How Much Do Disney Animation Films Earn Per Minute?
It’s no secret that Walt Disney Animation Studios is a powerhouse in the film industry. The studio has churned out 57 feature films since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuted at Carthay Circle in 1937, plus another 23 in partnership with Pixar Studios.
But do you know just how much of a moneymaker Disney animated feature films are?
Pop culture site FandomSpot compiled data that shows us which Disney animated film earned the most money per minute – and second – of run time at the box office.
That data shows that that the top five animated features earned Disney over $10 million per minute of run time. Let’s take a look at how that staggering amount of money breaks down!
Top 15 Disney Animated Feature Films According to Earnings per Minute
Rank | Film | Worldwide Box office ($) | Running time (minutes) | Earnings per minute of the film ($) | Earnings per second of the film ($) |
1 | FROZEN II | 1,450,000,000 | 103 | 14,077,670 | 234,628 |
2 | FROZEN | 1,276,000,000 | 102 | 12,509,804 | 208,497 |
3 | THE LION KING | 968,000,000 | 87 | 11,126,437 | 185,441 |
4 | TOY STORY 4 | 1,073,000,000 | 100 | 10,730,000 | 178,833 |
5 | TOY STORY 3 | 1,066,000,000 | 102 | 10,450,980 | 174,183 |
6 | FINDING DORY | 1,029,000,000 | 103 | 9,990,291 | 166,505 |
7 | THE INCREDIBLES 2 | 1,242,000,000 | 125 | 9,936,000 | 165,600 |
8 | ZOOTOPIA | 1,023,000,000 | 108 | 9,472,222 | 157,870 |
9 | FINDING NEMO | 940,000,000 | 100 | 9,400,000 | 156,667 |
10 | INSIDE OUT | 857,000,000 | 95 | 9,021,053 | 150,351 |
11 | UP | 731,000,000 | 89 | 8,213,483 | 136,891 |
12 | COCO | 800,000,000 | 109 | 7,339,450 | 122,324 |
13 | MONSTERS UNIVERSITY | 745,000,000 | 102 | 7,303,922 | 121,732 |
14 | BIG HERO 6 | 652,000,000 | 102 | 6,392,157 | 106,536 |
15 | MOANA | 637,000,000 | 113 | 5,637,168 | 93,953 |
Franchise Representation
Elsa’s powers are strong, as the top two spots on this list are held by the Frozen franchise. Frozen II earned an astonishing $1.45 billion worldwide – or over $14 million per each of its 103 minutes in 2019. Yes, your math is correct. That’s $234,628 per SECOND of the film. Frozen II reportedly cost Disney Animation $150 million to produce, meaning Disney earned back production costs for the film after just 11 minutes of the movie’s runtime. That’s a lot of power for the ice queen!
Two other franchises are represented on the list, proving that sequels can, in fact, outdo their predecessors! Two of the four Toy Story movies round out the top 5 while Finding Nemo and Finding Dory land at numbers 9 and 6, respectively.
The Lion King
Perhaps the most surprising showing on a list based on run time is The Lion King in third place. The film is around 20 minutes shorter than the rest of the top 5 and at least a decade older than most of the films on the list. But with a $968 million worldwide gross and a brief 87-minute run time, that gives the 1994 classic $185,441 per second. With a reported $260 million production cost, the Disney Animation film made a profit after only 24 minutes of screen time.
Since these numbers have not been adjusted for inflation, those earnings are staggeringly impressive for a 90s-era animated feature. The Lion King came just after the three-year Disney heydey that was The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
Disney Animation in the Modern Era
Looking at the rest of the 15 Disney animated films on this list, early 2000s hits Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and Up join more modern blockbusters like Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4.
With the rising cost of theater tickets, a mostly modern list isn’t shocking. But while ticket prices have gone up, there is also a slight correlation with higher production budgets as well. According to the Wikipedia article “List of most expensive animated films”, ten of the 15 films on the list had budgets over $150 million.
Walt Disney Animation Studios
\Walt Disney Animation Studios was founded in 1923 by Walt Disney and his brother Roy and is an integral part of the The Walt Disney Company. According to The Business Insider The Walt Disney Company is worth an estimated $130 billion.
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