Animations and Disney has been synonyms for some time now and with the birth of Pixar, it gave birth to some of the most iconic titles in the animation world. But besides Disney’s monopoly, some others are definitely taking advantage of Disney’s worrying performance lately.
In terms of success, Universal Pictures comes out as the latest success story in animation.
Migration is Universal’s latest animated feature project and also grossed the $100M mark, Universal definitely has some formula of success with them. But how effective is that?
Migration, though have a December end release has already crossed the golden mark, and that too with some tough competition around. Even this week, they occupy the fourth place in the weekend BO, suggesting that Universal is doing it right.
Universal had six animated films under their belt in 2033 and three of them did reach the $100M mark, contributing to Universal’s journey if becoming the most successful studio last year.
Strays and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken did make Universal lose money besides the one Ukranian animation, the rest of it was a song of success. Releasing in November, Trolls Band Together also grossed the $200M mark and supports the finances with a very strong global performance.
But the past year’s most successful one will obviously be The Super Mario Bros. Movie as it was the second movie in the entirety of 2023 that grossed $1B in finances.
But Universal’s success lies in the fact that they produced six back to back $100M films, from The Boss Baby: Family Business to the Mario films.
The Boss Baby: Family Business (July 2, 2021) – $147M
Sing 2 (December 22, 2021)- $408M
The Bad Guys (April 22nd, 2022) – $251M
Minions: The Rise of Gru (July 1, 2022) – $941M
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (December 21, 2022)- $485M
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 5, 2023)- $1.36B
Now, one of the major reasons behind the massive success is that the studio understands the market in a better way and not as generic and rigid as most Disney content. Though they don’t produce something as mature as Netflix’s Pinocchio, the animation style of Universal is definitely liked by the kids.
And, besides that, their subject matter is indeed one attraction as they are not only experimental about the manner but also the matter. Also, Disney is indeed going through a rough patch, as they are trying to figure the market out once, studios like Universal will try to capture the market as much as possible.
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