10 Highest Grossing Animated Movies Of All Time At The U.S. Box Office

All types of movies find success at the box office over the years, but animated films can often be some of the best-performing titles. With the wide appeal to young children who need their parents or some other adult to take them to the theater, animated movies can typically sell more tickets and pack theaters with kids and adults ready to experience a visually stunning, heartfelt, and usually funny story.

These titles draw interest worldwide, especially through anime, but the performance at the domestic United States box office can be where animated movies really shine. While the top 10 highest-grossing movies in the U.S. all-time are all live-action, you don’t have to look much further down the list to start seeing animated features.

And even as streaming has changed audiences’ viewing habits somewhat, they aren’t shutting out these films. Several of the highest-grossing animated movies in the U.S. have come out post-2020. In fact, only one of the top 10 now predates the 21st Century (not factoring in inflation). Here are the 10 biggest animated movies at the domestic box office.

10

The Lion King (1994)

Walt Disney Studios kicks off the top 10 with one of the most iconic animated movies ever made, The Lion King. Released in 1994, the film was a domestic sensation, earning $312.8 million. That made it the second-highest-grossing movie of the year, falling only behind Forrest Gump‘s $329.6 million.

But that is not where The Lion King‘s box office performance stopped. Disney has issued several re-releases over the years that have increased its total. A 2002 IMAX release generated another $15.6 million, while a 2011 3D release brought in a massive $94.2 million. There was even a 30th anniversary re-release in 2024 that made $2.1 million in the U.S.

This all gives The Lion King a domestic total of $424,979,720. That makes up 43.4% of its worldwide total: $979.1 million. As of this writing, it is the 37th highest-grossing movie overall in U.S. history, but its 10th for animated features.

The Lion King would have a U.S. total of $1,034,448,803 adjusted for inflation across all its re-releases. That would make it far and away the biggest animated movie domestically.

The 1994 movie’s top 10 placement could be debated, though, thanks to Disney’s 2019 remake. Although it is sold as a live-action remake, there is an argument that it is animated, just of the CGI variety rather than 2D animation. But we’ve made the editorial decision not to include it because Disney marketed it as a live-action film, and there is at least one fully live-action shot in it to reflect that.

9

Zootopia 2 (2025)

Coming in at #9 is Zootopia 2. Released in November 2025, Disney’s animated sequel really captured the attention of domestic viewers. Zootopia 2 has made $426,292,397 at the U.S. box office. It is still in the final stages of its theatrical run, though, so that figure could increase slightly before it hits Disney+.

The sequel got off to an incredibly strong start, posting a $100.2 million three-day opening weekend, with that figure growing to $158.8 million over the extended five-day Thanksgiving weekend. That was part of a record-breaking $559.5 million global opening.

Overall, Zootopia 2 saw its U.S. total make up only 22.9% of its overall total. That’s due to the phenomenal response overseas, like making $650 million in China. With a global haul of $1,859,994,856 (as of March 3), Zootopia 2 is the highest-grossing Hollywood animated movie ever, the ninth biggest film overall, and the 36th best performer at the U.S. box office.

Still, the domestic performance was mighty. It even legged its way to a final milestone, becoming 2025’s highest-grossing movie domestically by surpassing A Minecraft Movie‘s $424 million total.

8

Toy Story 4 (2019)

Pixar earns a place in the top 10 thanks to its oldest franchise. Released in 2019, Toy Story 4 had no trouble bringing audiences to theaters in the U.S. Toy Story 4 made $434,038,008 at the box office during its theatrical run domestically.

A good portion of that total came from its $120 million opening weekend. The complete domestic haul accounted for 40.4% of the film’s overall performance, with it having a global total of $1,073,841,394.

Due to the all-time great lineup of movies released in 2019, Toy Story 4 only finished as the fifth-highest-grossing movie domestically. It currently sits at 34th on the all-time U.S. chart, but it’s in the 8th spot when only considering animated features.

7

Shrek 2 (2004)

The second-oldest movie on the list, Shrek 2 had an incredible run when DreamWorks released it in 2004. It opened to $108 million and powered its way to a $441.5 million total by the end of its initial release, making it the highest-grossing movie of the year.

Shrek 2‘s total U.S. box office is $444,978,202, though. This is due to a 20th anniversary re-release in 2024 that generated another $3.4 million in sales.

The U.S. total accounts for 47.7% of Shrek 2‘s global box office, which sits at $932,536,239. It currently sits as the 32nd highest-grossing movie domestically overall, but it comes in 7th for animated titles.

Its placement would be very different, though, if inflation were factored in. Shrek 2‘s adjusted for inflation U.S. total is $807,604,046. That staggering figure would put it firmly in second place on this list, then.

6

Moana 2 (2024)

Sitting just outside the top 5 is Moana 2 as the 6th highest-grossing animated movie in the U.S. This is largely thanks to the record-breaking five-day Thanksgiving opening weekend it had, where it made $225.4 million alone.

This powered Moana 2 to make $460,405,297 in the U.S. That’s 43.5% of its global total, $1,059,242,164. It finished 2024 as the fourth-biggest movie domestically and now sits as the 28th highest-grossing movie in America all-time overall.

It’s a pretty incredible result considering Disney originally envisioned this as a Disney+ streaming series.

5

Frozen II (2019)

Disney achieved record-breaking success in 2019 with Frozen II. At the time, the global sensation finished its theatrical run as the highest-grossing animated movie ever, with a worldwide total of $1,453,683,476.

32.8% of that total came from U.S. audiences. Frozen II made $477,373,578 domestically after posting a $130 million opening weekend and managing only a small drop over Thanksgiving during its second weekend.

The movie finished 2019 as the year’s fourth-biggest release domestically. Frozen II holds claim to 5th spot on the highest-grossing animated movies list, while it sits at 25th in the U.S. for all films.

4

Finding Dory (2016)

Sitting one spot above in the U.S. overall (24th) and for animated movies only (4th) is Finding Dory. Disney’s sequel came out in 2016 and just kept swimming to more success in theaters domestically and abroad.

Finding Dory made $486,295,561 in the U.S. during its release. This started with a $135 million opening weekend, which was a record haul for an animated movie at the time. The domestic total accounts for 47.2% of its global haul, which is $1,029,266,989.

Thanks to its domestic performance, it finished 2016 as the second-highest-grossing release, only behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘s $532.1 million.

3

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

Illumination secured its place in the top 10 chart for animated movies in the U.S. by partnering with Nintendo for The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The 2023 release was an immediate smash hit, setting a then-record $377.2 million global opening for an animated feature.

$146.3 million of that global opening came from three days domestically, with the four-day Easter weekend total rising to $166.4 million. That propelled Illumination to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie make $574,934,330 at the U.S. by the time its run concluded.

This accounted for 42.2% of its global total, which finished at $1,360,879,735. It was the second-highest-grossing movie domestically and worldwide in 2023, thanks to this result, behind only Barbie in both areas. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is currently the 17th biggest movie in the U.S. ever, and in 3rd place for animated films only.

2

Incredibles 2 (2018)

In 2nd place, Pixar has Incredibles 2. The highly-anticipated sequel proved to be worth waiting 14 years for, as flocks of people went to the theater to see the superpowered Parr family back in action.

Incredibles 2 grossed $608,581,744 in the U.S. after posting the record opening for an animated movie. It made a staggering $182.6 million over a non-holiday weekend. That remains the biggest three-day opening for any animated film domestically. But the movie also had staying power beyond that, allowing it to be the first animated film to surpass the $600 million milestone in America.

Miraculously, this accounted for 49% of Incredibles 2‘s global total, which finished at $1,243,225,667. Perhaps what’s even more unfathomable is that Pixar’s sequel finished in third place domestically in 2018, with Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther topping it.

That didn’t stop Incredibles 2 from becoming the highest-grossing animated movie in the U.S., a title it held for six years, until another Pixar sequel came along. It currently sits as the 16th biggest movie domestically overall.

1

Inside Out 2 (2024)

The biggest animated movie of all time at the U.S. box office is Inside Out 2. Released in 2024, the sequel shattered box office records, finishing its run as the highest-grossing animated movie ever worldwide after making $1,698,863,816. That record has since been destroyed by China’s Ne Zha 2, though.

Still, Inside Out 2 made a record $652,980,194 domestically. It posted the second-biggest opening for an animated movie in the U.S. by making $154.2 million. Interest remained strong for months afterward, as it was in the top 10 for its first ten weekends of release, including finishing #1 the first three.

The domestic total wound up contributing 38.4% to Inside Out 2‘s final haul. It finished the year as the highest-grossing release in the U.S., edging out Deadpool & Wolverine by $16 million. The sequel is currently the 10th highest-grossing movie at the worldwide box office.