Pixar's 9 Biggest Box Office Bombs Explained (2024)

Pixar is one of the most popular and successful movie studios, but that doesn’t mean that all Pixar movies will always perform well at the box. There have been some projects released by Pixar over the years that have performed well under expectations, often despite the critical acclaim tied to them. There are several reasons that contribute to well-received Pixar movies failing at the box office, ranging from poor release dates to underwhelming marketing strategies, not to mention the impact of the streaming model on how Pixar films are released.

Pixar has been releasing animated movies since 1995, and it’s quickly grown to be one of the biggest names in the business. The studio essentially revived the genre in the ‘90s and sparked a new wave of family-friendly animation that became incredibly popular. What often separates every Pixar movie from its competition is the way their stories can be enjoyed by both children and adults alike, dealing with mature themes in a way that is never too heavy or difficult. Sadly, Pixar’s recent box office performance has been worrying. Here are the biggest Pixar box office flops, with numbers from BoxOffice Mojo.

9 Turning Red

Despite receiving plenty of praise for its heartwarming story and the way it deals with representation, Turning Red is not among the most successful Pixar movies of recent years. The film actually ended up ranking among the biggest box office bombs of 2022 with a worldwide gross of only $20 million in comparison to its $175 million budget. The reason for Turning Red's failure was the same reason that many of Pixar’s newer films have not performed well - it was released simultaneously on Disney+. This meant that audiences could watch it from the comfort of their own homes, which obviously impacted the movie's worldwide box office results.

Related:

8 A Bug’s Life

A Bug’s Life marked a huge turning point for Pixar because it proved that the studio wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. Pixar's name didn’t have the kind of attraction that it has now, where audiences will watch anything they release, so A Bug’s Life had plenty of obstacles to overcome before the studio could really take off. The film only took in $363 million at the box office at the time, not adjusted for inflation, leaving it as one of the studio’s lowest-grossing projects. However, the critical reception proved that Pixar had plenty of steam left and marked the beginning of their rise to success.

7 Elemental

Although Elemental’s decision to remain in theaters longer than expected ultimately allowed the movie to gross a decent amount, there’s no denying that its opening weekend and initial run were extremely disappointing. There were several reasons for Elemental’s box office failure, with a clear lack of marketing and distribution, not to mention its poor release date right in the middle of other summer blockbusters, ranking high on the list. Elemental took in a domestic gross of $154 million, which was a huge increase on its opening weekend of $29 million.

6 Cars

Cars was a pretty early movie in the Pixar catalog, and its box office performance was nowhere near as impressive as the studio managed to reach in its heyday. The idea of a story focusing entirely on talking cars was pretty outlandish even by Pixar’s standards, and the disappointing reviews didn’t help gather the traction it needed to succeed, which left Cars with a decent, but underwhelming, worldwide gross of $461 million. It wasn’t too bad for an animated movie in that era, but it still wasn’t the huge success that Pixar was hoping to land.

5 The Good Dinosaur

The Good Dinosaur was one of the few Pixar properties to suffer a box office failure during the studio’s more popular and successful days. The main reason for its underperformance was simply that audiences were not that excited about the story - it felt like something that viewers had seen before, rehashing old beats from other Disney and Pixar movies. The box office competition was also unusually strong in 2015, leaving The Good Dinosaur facing off against Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the final installment in The Hunger Games series. The film’s $123 million domestic gross wasn’t terrible, but Pixar is certainly used to higher figures.

4 Cars 3

Cars 2 had been far from Pixar’s best movie, which meant audiences were extremely skeptical about the next installment in the trilogy. This was undoubtedly the biggest factor working against Cars 3’s box office success, as the previous movie had soured many audiences on the whole concept. The film took in a worldwide gross of $383 million, which might not seem too low, but in comparison to the rest of Pixar’s movies at the time, it was a pretty sizable underperformance.

3 Onward

Onward was one of the first Pixar movies whose box office performance was really affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was initially released in theaters before they had to close, and there was no backup plan. This was a huge disappointment given Onward’s promising voice cast and creative story, which meant it could’ve easily been a huge success for the studio had it been released under normal circ*mstances. Onward took in $141 million across the world before it was pulled from theaters, which was less than its initial budget.

2 Lightyear

Lightyear is a film that easily should have been a success, but it was ultimately let down by confusion about what the project actually was. The marketing was not always clear whether this was a sequel, a prequel, or even a spin-off from the Toy Story franchise, never quite deciding how it wanted to present itself. This left many audiences uninterested in the story despite its strong connections to such a popular property. The poor release strategy was another reason for Lightyear's box office flop since it only took in $226 million worldwide and barely exceeded its budget.

Related:

1 Soul

Soul is another example of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected a Pixar movie’s commercial chances, as theaters across the globe were mostly closed when it was released in December 2020. Soul was given a streaming release window on Disney+, where plenty of audiences quickly fell in love with the project - which also impacted Soul's box office. The film took in $121 million across the world, which was significantly less than its budget. However, this was still a fairly impressive number given the circ*mstances under which it was released.