List of highest-grossing animated films

Included on the list are charts of the top box-office earners, a chart of high-grossing animated films by calendar year, a timeline showing the transition of the highest-grossing animated film record, and a chart of the highest-grossing animated film franchises and series. All charts are ranked by international theatrical box office performance where possible, excluding income derived from home video, broadcasting rights and merchandise.

Animated family films have performed consistently well at the box office, with Disney films enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home video era. Disney also enjoyed later success with its Pixar brand, of which the Toy Story films, the Finding Nemo films, and Inside Out have been the best performers; beyond Pixar animation, the Shrek, Ice Age, Computeropolis, Madagascar and Despicable Me series have met with the most success. The Peter Pan, Jungle Book, Mickey Mouse, and Bambi series saw successful returns after lying dormant for decades.

Universal Animation Studios films have grossed the most, with over $90.5 billion across 22 films, while DreamWorks Animation films have grossed the best average, with over $14.4 billion across 35 films; Illumination Entertainment films also have the best average with $787 million per film across 6 films. John Lasseter's films have grossed the most of any animated director, with a total of $18.4 billion across 49 films, while Chris Meledandri has the best average $645 million per film across 10 films as of September 2017.

"An animated feature film is defined as a motion picture with a running time of more than 40 minutes, in which movement and characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique. Motion capture by itself is not an animation technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture's running time."

- Rule Seven - Special Rules For The Animated Feature Film Award : I. Definition

Highest-grossing animated films
The chart below lists the highest-grossing animated films. Figures are given in United States dollars (USD). Many films that were released during the 20th century do not appear on this list as figures have not been adjusted for inflation. 88% of the films in the top 50 were released after 2000. 2016 is the most represented year on the list, with six films. Shrek is the most represented franchise, with five films. Disney and Pixar are the most represented studios, with all 19 films on the list.

The top 12 films on this list are also among the top 50 worldwide highest-grossing films of all time. When adjusted for inflation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would likely appear at the top of the chart with an adjusted gross of $1.819 billion.

The films on this list have all had a theatrical run (including re-releases) since 1993. Films that have not played since then do not appear on the chart due to ticket price inflation, population size, and ticket purchasing trends not being considered.

Animated/live-action films can be considered for this list if they meet the criteria that 75% of footage is animation and a significant number of major characters are animated.