Highest-grossing animation movies in the U.S. & Canada 1937-2025
As of February 2025, "Incredibles 2" (2018) was the highest-grossing animated feature film in the history of the North American box office, which consists of Canada and the United States. The movie – directed and written by Brad Bird – grossed almost 609 million U.S. dollars across the two countries. Disney distributed seven of the top 10 films in this category.
Beyond Disney
Despite being released under the Disney umbrella, the “Incredibles 2” movie is a Pixar production. After years of collaboration, Disney announced the purchase of the animation studio in 2006, making it an official subsidiary. However, ‘Shrek 2’ is the most successful animated feature movie at the North American box office that is not created or distributed by Disney. The Shrek franchise, which includes four main movies, two spin-offs, and a television series, is DreamWorks Animation’s most lucrative yet.
Pokémon is the most successful anime movie franchise
Despite not reaching the same heights as their American counterparts in the box office, Japanese anime movies are popular with North American audiences. The first Pokémon movie, 1999’s “Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back” grossed 85.75 million U.S. dollars at the box office and was the highest grossing Japanese anime movie as of February 2025. More than 30 percent of American adults were interested in seeing a film or a TV adaptation of the Pokémon franchise, slightly more than Dragon Ball Z or Naruto. Japanese animation is appreciated by all consumers of all ages in the United States. Millennials accounted for 42 percent of anime fans as of 2022, whereas a quarter of them were Gen Zers.
