Key figures from the chart
- Despicable Me, including the Minions films, is the highest grossing animated franchise on the chart, at $5.61 billion from six films.
- Shrek is second with $4.03 billion and Toy Story third with $3.27 billion.
- Doraemon is the only Japanese franchise in the top 15. It needed 45 films to reach $1.7 billion; no other franchise on the chart has more than six.
- Three totals carry an asterisk because a film was still in cinemas when the chart was made: The Lion King, Inside Out and Moana.
- The chart is dated December 2024 and carries no creator name or source.
The top 15 animated franchises in text
Title: Highest Grossing Animated Franchises of All Time, as of December 2024. The chart is a bar chart of worldwide gross in US dollars, with the number of films and the combined production budget printed beside each bar. Rank numbers are ours; the chart orders the bars from largest to smallest.
| Rank | Franchise | Worldwide gross (US$ billion) | Films | Total budget (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Despicable Me | 5.61 | 6 | 474M |
| 2 | Shrek | 4.03 | 6 | 665M |
| 3 | Toy Story | 3.27 | 5 | 720M |
| 4 | Ice Age | 3.2 | 5 | 430M |
| 5 | The Lion King | 2.77* | 3 | 539M |
| 6 | Frozen | 2.72 | 2 | 300M |
| 7 | Inside Out | 2.55* | 2 | 375M |
| 8 | Kung Fu Panda | 2.36 | 4 | 505M |
| 9 | Madagascar | 2.27 | 4 | 502M |
| 10 | Finding Nemo | 1.96 | 2 | 294M |
| 11 | The Incredibles | 1.87 | 2 | 292M |
| 12 | Doraemon | 1.7 | 45 | Unknown |
| 13 | How to Train Your Dragon | 1.63 | 3 | 439M |
| 14 | Moana | 1.48* | 2 | 300M |
| 15 | Cars | 1.41 | 3 | 445M |
Footnote as printed: “*Movie is currently showing in theatres, so its franchise gross is subject to change.” Axis: worldwide gross in USD billions, 0 to 6.
Gross compared with budget
The chart prints a budget beside each franchise, which allows a rough comparison. By our arithmetic from the chart’s own figures, Despicable Me took about $11.8 for every dollar of its stated budget, Frozen about $9.1, Ice Age about $7.4, Shrek about $6.1 and Toy Story about $4.5. These ratios ignore marketing costs and the share of ticket sales kept by cinemas, so they are not profit figures.
How the ranking has changed since December 2024
Wikipedia’s list of the highest-grossing animated franchises is updated as new films are released. When we checked it in October 2026, Despicable Me was still first, with nearly $6.2 billion, and Pixar was the most represented studio, with five franchises in the list [1]. The list also includes franchises that this chart does not, among them Zootopia, Super Mario and the Fengshen Cinematic Universe, which includes Ne Zha 2 [1].
Wikipedia also notes that Ne Zha 2 is now the highest grossing animated film, and the first to pass $2 billion worldwide [1].
Notes on this infographic
- Data date. Every figure is as of December 2024. Totals for franchises with films released since then, such as Despicable Me and Toy Story, are now higher [1].
- Film counts. Counts depend on what is included. The chart gives The Lion King three films; Wikipedia’s franchise table lists four, including The Lion King 1½ [1].
- Budgets. Budget totals are printed without a source and could not be checked. Doraemon’s budget is given as unknown.
- Creator. The chart carries no logo, name or source, and we could not identify who made it. If you made this chart, contact us and we will credit you or remove it.
Questions about the highest grossing animated franchise
What is the highest grossing animated franchise of all time?
Despicable Me, including the Minions films. The chart gives $5.61 billion as of December 2024, and Wikipedia’s list gave nearly $6.2 billion when we checked in October 2026 [1].
What is the top grossing animated film of all time?
Ne Zha 2, a Chinese film and the first animated film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide, according to Wikipedia [1].
How many Doraemon films are there?
The chart counts 45 Doraemon films, which together grossed $1.7 billion as of December 2024. That places Doraemon 12th among the top 15 animated franchises and makes it the only Japanese franchise on the list. No other franchise on the chart has more than six films, and Doraemon's total budget is given as unknown.
How much has the Shrek franchise made?
The Shrek franchise had grossed $4.03 billion worldwide from six films as of December 2024, second only to Despicable Me. The chart gives its six films a combined budget of $665 million. On those figures Shrek took about $6.1 for every dollar of stated budget, a ratio that ignores marketing costs and the share of ticket sales kept by cinemas.
Sources
- Wikipedia, List of highest-grossing animated films, including the section on highest grossing animated franchises and film series.
Last reviewed 29 October 2026
