For decades, Disney was the only game in town. The Mouse House was the undisputed king of the animation world. Even during the dark years after Walt Disney’s death, Disney was still the champion. Disney continued its domination into the 1990s with Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), Lion King (1994), and Pocahontas (1995).
Then, in 1995, a new player entered the game. With the release of Toy Story (1995), Pixar introduced computer animation and changed how animated films were created and presented to the audience. In response to this new threat, Disney bought Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion. With the acquisition of Pixar, Disney became even more dominant. Since 2001, when the award was first given, Disney/Pixar Animation has won 15 Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature Film, more than any other studio.
But now, Disney isn’t facing a threat to its crown, so much as Disney animation has lost its crown altogether. Universal Studios has become the king of animation, with its latest film, Super Mario Brothers (2023), nearing $1 billion in total box office receipts.
According to data from Box Office Mojo, Universal beating Disney isn’t a new phenomenon. Universal has won Disney every year since 2019.
The last time Disney beat Universal, we didn’t even know what Covid was. Since then, it has been Universal domination. In 2019, Disney released the live-action remake of The Lion King, Frozen II, and Toy Story 4. It took those well-established franchises to best Universal.
Since then, it has been all Universal. Disney animation’s three releases, Onward (2020), Encanto (2021), and Lightyear (2022), grossed a combined $625 million, while just one Universal film, Minions: the Rise of Gru (2021), grossed $940 million.
Walt Disney Animation has two animated films coming out later this year, Elemental and Wish, which could try to top Super Mario Brothers, but that seems unlikely.
CEO Bob Iger recently announced that Disney would go back to its tried and true established franchises by releasing Frozen III, Toy Story 5, and Zootopia 2. Despite the announcement of the films, Disney has yet to announce a release date for any of those three new films. Universal is countering Disney’s move with the release of Despicable Me 4 in 2024. And with the success of the Super Mario Brothers Movie, audiences can expect a sequel in the near future.
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