Last weekend’s disappointing debut for Pixar’s ELIO has cast doubt on the financial future of original animated movies. This week, Wall Street analyst Doug Creutz published a statement on the “concerning trend” for original animated films to do poorly at the box office. For many years, Pixar movies were able to defy this trend, drawing large audiences on the strength of their reputation for making fun animated family movies.
However, this reputation was dented during the pandemic, when Pixar released a number of its new movies on Disney+ and skipped over a traditional theatrical release. As a result, some audiences may have come to think of Pixar movies as being of “streaming” quality.
A notable exception was last year’s INSIDE OUT 2, which became the highest-grossing movie of 2024. By contrast, ELEMENTAL in 2023 was only a modest performer. Last weekend’s opening of ELIO was the lowest-grossing new release in the studio’s history.
Creutz’s analysis suggests that sequels are a much safer bet for animated and family films. Disney does not disagree, having just announced their decision to make a sequel to this year’s LILO & STITCH, which was itself a live-action remake of the studio’s 2002 animated original.
