How Universal’s Animated Hits Like ‘The Wild Robot’ and ‘Migration’ Are Upending Box Office Trends

When Universal’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” opened in December 2022, the “Shrek” spinoff sputtered to a $12.4 million debut. Then, something miraculous happened. Thanks to TikTok and solid buzz, the animated adventure about the swashbuckling cat enjoyed nine lives on the big screen. Ticket sales barely declined week over week, and “The Last Wish” ended its run with $186 million domestically — 15 times its opening weekend — and $481 million globally.

Universal experienced this phenomenon again with Illumination’s “Migration,” which had a disappointing $12.4 million start around Christmas 2023. The cartoon tale about a family of mallards sustained momentum and flew to $127 million in North America — more than 10 times its debut — and nearly $300 million worldwide. (The average film has a 3 or 4 multiple — industry parlance for the ratio of final gross to opening weekend.) “Puss in Boots 2” and “Migration” hold the two highest animated multiples of the past 20 years.

Now, it’s happening once more with the studio’s “The Wild Robot,” a touching sci-fi story from DreamWorks Animation about a marooned android. In late September, the film ignited to $35 million — decent for a new film property, but not spectacular — and has powered to $111 million domestically and $232 million globally after four weeks.

“It starts and ends with content,” says Jim Orr, Universal’s domestic distribution chief. “The common thread is these are quality films.”

Universal has recently fielded bigger animated blockbusters, like 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.4 billion) and this year’s “Despicable Me 4” ($963 million). Disney has too: Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” is 2024’s highest grossing movie with $1.7 billion.

Yet the less heralded holds for “The Wild Robot,” “Migration” and “Puss in Boots 2” run counter to conventional wisdom, which says movies today need to generate the bulk of their revenue in the first weekend. Instead, those films have defied the odds (and turned a profit!) the old-fashioned way, with critical support and audience word-of-mouth that builds over time. In certain cases, they have benefited from a dearth of competition that resulted in pent-up demand for movies aimed at youngsters.

“Since the pandemic, the marketplace has been very light in regards to family fare, especially animation,” says Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock. “This gives these films the opportunity for longer legs. It also helps that word-of-mouth has been very positive for all these titles.”

Thanks to fruitful distribution deals with Illumination (the company behind “Despicable Me” and “Sing”) and DreamWorks Animation (home to “Shrek” and “Trolls”), Universal has cemented itself as the only true rival to Disney, whose Pixar and Disney Animation offerings are considered the gold standard of family entertainment. Sony has triumphed with the “Spider-Verse” franchise and little else, while Paramount’s “Transformers One” fizzled. Warner Bros. hasn’t released anything animated since 2018’s “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.”

“Part of [Universal’s success] is lack of compelling competition,” says Bock. “But more than that, it’s the quality of the product. Universal has consistently delivered the animated goods for decades. That stability has earned them a steadfast audience that previously only Disney’s Pixar could boast.”

Though kid-friendly fare has finally rebounded at the box office, family films were struggling as those audiences hesitated to return to theaters post-pandemic. Universal struck out with 2023’s “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” ($45 million globally). Disney endured big-budget flops like “Onward” ($141 million) and “Lightyear” ($226 million), which cost $200 million and labored to get out of the red.

With profitability in mind, Illumination and DreamWorks Animation have found ways to economize production costs. Original properties “Ruby Gillman,” “Migration” and “The Wild Robot” all were budgeted in the $70 million range, while franchise fare like “Shrek” or “Despicable Me” rarely costs more than $100 million.

As for the types of films that encourage families to visit their local multiplex, Universal’s president of international distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg says, “audiences are looking for what we like to call a ‘familiar surprise’ — a trusted brand that brings something new and fresh.” She adds, “enduring franchises, like ‘Despicable Me’ films, remain a strong draw and are performing at the heights of their predecessors. Originals need time to build word of mouth.”

Generational appeal is key, according to DreamWorks Animation president Margie Cohn. She believes that great animation is enjoyable for not just children but their parents too.

“Animation used to be an event for general audiences, and then it got pigeonholed for being for kids,” Cohn says. Now, she adds, the challenge is appealing to anyone at all. Indeed, many movies have learned the hard way that quality isn’t enough to bring people in the door. “Getting the word out is half the battle these days.”