The Disney Box Office thread - Recession edition

[PatrickvD]

I remember way back when there was a Box Office game thread in the off topic section, but that's been a while. And I think it's time for a serious topic on Box Office results of Disney's films. And Pixar too.

I'd like to start off by taking a look at a fun 'what if'. The adjusted for inflation chart. Showing what a film would have made had it been released today and sold the same amount of tickets at the North American Box Office. Note; for some films, this includes multiple releases:

1. Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs $874,180,000
2. One Hundred and One Dalmatians $801,336,400
3. The Lion King $714,590,500
4. Fantasia $666,008,700
5. Cinderella $600,866,800
6. The Jungle Book $590,912,900
7. Sleeping Beauty $582,862,000
8. Pinocchio $540,574,700
9. Bambi $510,973,800
10. Lady & The Tramp $446,993,800

11. Aladdin $420,587,600
12. The Aristocats $377,538,000
13. Peter Pan $365,900,700
14. Beauty and the Beast $363,825,300
15. Tarzan $271,177,000
16. Pocahontas $261,028,000
17. The Little Mermaid $212,428,900
18. Mulan $206,263,200
19. Dinosaur $204,960,900
20. Tangled $201,890,500

21. Lilo & Stitch $201,251,400
22. The Rescuers $198,742,400
23. The Sword in the Stone $186,784,700
24. Wreck-it Ralph $185,903,973
25. The Hunchback of Notre Dame $181,699,900
26. Hercules $171,448,800
27. Chicken Little $169,278,300
28. The Fox and The Hound $161,074,800
29. Robin Hood $145,250,200
30. Oliver & Company $143,246,200

31. The Emperor's New Groove $129,104,000
32. Bolt $127,396,900
33. Atlantis: The Lost Empire $119,104,800
34. Meet the Robinsons $114,031,100
35. Brother Bear $113,354,700
36. The Princess and the Frog $108,747,200
37. Fantasia 2000 $89,918,100
38. The Great Mouse Detective $80,452,100
39. Home on the Range $64,612,600
40. The Rescuers Downunder $53,047,700

41. Treasure Planet $52,352,100
42. Dumbo $51,328,000 (excluding re-releases)
43. The Black Cauldron $48,094,400
44. Alice in Wonderland $36,317,000 (excluding re-releases)
45. Winnie the Pooh $26,961,800


Box Office data is unavailable for:


Saludos Amigos
The Three Caballeros
Make Mine Music
Melody Time
Fun and Fancy Free
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (though it is known to have been number one for two weeks in a row in 1977)

Some surprises: The Aristocats, through three releases is the 12th most successful Disney animated feature! Above Beauty, Mermaid and Peter Pan. Pretty Impressive. The Rescuers is another surprise on the charts. Interesting fact: At the time, it broke the Disney opening weekend record set by One Hundred and One Dalmatians 16 years prior. Of course it didn't go on to match that film's success which exploded through multiple re-releases.

Also, only two post-2000 films have managed to crack the top 20, near the bottom: Dinosaur and Tangled. Makes you wonder, which will be the next Disney animated film to make in into the top 20 or... maybe even the top 10? That will be unlikely.

The Little Mermaid is set to move up on the charts with its fall 2013 re-release.

So, any thoughts on Box Office? I consider it a decent reflection of Disney's animated success and it puts some things in perspective.

[Flanger-Hanger]

Some of those numbers look worldwide, while others don't. Is that intentional or just what's available? I thought, for exmaple, TP made $109 million worldwide?

[PatrickvD]

Some of those numbers look worldwide, while others don't. Is that intentional or just what's available? I thought, for exmaple, TP made $109 million worldwide?

This is adjusted for inflation at the North American Box Office only. It's difficult to include international Box Office figures because it's only available from the 90s and 00's, even though films like Snow White, The Jungle Book and The Rescuers are known to have been hugely successful internationally, but exact numbers aren't available.

[ProfessorRatigan]

Notice that the top ten are all films Disney has re-re-re-re-released SO many times over the years... Meanwhile, they don't even give films like Hunchback, Hercules, Aladdin (has it EVER been re-released?! And if so, WHY NOT!?) Tarzan or Mulan any. Even Pocahontas, I think, would find an audience if it were given new theatrical revivals every 7 years.

It's crazy how low Alice in Wonderland is to me. I always thought it to be a REALLY popular Disney film, on par with Peter Pan. It seems like it should be higher, and Fantasia seems like it would be lower. (I just don't see Fantasia as having a real following in the 'mainstream non-Disney geek' world. Maybe I'm wrong. *shrug*)

I just wish that Disney wouldn't ignore gems in its catalog because they don't perform as well as the films they've trotted out at least once a decade have. It just doesn't seem fair. They don't give certain films a fighting chance.

[RyGuy]

Interesting stuff! It's difficult to make apples to apples comparisons though.

For example, at the time Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released, the multiplex would have been unheard of. So, if that was the only movie your theater was showing, and going to the show every Saturday was what you did, then of course, you bought a ticket and saw it.

In addition, how many times has it been re-released in 75 years? I remember seeing it in 1987 and 1993. I know I saw it a few times before that when I was REALLY young.

Compared to say, Tangled, which hasn't been re-released yet and had competition at the box office.

That's not to say that Tangled is a better film . . . just that there are a lot of variables that may not be accounted for by simply comparing box office receipts.

[Flanger-Hanger]

Some of those numbers look worldwide, while others don't. Is that intentional or just what's available? I thought, for exmaple, TP made $109 million worldwide?

This is adjusted for inflation at the North American Box Office only. It's difficult to include international Box Office figures because it's only available from the 90s and 00's, even though films like Snow White, The Jungle Book and The Rescuers are known to have been hugely successful internationally, but exact numbers aren't available.

OK, thanks for clearing that up

It's interesting for me to see how high SB is, when reissues like the 1986 one pulled in numbers lower than other DAC titles (even Aristocats).

[Avaitor]

I've always wanted to see the original box-office for each film, not counting in rereleases. It may not be fair to some of the earlier films, which didn't do so well during their initial releases, but so few of Disney's post-80's movies have had rereleases, which makes things unbalanced in rankings.

I have a feeling that The Lion King would be #1 if you factor original releases in, adjusting for inflation, even above Snow White.

[estefan]

It's crazy how low Alice in Wonderland is to me. I always thought it to be a REALLY popular Disney film, on par with Peter Pan. It seems like it should be higher, and Fantasia seems like it would be lower. (I just don't see Fantasia as having a real following in the 'mainstream non-Disney geek' world. Maybe I'm wrong. *shrug*)

Well, Alice wasn't hugely successful on its initial release. And the above list isn't counting re-releases for Alice. It actually managed to find a massive audience in the late 60s among the flower-power generation, much like Fantasia. I imagine Alice would be much higher if re-releases were counted.

[Sky Syndrome]

I just wish that Disney wouldn't ignore gems in its catalog because they don't perform as well as the films they've trotted out at least once a decade have. It just doesn't seem fair. They don't give certain films a fighting chance.

It's funny in a sad way the Disney company does that considering there's Disney films about underdogs proving their worth.

[estefan]

By the way, Avaitor and anyone else curious, Box Office Mojo allows you to look at each individual release and adjust for inflation. So go to the film's page, click on "Release" and then on the scroll-down menu on the top right-hand corner of the website, select it to show it in 2012 dollars.

So, the original release of Snow White adjusts to $621,318,500 and The Lion King's '94 numbers is equal $598,487,500 today. So, Snow White would still beat The Lion King when not counting re-issues.

It's important to note that Snow White became the highest-grossing film of all-time when originally released (only to be subsequently beat by Gone with the Wind not long afterwards).

[Avaitor]

By the way, Avaitor and anyone else curious, Box Office Mojo allows you to look at each individual release and adjust for inflation. So go to the film's page, click on "Release" and then on the scroll-down menu on the top right-hand corner of the website, select it to show it in 2012 dollars.

So, the original release of Snow White adjusts to $621,318,500 and The Lion King's '94 numbers is equal $598,487,500 today. So, Snow White would still beat The Lion King when not counting re-issues.

Huh, wasn't sure about that. Pretty cool.

[rodis]

That list is very misleading since so many of the earlier films got re-released over and over, but thanks.

What I like to do is to compare the number of tickets sold (box-office gross/ticket price)... Of course it's only fair to do so between films that were not released in 3D.

And then you have Beauty and the Beast that did about $145 million in 1991 vs. Tarzan's $170 million in 1999. In reality, Beauty did better. It sold more than 34 million tickets whereas Tarzan "only" 33 million. Goes to show you how box office numbers can be deceiving. Of-course the ticket price is an estimation.

The Little Mermaid did $84 million in 1989 and Hercules $99 million in 1997 but in terms of tickets, Mermaid has the edge (albeit slightly).

[PatrickvD]

I never said it was 100% accurate. Although I probably should note which films had re-releases.

And 3D does inflate by a lot. Tangled probably did not sell as many tickets as The Rescuers, Hunchback, Lilo & Stitch or Sword in the Stone.

I do think the fact that some films were given a re-release accounts for their popularity and therefore they represent their place in Disney's canon as viewed by both the public and Disney.

The fact for example that Alice in Wonderland is all the way down (a surprise to many) only shows its popularity is recent. Especially after the botched Tim Burton film, I think it moved up on many people's lists and is now considered a Disney classic. Something that was pretty hard to imagine back in 1951 when it was a critical and financial failure. And of course, there's sadly no data available on its successful re-releases, which would probably put it higher on the list.

[thelittleursula]

I thought that Fantasia was a huge flop and didn't do so good ? And that Dumbo was more successful ?

Also 101 feels a little too high, did it really do that well ??

[estefan]

Keep in mind this is also counting re-issues. Fantasia may have done poorly on its original release, but during the 1960s and 1970s, Fantasia had a huge upswing in popularity. Mainly due to certain audiences taking a different sort of mushroom than the ones dancing on the screen.

And I think 101 Dalmatians was very successful, which I think is part of the reason they continued to use the Xerox process despite Walt's hatred for it. And, of course, every time they re-issued Dalmatains, it did very well which adds up.

Adjusting for inflation, each release performed as such:

1961: $451,119,400
1969: $101,662,000
1979: $60,709,200
1985: $71,964,900
1991: $115,881,000

[Atlantica]

Is there any way to count 'bums on seats' over box office ?

I seem to remember AFI doing a countdown of the worlds most successful films, which was purely based on that, over money the movie made.

Unless I have got the wrong end of the stick here, which has been known to happen

[Wonderlicious]

Is there any way to count 'bums on seats' over box office ?

I seem to remember AFI doing a countdown of the worlds most successful films, which was purely based on that, over money the movie made.

Unless I have got the wrong end of the stick here, which has been known to happen

The Box Office Mojo feature that estefan mentioned can also be used to calculate estimated admissions. However, I doubt the list would change that much if you used that feature, as it does seem fairly automatic and wouldn't take into consideration reduced admission rates for children (which really would be crucial in counting admissions for Disney films).

As for the countdown, I too seem to recall it, though I believe that the one you're talking about was actually produced by Channel 4 and concerned UK box office admissions only. In fact, here's the final list. A lot of the films higher up on the list would have been subject to countless re-releases (hence why a good number of Disney films made the list), or were released in a period where a trip to the cinema really would have been the only chance to see a film (aka the pre-DVD/VHS era, even the pre-TV era for some).

[thelittleursula]

which I think is part of the reason they continued to use the Xerox process despite Walt's hatred for it.

Walt hated it too ? It makes animation look budget and tacky. If you look at Snow White and Cinderella and then 101 Dalmantions you'll think that 101 was made by a less famous and more budget company, like Don Bluth back in the 90's.

Xerox is terrible and I'm so happy that Walt hated it too.

[PatrickvD]

which I think is part of the reason they continued to use the Xerox process despite Walt's hatred for it.

Walt hated it too ? It makes animation look budget and tacky. If you look at Snow White and Cinderella and then 101 Dalmantions you'll think that 101 was made by a less famous and more budget company, like Don Bluth back in the 90's.

Xerox is terrible and I'm so happy that Walt hated it too.

It's stylized. But it's not surprising to me that avid fans of Disney's classic style don't get it.

[Jules]

It's stylized. But it's not surprising to me that avid fans of Disney's classic style don't get it.

Same here. Xerox was the BEST thing to happen to Disney animation in years. I hate the fact that in the pre-Dalmatians films, the animated drawings onscreen are merely tracings of the original art.

I will say that the ink and paint women did a wonderful job of tracing the original drawings, but a tracing is a tracing, no matter how good it is.

I do not agree with Walt Disney in his aversion to Xerox. I think he was being short-sighted.