Though some recent Pixar films have fallen on harder times when it comes to the box office (due to COVID lockdownsand certain titles going straight to streaming), the studio was defined for a good many years by how much money its productions made. Pixar’s early films were ground-breaking for being among the first to be made entirely with CGI animation, and the novelty of seeing animated movies in this way - plus the excellent early Pixar scripts - clearly proved appealing to audiences.
The following Pixar movies ranked by box office takes into account worldwide numbers and is not adjusted for inflation, which does have the effect of benefiting more recent releases. Still, it isinteresting to see the Pixar films that have made the biggest splash at the box office, and perhaps a little disheartening to note how many have been sequels. The highest earners are ranked below, ending with severaltop-grossing Pixar moviesthat even managed to top $1 billion at the global box office.
15’Brave' (2012)
Box Office: $539 million
Bravedeserves some credit for being the first Pixar film to feature a female protagonist, as well as focusing on a mother-daughter dynamic. Before 2012, Pixar’s output had something of a “boys only” energy, but audiences seemed to respond well enough to the change of paceBraverepresented, with it being a moderate success both critically and commercially.
Like most Pixar movies, it was remarkably expensive, buta budget of $185 millioncompared to a worldwide gross of $539 million puts it into the realm of profitability.There are better Pixar movies for sure, and there have been greater moneymakers, too(as the following films below will demonstrate), butBraveis solid, however you want to judge it; not a gem, nor a favorite for many, but decently successful and overall decent.
14’Cars 2' (2011)
Box Office: $559.8 million
Released one year beforeBrave,Cars 2stands out from that film in the sense that it’s not worthy of even mild praise. It’s Pixar’s nadir in every conceivable way, flubbing what kind of worked in the first movie and doubling down on featuring one of the most annoying side characters in existence: Mater. Confoundingly, he becomes the protagonist here, and even more confusingly,Cars 2also plays out like a spy movie.
It’s bad all around, but it was popular enough to turn a profit and make more than half a billion dollars. Additionally, the series it belongs to has been profitable for Pixar in ways other than the movies themselves, given the gains frommerchandising related toCars 2and the other movies in the series number in the billions.
13’Monsters, Inc.' (2001)
Box Office: $579.7 million
Getting the2000s off to a good start for Pixar,Monsters, Inc.is an immensely likable film that helped show the company didn’t need to rely exclusively on stories about toys to turn a profit and gain critical acclaim. Also, given it’s one of Pixar’s older movies, adjusting for inflation would likely make a difference here.Still, even without adjusting,$580 million is an impressive number.
Further,Monsters, Inc.was cheaper than some of the later Pixar films, including the aforementionedBrave, withMonsters, Inc.making more than that 2012 movie while costing approximately $70 million less (again, not taking inflation into account). And, like withCars 2, you can also assume that merchandising would’ve helpedMonsters, Inc.make people associated with Pixar a good deal of cheddar, because these characters are largely iconic and, of course, particularly appealing to kids.
Monsters, Inc.
12’Ratatouille' (2007)
Box Office: $623.7 million
Ratatouilleisn’t just perfect by the standards of Pixar or animated films more broadly; it’s arguably one of thegreatest films of the 2000s, animated or otherwise. It does this while having an admittedly strange premise that just works somehow, being about a young man who can’t cook and a rat who can, but the latter’s limited because of his size and the fact he’s, you know, a rat.
So the rat hides under the young man’s chef’s hat, and manipulates him like a puppeteer would a puppet, tugging on his hair to make him cook amazingly well. This works. It just does. It’s charming, entertaining, emotional, and very funny. And, despite the potentially hard-to-spell/pronounce title and the out-there premise,Ratatouillewasvery successful at the box office,earning more than four times its budgetworldwide.
Ratatouille
11’The Incredibles' (2004)
Box Office: $631 million
The Incrediblesis great enough that it puts a goodmany live-action superhero moviesto shame, delivering comedy, surprisingly mature family drama, and some dazzling action all in one. It’s the kind of box office success where the money it raked in was well-earned, coming out in a generally good year for movies and still standing tall over much of the competition in any event.
Pixar released very few disappointments throughout the 2000s (if any), andThe Incrediblesproved to be one of many hits for the company during what some may call something of a golden age for Pixar. It took a while for anysequel to come out and capitalize on the success of this family-themed superhero movie, but when it did, the box office earnings proved even more impressive (so, more on that in a bit).
The Incredibles
10’Up' (2009)
Box Office: $735 million
The Incrediblessuggested Pixar was going to dominate the 2000s (having already had some successful movies released before 2004), and this wave was mostly ridden to the end of the decade with 2009’sUp. The only potential hiccup along the way wasCars, which doesn’t quite crack the top 10 if we’re talking box office earnings for Pixar (and wasn’t quite as critically acclaimed, either), though the series it kicked off has been more than profitable,especially with non-film merchandise.
Upis a little out-there for a family movie,dealing with some genuinely sad stuff in its famous opening sequence before settling into more of a kid-friendly grooveas it goes along, and sees its elderly protagonist embark on the adventure he always told himself he’d go on. And it was good to see something not part of a series (and not really have the potential to become a long-running series, either) make more than $700 million globally.
Watch on Disney+
9’Monsters University' (2013)
Box Office: $743 million
ThoughMonsters Universitywas another story told within the world ofMonsters, Inc., and featuring many of its characters, it can at least stand out a little from other Pixar follow-ups, owing to it being a prequel instead of a sequel. It sets its sights on makinga family-friendly college/coming-of-age comedy movie, showing the initial rivalry between Sulley and Mike before they became friends and co-workers, as seen in the original 2001 movie.
Speaking of that original 2001 movie, it’s a good deal better thanMonsters University, but the 2013 prequel is still entertaining, the world remains a fun one to get swept up in, and there’s still plenty of humor to be found, largely thanks to great returning voice actors likeBilly Crystal,John Goodman, andSteve Buscemi. It’s not essential or brilliant, butit’s still mostly understandable whyMonsters Universitywas as financially successful as it was.
Monsters University
8’Coco' (2017)
Box Office: $814 million
AsMonsters Universityand a few soon-to-be-mentioned movies will show, Pixar tended to rely quite heavily on prequels or sequels throughout the 2010s. Even if these tended to be good, they arguably weren’t as exciting as the studio’s output in the 2000s, when Pixar literally didn’t release a single sequel or prequel.Coco, however, was one title that helped show Pixar wasn’t only focused on sequels, because this standalone (for now) film was critically and commercially successful.
Not that any Pixar films look ugly, by any means, butCocois particularly visually striking, largely taking place in the Land of the Dead, and following one boy who has to reconnect with his deceased ancestors and get their help in returning him to the Land of the Living. With a budget potentially as high as $225 million, it needed to succeed drastically to turn a profit, thankfully doing just that, thanks to a worldwide gross of more than $800 million.
7’Inside Out' (2015)
Box Office: $859 million
Inside Outearned a similar amount of money toCoco, and can also count itself as one of Pixar’s most successful non-sequels as far as box office earnings go. It has the novel premise of largely taking place inside the mind of a young girl, following her emotions (each one a distinct character) as they attempt to balance out the way she feels inside while going through a difficult stage of her life.
It’s the sort of out-there concept that would be hard to communicate in a way that people of all ages could understand, butInside Outgets it right throughout, ending up being creative, entertaining, funny, and quite sad when it wants to be, too. The sequel ended up performing even better at the box office by a considerable margin, though few would say it surpassed 2015’sInside Outin quality.
Inside Out
6’Finding Nemo' (2003)
Box Office: $940 million
Though it takes place almost entirely underwater,Finding Nemoquite surprisingly has the feel ofan epic road movie, following a father’s determined quest to locate and rescue his only son who’s been taken by scuba divers. Like just about any film with some kind of lengthy journey undertaken,Finding Nemois packed with entertaining side characters and all sorts of visually impressive sequences.
Of every Pixar film released within the first decade of the studio producing feature films,Finding Nemois the highest grosser, coming in at just under $1 billion worldwide. As of 2024,Finding Nemoalso hasthe distinction of being the highest-grossing non-sequel in Pixar history, and a testament to how the right kind of original ideas can still take off at the box office… even if sequels sometimes seem to do better.
