5 Beloved Animated Movies That Flopped At The Box Office

Despite amassing strong reviews, the new DreamWorks Animation title “Forgotten Island” got off to a rough start at the domestic box office with just $13 million over its opening weekend. In the pantheon of DreamWorks Animation movies, that’s barely ahead of the $12.8 million debut of “The Road to El Dorado” and noticeably behind the bows of titles like “The Boss Baby 2: Family Business” (which simultaneously premiered on Peacock) and “Abominable,” let alone the outfit’s biggest projects like “How to Train Your Dragon.” Even strong post-opening legs won’t get this $80 million-budgeted title very far financially.

If it’s any consolation to the artists who poured their souls into “Forgotten Island,” it’s that this film’s existence won’t just be defined by its box office numbers. History is littered with animated productions of all shapes and sizes that had crummy initial box office runs, only to carve out long-term reputations as classics (like “The Iron Giant,” a beloved ’90s movie that we still can’t believe bombed at the box office).

That outcome isn’t impossible at all for “Forgotten Island.” Hope for this DreamWorks feature can be found in five vivid examples of beloved animated movies that flopped at the box office. For a multitude of reasons (whether it was distribution problems or moviegoers not connecting to their creative impulses), all five of these films failed to connect with audiences originally. However, long after these theatrical runs had wound down, the virtues of these individually acclaimed movies lingered in people’s brains, inspiring the kind of cultural longevity that ensured all five of these films became famous for far more than just box office figures.

Fantasia

Today, Mickey Mouse and his blue sorcerer hat from “Fantasia” are everywhere in both pop culture and Disney media. The film is frequently hailed as one of the best animated movies of all time. Back in 1940, though, when “Fantasia” first opened in theaters, its reputation was far more financially torturous. Walt Disney’s incredibly ambitious vision for “Fantasia” included not only spending a pretty penny on the film, but also spending money on the costly Fantasound sound system. All these pricey measures meant “Fantasia” had a lofty budget that would require a record-shattering box office run on par with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to be profitable.

Further complicating matters was that “Fantasia” initially struggled to gain momentum with various sectors of the public. Classical music devotees thought the project was abhorrent, while general audiences were much more interested in narratively conventional movies like “Boom Town” and “Andy Hardy Meets Debutante.” Thus “Fantasia” proved a major money loser, with the film bleeding enough cash to jeopardize the entire Disney company. Luckily, later generations began showing up in droves for the film, decades after it first premiered. An extremely lucrative 1969 theatrical reissue especially solidified that “Fantasia” had come a long way from its initially mixed reputation.

Today, there’s no disputing “Fantasia” as a masterpiece of animation and an ahead-of-its-time fusion of striking visuals and evocative music. Back in 1940, though, that long-term outcome would have sounded ludicrous given how badly the film tanked at the box office.

Transformers One

Ranking every “Transformers” movie from worst to best makes it clear that the majority of the live-action “Transformers” entries have a tough time taking the titular characters seriously as dramatically viable characters. Typically, Optimus Prime and pals are either props for the human characters or given such visually incoherent designs that it’s impossible to get invested in them as people. The fully animated, standalone 2024 endeavor “Transformers One” opted to finally give the world a “Transformers” feature unafraid to just focus on and flesh out those robots, in a story chronicling best buddies Orion Pax/Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16/Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) uncovering hidden secrets on their planet Cybertron.

“Transformers One” was greeted with critical acclaim that far outpaced nearly every other “Transformers” movie in history. The richly emotional voice-over work of Henry was especially praised for lending new levels of pathos to Megatron. Unfortunately, positive word-of-mouth couldn’t keep “Transformers One” from bombing at the box office. With only $129.4 million worldwide, “Transformers One” clearly arrived long after general audience interest in the “Transformers” brand had withered away. An origin story delving into the nerdier aspects of “Transformers” lore wasn’t a recipe for restoring that mainstream passion, no matter how good “Transformers One” was.

Still, the artistic triumphs of “Transformers One” led to it being considered one of 2024’s stronger animated films. While more lucrative “Transformers” movies were quickly forgotten, the box office dud “Transformers One” should keep finding new fans for years to come.

Megamind

Initially, it looked like the $321.8 million worldwide gross of “Megamind” indicated the movie being a solid performer. But by early 2011, the title’s underwhelming international grosses had definitively rendered “Megamind” a money-loser, making this superhero satire the latest in a long line of DreamWorks Animation movies that bombed. It was also only the second non-“Flushed Away” CGI title from DreamWorks to end up under $150 million domestically, a frustrating outcome given that “Megamind” had digital and IMAX 3D ticket prices bolstering its run. Add in the fact that it was initially overshadowed by other 2010 non-sequel animated titles like “Despicable Me” and “How to Train Your Dragon,” and “Megamind” seemed destined for obscurity.

Then a funny thing happened. “Megamind” refused to go away. As early as 2013, the movie was getting name-dropped in “Identity Thief” as shorthand for “intellectual but arrogant” characters. Since then, “Megamind” constantly comes up in essays and YouTube videos dedicated to waxing poetic about its virtues. Its name was even invoked in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” 13 years after its release, a sign of how much unexpected longevity “Megamind” has had in the culture. This story taking the side of societal outcasts and unflinchingly poking fun at superhero movie tropes proved incredibly relevant long after its disappointing theatrical run ended.

Like its titular character becoming an unexpected savior for Metro City, “Megamind” has surprised everyone with its enduring fanbase. Never count out a supervillain with something to prove.

Cats Don’t Dance

In the late ’90s, all the major studios tried their hand at launching animated features in the hopes of securing even a fraction of the success that the biggest Disney Renaissance movies (like “Beauty and the Beast” or “The Lion King”) had garnered. While “The Prince of Egypt,” “The Rugrats Movie,” and “Antz” amassed respectable box office hauls, most of these titles, like “Quest for Camelot,” didn’t really go anywhere financially. Among these box office duds was the March 1997 title “Cats Don’t Dance,” a homage to the kind of mid-20th century Hollywood musicals that Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, and Gene Kelly (among many others) had once anchored.

“Cats Don’t Dance” faced the classic issue of corporate mergers in trying to secure a proper theatrical release. The film hailed from Turner Feature Animation, which was eventually bought and merged into final “Dance” distributor Warner Bros. Pictures. Director Mark Dindal later noted that executive apathy at Warner Bros. towards the project sealed its box office fate, with the film eventually grossing only $3.58 million on a $32 million budget. 

However, like a catchy tune that won’t get out of your head, “Cats Don’t Dance” has stuck around in the public consciousness. The film’s sincere love for vintage musicals and jaunty ambiance has ensured that it’s largely remembered now as a classic dripping with personality. “Cats Don’t Dance” has proudly joined the ranks of other box office bombs from the ’90s that are actually worth watching.

Sleeping Beauty

Despite the Mouse House being the face of American animation for many people, there’s all kinds of reasons why animated Disney movies can bomb. One of the films reflecting this reality was 1959’s “Sleeping Beauty,” today considered one of the most sumptuous and audacious titles ever released by Walt Disney Animation Studios.

The film cost $6 million to produce, which, back then, made it a profoundly costly operation almost doomed to failure from the start. Circa 1959, it was going to be a massive uphill battle to make an animated family film profitable at that price tag. “Sleeping Beauty” initially grossed $5.3 million domestically, putting it behind other, cheaper Disney fare like “Old Yeller” and “Peter Pan.”

It was plainly unprofitable for Disney as a company, though the saga of “Sleeping Beauty” was not wrapped up in a tidy bow after its underwhelming initial box office run. As late as 1986, reissues of “Sleeping Beauty” were bringing in tidy sums for the Mouse House. Simultaneously, greater appreciation developed for the film’s technical achievements, particularly with the ways it opened new doors for what hand-drawn animation could look like on the big screen. A film only defined in 1959 by its disastrous box office receipts had grown into a more beloved creative triumph.

Today, Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” is held in high regard by both mainstream viewers and animation historians alike. It’s come a long way from those early days, when it seemed to be known only as a box office failure.