Have audiences given up on animated movies?
Animated movies have always faced an uphill battle to be taken seriously.
They have long been tarred with the ‘cartoon’ brush, as people seem to think that the only audiences that can enjoy an animated feature are children. Despite the medium having produced some incredible pieces of work, only three animations have ever been nominated for the ‘Best Picture’ Oscar – Beauty and the Beast, Up, and Toy Story 3. We’re still waiting for that first victory.
Regardless of where they stand in the critical sphere, at least animated movies have always found an audience with the general public. Of the 55 or so movies to have grossed over $1 billion, 14 of them have been animated, which is about one quarter. You can always rely on at least one animation to sneak into the ten highest-grossing films of any given year, thanks in part to their universal appeal. If kids want to see something at the movies, then at least one extra adult has to go with them. The more guardians, the more tickets sold. It’s as simple as that.
This philosophy relies on people of any age actually wanting to see these films; however, this is where we come to our conundrum. Are animated films as popular as they used to be? Is the format in decline? To try and answer this question, let’s look at a recent major release – The Bad Guys 2. The sequel to DreamWorks’ 2022 hit, this animated story of a group of criminal animals was released in the summer of 2025. While the first movie did big numbers, this one has failed to replicate its success.
The Bad Guys made over $250million on a budget of between $69m and $80m. Its successor has generated just $61.4m on a budget of $80m. It’s important to note that it’s still early days for the sequel – The Hollywood Reporter described the film’s domestic opening as “a better-than-expected” and called it the second-best animated launch of the year to date – the overall figures aren’t what was expected.
So, is this a one-off? Or part of a worrying trend?
As it stands, there is just one fully animated movie in the top ten highest-grossing films of 2025. That number rises to three if you count the partially animated Lilo & Stitch and A Minecraft Movie. In 2024, there were four fully animated films in this list. Bad news for 2025, right? Not exactly. Both 2023 and 2022’s lists only had two animated entries, while 2021’s only had one. This is only one metric, sure, but there doesn’t seem to be any definitive pattern.
One movie that proves that audiences are still interested in animations is the sole representative in 2025’s top ten – the mighty Ne Zha 2. This Chinese release stunned observers when it became a monster hit. As it stands, it has grossed over $2.2 billion – a record for an animated film – with that number only set to increase when it gets its European release.
With the sequel to the billion-grossing Zootopia also set for a 2025 release, it looks like the animation market has nothing to worry about for the near future. The medium is capable of so many incredible things that it will likely always have an audience, no matter what the snobs may have to say about it.
