Pixar began life in 1974 as part of Lucasfilm, eventually becoming an entity in its own right in 1986 thanks to funding from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Its first feature film, 1995’s Toy Story, was a massive hit, and it’s since produced dozens of classic movies that have won millions of hearts worldwide.
Collectively, the movies are estimated to have grossed well over $17 billion (£12.5bn), but which ones are the biggest box office darlings? Using figures from Box Office Mojo, we’ve adjusted each movie’s original release gross for inflation to rank 13 that pulled in over a billion dollars worldwide.
Read on to discover the gems that made the list.
All dollar amounts in US dollars
By 2001, Pixar features were building a head of steam with moviegoers, and Monsters, Inc. set the record for the biggest opening weekend for an animated film at the time, one of the strongest performances in history. It made over $528 million (£367m) worldwide, surpassing Aladdin to become the second highest-grossing animated movie ever, behind only 1994’s The Lion King.
A critical hit too, Monsters, Inc. was nominated for the inaugural Best Animated Feature Oscar. It lost out to Shrek, but did pick up the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Interestingly, it was Randy Newman’s first win after 15 previous nominations, but not his last in collaboration with Pixar.
Also just squeaking into our round-up, courtesy of its $1,008,145,748 (£750,492,562) adjusted gross, is 2007’s Ratatouille. This tale of a culinary-minded rat set in Paris was a critical and commercial smash, generating over $623 million (£311m) in worldwide box office revenue and finishing the year as the second-highest grossing animated movie behind Shrek the Third.
Unsurprisingly, the movie was a massive success in France, where it broke Titanic’s record for the most consecutive weeks at the top of the box office. It was nominated for five Oscars, breaking the record for an animated film, but won just one: Best Animated Feature.
Given the success of its predecessor, plans for a Monsters, Inc. sequel had been in the works since 2005, but fans had to wait until 2013 for Monsters University. Anticipation was off the charts, and the movie grossed over $136 million (£87m) worldwide on its opening weekend, ultimately generating over $743 million (£475m) globally by the end of its initial run.
The movie had a hefty estimated production budget of $200 million (£128m), with reportedly large paydays for the returning Billy Crystal and John Goodman.
Nevertheless, the film made a tidy profit of close to $180 million (£115m) according to Deadline Hollywood, but it failed to match the Oscars success of the last instalment, becoming the first Pixar movie not to be nominated for an Academy Award or Golden Globe.
Featuring an all-Latino principal cast, this feature inspired by Mexico’s Day of the Dead festival boasted a production budget north of $200 million (£155m). Given its subject matter, it’s little surprise that Coco became the highest-grossing film in history in Mexico, overtaking The Avengers a few weeks after its release.
Worldwide, Coco racked up an impressive $814 million (£631m) and recorded the fourth biggest Thanksgiving opening weekend ever in America. One of Pixar’s biggest hits at the time, it was also one of its most decorated, picking up the Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song Oscars. A sequel to the smash movie is in development.
Often cited by Pixar diehards as one of the studio’s finest outings, this exhilarating take on superheroes arrived before the genre reached its peak. Critically adored, it was also a commercial hit and became the second highest-grossing Pixar film at the time; more on number one shortly.
Generating over $630 million (£344m) globally, The Incredibles was the fourth highest-grossing movie of the year, behind only Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Spider-Man 2. It also picked up four Oscar nods, ultimately winning the Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Sound Editing.
A grumpy old man who turns his house into a hot air balloon and flies to South America with an eager young cub scout, meeting a talking dog on the way? Up is the quintessential Pixar movie and is regarded as one of the greatest animated films of all time.
Moviegoers adored it, and it generated a staggering $735 million (£468m) worldwide.
A critical smash too, it earned five Oscar nominations, becoming only the second animated movie (at the time) to earn a Best Picture nod after 1991’s Beauty and the Beast. It won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. Its enduring appeal has inspired a theme park ride that’s scheduled to open at Disneyland Paris next year.
This ambitious exploration of the inner workings of a young girl’s mind was developed with the assistance of psychologists and neuroscientists. It debuted at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and, in a sign of what was to come, received an eight-minute standing ovation.
Inside Out recorded a staggering $90 million (£52m) opening weekend in the USA and Canada, but only managed the number two spot behind Jurassic World’s $106 million (£69m). That said, it became the second-biggest number-two debut of all time. Worldwide, it pulled in $857 million (£561m) and went on to scoop the Best Animated Feature Oscar.
Toy Story 4 is the first Pixar movie in our round-up to generate over $1 billion at the box office on its original release, and the fifth Pixar movie overall to achieve that feat.
It’s fair to say that the nine-year gap since the third film in the franchise had whetted moviegoers’ appetites, and it had a worldwide opening of $244 million (£191m), the largest for an animated feature at the time. The year 2019 proved to be a fruitful one for Disney, with four other releases also passing the $1 billion mark: Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, The Rise of Skywalker and Frozen II.
Turning a profit of close to $370 million (£290m) according to Deadline Hollywood, it inevitably picked up the Best Animated Feature Academy Award.
The long-awaited sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo, Finding Dory enjoyed a phenomenal opening, grossing $185 million (£126m) globally on its way to an overall worldwide figure of over $1 billion. Another stellar year for Disney, the House of Mouse boasted the top five highest-grossing movies of 2016, with Finding Dory taking third spot below Captain America: Civil War and Rogue One, but above Zootopia (Zootropolis in the UK) and The Jungle Book.
It also became the highest-grossing Disney animated movie ever, finally breaking The Lion King’s hold on the title, before going on to surpass Shrek 2 as the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Pixar’s biggest breakthrough success and arguably one of its defining masterpieces, Finding Nemo smashed records on its release, becoming the highest-grossing animated film ever and the sixth highest-grossing movie overall at the time. It ended 2003 as the second highest-grossing movie of the year, behind only Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, with an $871 million (£534m) worldwide gross.
Moviegoers and critics alike adored it, and it became the first of many Pixar movies to win the Best Animated Feature Academy Award. Remarkably, it remains the bestselling DVD title of all time, with over 40 million copies sold.
Just edged out by Toy Story 4 in original release gross, its predecessor is the highest-ranked Toy Story movie on our list thanks to its adjusted gross. Hugely successful at release, it ended 2010 as the year's highest-grossing film, with $1.06 billion (£685m) worldwide. It became the first animated film in history to pass the $1 billion mark, and the seventh movie overall to achieve the feat.
As with all Toy Story movies, it received a glowing critical reception, with Mark Kermode of the BBC going so far as to crown the films “the best movie trilogy of all time”. It picked up five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, earning Randy Newman his second Academy Award.
Fourteen years after the first wildly successful instalment, Incredibles 2 crashed into cinemas. It became the fastest animated film to gross $1 billion, achieving the feat in just 46 days. It soon surpassed Toy Story 3 as the highest-grossing Pixar movie worldwide, going on to gross over $1.2 billion (£899m). According to Deadline Hollywood, it made a profit of almost $450 million (£338m).
Much had changed since the first film’s release, with superhero movies ubiquitous in cinemas. But its phenomenal $182 million (£136m) domestic opening proved the franchise could more than hold its own with its superhero rivals.
It outperformed the likes of Aquaman, Venom and Deadpool 2 and finished 2018 as the fourth highest-grossing movie behind Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.
Nine years after the first film, Inside Out 2 turned the global box office on its head. It doubled the take of the first movie, racking up a phenomenal $1.7 billion (£1.3bn) worldwide, and it rapidly became Pixar’s biggest box office hit and the highest-grossing animated feature of all time. It ended 2024 as the highest-grossing film of the year and the eighth highest-grossing movie of all time.
Despite missing out at the Oscars, Inside Out 2 was seen as something of a comeback for Pixar, coming after several years of mixed commercial results and the upheaval of the pandemic. It currently stands as Pixar’s biggest commercial success.
Remarkably, it lost its highest-grossing animated movie crown the very next year, when it was leapfrogged by Zootopia 2 (Zootropolis 2 in the UK) and Ne Zha 2. Time will tell if Toy Story 5 can put Pixar back on top.
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