin social world and learn to use his differences to his advantage. The film opened at No. 1 in the U.S., beating out “Casino Royale” for the top box office spot.

This DreamWorks Animation production follows a group of misfit monsters who have been captured by the U.S. government and will only be freed if they help defend the planet from an imminent alien invasion. Reese Witherspoon voices Ginormica, a woman who grew to 50 feet tall after being struck by a meteorite at her wedding. Critically, the film didn’t get a lot of praise, but it opened No. 1 at the box office. It was the highest-grossing film in Witherspoon’s career until “Sing” in 2017.

“Tangled,” loosely based on German fairy-tale “Rapunzel,” features a unique cutting-edge animation style. The film combined CGI and traditional hand-drawn animation and is one of the most expensive animated films ever created. The story follows the protagonist as she attempts to escape from the tower where she has been locked away for as long as she can remember. “Tangled” earned $11.9 million on opening night and at the time became the highest-grossing film ever released on the day before Thanksgiving.

Wreck-It Ralph returns and things quickly go south when the steering wheel breaks on the game his friend Vanellope “works for.” The arcade owner decides to deactivate the game, as a replacement steering wheel is too expensive. Taking matters into their own hands, Ralph and Vanellope use the arcade’s wi-fi router to journey out onto the web in search of a new wheel. The film debuted at No. 1 at the box office in its first weekend and had the second-best Thanksgiving opening day for any film other than “Frozen.”

Ratatouille tells the charming tale of Remy, a rat from the French countryside who has become obsessed with the culinary arts and goes to Paris to pursue his dream. He soon forms an odd cooking partnership with a young man named Alfredo Linguini. Ratatouille debuted at No. 1 at the box office, but recorded the lowest Pixar opening since “A Bug’s Life” in 1998. However, the film was a massive hit in France and dethroned “Titanic” for most consecutive weeks at the top of the French box office.

Originally based on the Roald Dahl children’s book of the same name, the live-action movie, directed by Tim Burton, stars Johnny Depp as the mysterious and esoteric Willy Wonka. The film opened at No. 1 at the box office and remained there for two weeks. At the time, it was the highest earning opening of Depp’s career, surpassing even “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, “Coco” follows a young boy named Miguel who wants to become a musician even though his family forbids it. After stealing a magical guitar from his family’s mausoleum, he realizes he is cursed and can interact with his dead relatives who are visiting for the holiday. Miguel must navigate this mystical social world in order to return to the living before the holiday is over. The film was released nearly a month earlier in Mexico than the United States and was a massive hit. It is the highest-grossing animated film and second-highest-grossing film of all time in Mexico.

Based on the popular Dr. Seuss children’s book “The Lorax,” the film expands on the characters in the original work. Danny DeVito voices the mysterious orange creature known as the Lorax, who tries to protect the forest from greedy humans set on cutting down the trees in pursuit of massive profits. The film easily topped the North American box office with $70.2 million in its first weekend. The next closest film was “Project X” with $21 million.

Another DreamWorks Animation film, this one focuses on an anthropomorphic panda named Po, who dreams of learning the art of kung fu. Unfortunately, Po is clumsy and looked down upon by many members of his community, until a respected martial arts master identifies him as next the Dragon Warrior, destined to master the mythical Dragon Scroll. The film did better than expected upon release and was the highest-grossing non-sequel by DreamWorks at the time.

Following the events of “Madagascar 2,” the mischievous penguins leave Madagascar aboard a plane enroute to Monte Carlo. When they don’t return, the other animals set out to find them. In Europe, they quickly run into disaster and are forced to go into hiding as part of a traveling circus. The third film was the highest-grossing in the Madagascar series but a fourth is said to be in the works.

Chipmunks Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are living peacefully in the forest when their tree is cut down and driven to Los Angeles for use as a Christmas tree by JETT Records. They encounter struggling musician David Seville and sneak into his home. Seville in turn discovers the chipmunks and realizes that they are musically talented and can help save his career. The soundtrack reached as high as No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and the film came in second at the box office on its opening weekend, behind “I Am Legend.”

In the second film in the franchise the chipmunks are back and are now big musical stars. Three female chipmunk singers, “The Chipettes,” appear on the music scene, immediately drawing the attention of Alvin, Simon and Theodore. While the film did well at the box office, reviews from critics and audiences were abysmal. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently holds a 49% score with audiences and 20% with critics.

Pixar Animation Studios completely updated their animation system for “Brave,” the story of a young girl who goes against societal norms while trying to save her mother from a curse. Merida is a princess in medieval Scotland who doesn’t want to be wed in an arranged marriage. She seeks out the help of a witch, but things don’t go as planned. Notably, the film did especially well in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The fourth movie in the “Shrek” franchise, “Shrek Forever After” was originally marketed as the final movie starring the big green ogre – but a fifth is reportedly in the works. This one finds Shrek leading the life of a family man and celebrity while sometimes longing for the old days of privacy in his swamp. However, the past comes looking for the otherwise happily married ogre. While it didn’t do as well as other “Shrek” films, it did stay at No. 1 at the U.S. box office for three consecutive weeks.

In Lighting McQueen’s first adventure, he’s a brash rookie in the Piston Cup racing series looking to dethrone longtime champ Strip “The King” Weathers. The final race ends in a three-way tie between McQueen, Weathers, and a third competitor. They are forced to plan another race in Los Angeles to decide the victor. However, on the way to L.A., unforeseen events trap McQueen in the small town of Radiator Springs where he’s forced to reexamine himself and his outlook on life.

The second of the four Toy Story movies on this list, “Toy Story 2” adds new characters and brings back old favorites. Originally, the film was set to be a direct-to-video sequel but someone at Disney saw the light and sent it into general release. It became the third-highest-grossing animated film of all time up to that point, after “The Lion King” and “Aladdin.”

Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho, “Moana” is inspired by Polynesian mythology. Moana is the daughter of the village chieftain on her island but must leave home to remedy a blight that has thrown the island into crisis. She travels the waves in search of a demigod who can save the island’s crops. The film received Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. Moana broke the box office record for a film opening on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) gets a job as a night security guard at the Museum of Natural History in New York. However, he quickly learns that at night the exhibits come to life and it’s his job to keep them contained in the museum and under control. It was the highest-grossing film in its opening weekend and was shown in many IMAX theaters that were connected to science and natural history museums.

Steve Carell voices Felonius Gru, who, with the help of his yellow minions, embarks on a mission to steal the moon and reclaim his spot as the world’s most infamous villain. However, along the way he is forced to reconsider what’s really important to him. The movie spurred two sequels and a spinoff, and a prequel is scheduled for release this year.

“The Lego Movie” brings childhood imagination to life, creating a world of living Lego blocks. Emmet Brickowski is a Lego man who stumbles upon a prophesized relic and is thrown into a world of conflict and resistance. The characters use Lego bricks to build what they need in a pinch as they travel through the Lego Universe. The movie did well domestically and internationally and garnered very high ratings from both critics and audiences.

Jim Carrey stars as the green guy who hates Christmas in this live-action version of this Dr. Seuss classic. This retelling of the book gives some of the Grinch’s backstory and explains how he came to be a happiness-loathing pariah living on the edge of the town of Whoville. The film, produced by Imagine Entertainment, was the first non-Disney film to top the box office on Thanksgiving weekend since “Mrs. Doubtfire” in 1993.

The first “Incredibles” introduces a family of superheroes living through a time when the general public has soured on superhero vigilante justice. In turn, the Incredibles family and all other superheroes are forced to hide their powers and live as normal citizens. However, villainy is still afoot. The film was the fourth-highest-grossing movie of 2004 and continued its run in theaters until April 2005.

In the third installment of this franchise, supervillain Felonious Gru has left behind his life of crime and now works with his wife to help stop the bad guys. However, after failing to capture a diamond thief, he’s fired and must find new work. A good portion of the film is spent following his former minions as they get into all sorts of shenanigans seeking new jobs. Upon release, the film set a record for the widest release of a movie ever, opening in 4,529 locations.

Based on a fairy tale picture book of the same name by William Steig, “Shrek” introduced audiences to a grumpy green ogre who just wanted to be left alone in his swamp. However, the local ruler, Lord Farquaad, begins exiling fairy-tale creatures to the swamp. To regain his former peace and solitude Shrek sets out to see Farquaad, accompanied by a talking donkey. “Shrek” took the top box office spot in its opening weekend and would go on to set a record for highest-grossing animated film in Australia.

A prequel to “Monsters, Inc.,” the film shows monsters Mike and Sully, the stars of the first film, at college learning how to professionally scare children. The technology in their world is powered by the fear of children and they must go out and harvest adolescent fright. Released 12 years after the original, “Monsters University” became the third-highest-grossing Pixar movie at the time.

“Sing” takes place in a city-state of anthropomorphic animals called Calatonia and follows koala Buster Moon as he struggles to keep his performing arts theater afloat. He decides to hold a singing competition but a typo in the flyers massively inflates the prize money and all sorts of animals turn up to compete. The film was second at the box office in its opening weekend, beaten out by “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”

The 2018 movie is the third screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ book and the first that was computer animated. Benedict Cumberbatch voices the angry protagonist as he tries to sabotage Christmas and general happiness in the town of Whoville. The movie finished first at the box office on its opening weekend, though it was dethroned the next weekend by “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”

In “Monsters, Inc.” the monsters under the bed aren’t scaring children out of malice but rather because their world is powered by their screams. This means they need professional scarers working in a corporate environment to extract enough screams to keep the lights turned on. But is all this trauma really necessary? A collection of very interesting and creative monsters explores this question as they venture between the monster and human worlds. This was the third-highest-grossing film of 2001 and broke records for the biggest opening weekend of an animated film.

Shrek and his wife Fiona are happily married but Fiona’s father, King Harold, is dying and the couple are set to succeed him on the throne. However, Shrek doesn’t think an ogre can be king and isn’t thrilled about being thrust further into the spotlight. Meanwhile, Harold tells Shrek that he may have another heir. At the time, the film set the record for the best opening weekend by an animated film and had the second-highest-grossing opening weekend for a film in 2007.

“Minions” is the spin-off prequel to “Despicable Me” and the third film in the franchise. The movie tells the story of the little yellow guys, who have existed since the dawn of time, always serving the most evil villain they can find. They are constantly caught up in big historical events, doing the bidding of the likes of Count Dracula and Napoleon Bonaparte. It became only the third animated film to pass $1 billion in worldwide box office receipts, after with “Toy Story 3” and “Frozen.”

“Zootopia” is an anthropomorphic tale about a rabbit named Judy who moves to the big city to follow her dream of being a cop. Things don’t quite go as planned at first, but Judy quickly finds herself leading an investigation into the disappearance of several animals. The movie became the fourth animated film to pass $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

“Inside Out” takes complicated psychological concepts and portrays them in a fun and easy to understand story. The movie is aimed at helping children understand their emotions but could teach everyone a thing or two. Emotions are transformed into living creatures in the film, and go on an adventure to help adolescent protagonist Riley cope with the trauma of moving far from home to a new and strange place. “Inside Out” debuted second at the box office in its opening weekend, the first Pixar film not to debut No. 1. The film returned to theaters during summer 2020 for screenings at mostly drive-in theaters during earlier parts of the pandemic.

The second film in the franchise finds Felonious Gru no longer working as a super-villain. When a mysterious mutagen goes missing from a lab in the Arctic Circle, the Anti-Villain League contacts Gru asking for his help. He reluctantly agrees, diving back into the world of villainy. At the time of its release, it was the most profitable film in the history of Universal Pictures.

Max is a dog living in an apartment building in New York City. While his owner is away, he socializes with other cats, dogs, and birds in the building. Max grows jealous when his owner adopts a new dog named Duke, and a rivalry quickly grows between the two pets. Their quarrel leads them to a fight for survival on the streets of the city. At the time, the film broke the opening day record for highest-grossing original film with $38.5 million.

“Finding Nemo” is a story about how far a father will go to find his missing son – but both are clownfish, traveling through the massive Pacific Ocean. The aquatic adventure takes its protagonist through all sorts of underwater environments while introducing him to a quirky array of characters voiced by big names like Ellen DeGeneres and Willem Dafoe. The film set a box office record at the time for its opening weekend and was overall the second-highest-grossing film of 2003.

The animated musical that took the world by storm, “Frozen” was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Snow Queen.” It follows a princess who sets out on an adventure with an iceman, a reindeer, and a snowman. The movie passed the $1 billion mark worldwide and set records when it went to DVD and Blu-ray, selling 3.2 million discs in one day.

The young owner of Andy, Woody, and Buzz has grown up and is headed off to college. The movie adds new characters and brings back the old while keeping the story refreshing and drawing in audiences of all ages. During its theatrical run it set the worldwide record for highest-grossing animated film to that point.

An ensemble cast tell the tale of a lion cub who must flee after his father is murdered. Along his journey he learns lessons about survival, life, love, and friendship. At the time of its release, it was the highest-grossing animated film ever created and is one of the biggest films from Disney’s “renaissance” that extended from 1989 to 1999.

Nine years after “Toy Story 3,” everyone’s favorite group of toys returns for another adventure. The plot in “Toy Story 4” picks up where the third left off and Woody, Buzz, and company go on a road trip with their new owner, Bonnie. They meet new and old friends along the way, adapting to a world that continues to change around them. The film set the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a G-rated film.

After seemingly finding peace and happiness in the first “Shrek,” everyone’s favorite ogre is back and this time he’s married to Princess Fiona. The couple and Donkey travel to meet Fiona’s parents, where plenty of problems arise. At the time, the movie’s opening weekend was the second-largest of all time, only trailing 2002’s “Spider-man.”

The second film based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, set three years after the conclusion of the first one, managed to do even better at the box office. All is well until princess Elsa hears something in the woods and inadvertently awakens the four elemental spirits of the forest. “Frozen II” only ran in theaters from November 22, 2019, to March 19, 2020, its run cut short by the beginning of the pandemic.

Thirteen years after “Finding Nemo,” Pixar came out with a sequel to the earlier aquatic adventure. This time, the plot focuses on telling regal blue tang Dory’s backstory and how she came to meet Marlin and Nemo in the first film. She begins to have flashbacks of her parents and the trio sets off to California to find them. Upon release, “Finding Dory” broke the record for highest debuting animated film in its first weekend with $135.1 million at the North American box office.

The 2019 remake of the 1994 movie of the same name was a massive hit. It used photorealistic computer animation and an ensemble cast of voice actors to retell the original story. It holds the worldwide records for highest-grossing animated film, musical, and remake of all time.

Fourteen years after the premiere of the first movie, the Incredibles family returned to the big screen for an action-packed sequel. The story picks up where the last left off and sees the family of superheroes once again having to navigate family life, public opinion, laws, and ever-threatening super villains. Bringing the franchise back certainly paid off for Pixar. It made the top of this list for domestic ticket sales and in less than a month it surpassed the first film’s worldwide box office revenue for its entire run. It would debut to make $183 million in its opening weekend in North America, smashing the record that “Finding Dory” previously held.