This article is about all animated features produced or distributed by Universal Pictures and its predecessors. For a list of features produced by Universal Animation Studios and its predecessors, see Universal Animation Studios § Filmography. For lists of features produced by other animation studios owned by NBCUniversal, see List of Illumination productions and List of DreamWorks Animation productions.
This is a list of theatrical animated feature films released by Universal Pictures, the film division of Comcast's NBCUniversal.
Universal Pictures releases films from Universal-owned and non-Universal owned animation studios. Most films listed below are from Illumination which began as the feature animation department of Universal, producing its first feature-length animated film Despicable Me in 2010. Beginning with How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World in 2019, Universal also released animated films by DreamWorks Animation, which was acquired by NBCUniversal in 2016. Other studio units have also released films theatrically, including Universal Animation Studios, which now focuses mainly on animating television shows and direct-to-video films.
The studio's distribution unit acquires film rights from outside animation studios to release films under the Universal Pictures or Focus Features film labels. For example, Laika's stop-motion animated features were released by Universal through its Focus Features label. Other studios globally have released films through Universal Pictures which maintains distribution rights in certain territories.
Films
Amblimation (1991–95) | |
Universal Animation Studios (2006–present) | |
Illumination (2010–present) | |
DreamWorks Animation (2019–present) | |
Other Universal studio | |
Third-party studio | |
Live-action/animation hybrid | |
Distribution only | |
An adult animated production |
US releases
Title | Original theatrical release date | Animation studio | |
---|---|---|---|
The Snow Queen | November 20, 1959 | Soyuzmultfilm | |
Pinocchio in Outer Space | December 22, 1965 | Belvision Studios | |
An American Tail | November 21, 1986 | Amblin Entertainment and Sullivan Bluth Studios | |
The Land Before Time | November 18, 1988 | ||
Jetsons: The Movie | July 6, 1990 | Hanna-Barbera | |
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West | November 22, 1991 | Amblimation | |
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story | November 24, 1993 | ||
Casper | May 26, 1995 | Amblin Entertainment and The Harvey Entertainment Company | |
Balto | December 22, 1995 | Amblimation | |
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle | June 30, 2000 | Jay Ward Productions and TriBeCa Productions | |
How the Grinch Stole Christmas | November 17, 2000 | Imagine Entertainment | |
The Cat in the Hat | November 21, 2003 | DreamWorks Pictures and Imagine Entertainment | |
Curious George | February 10, 2006 | Universal Animation Studios and Imagine Entertainment | |
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie | January 11, 2008 | Big Idea Entertainment and Starz Animation | |
The Tale of Despereaux | December 19, 2008 | Relativity Media and Framestore Animation | |
Despicable Me | July 9, 2010 | Illumination | |
Paul | March 18, 2011 | Relativity Media, Working Title Films, Big Talk Studios, and StudioCanal | |
Hop | April 1, 2011 | Illumination and Relativity Media | |
The Lorax | March 2, 2012 | Illumination | |
Ted | June 29, 2012 | Media Rights Capital, Fuzzy Door Productions, Bluegrass Films, and Smart Entertainment | |
Despicable Me 2 | July 3, 2013 | Illumination | |
Ted 2 | June 26, 2015 | Media Rights Capital, Fuzzy Door Productions, Bluegrass Films, and Smart Entertainment | |
Minions | July 10, 2015 | Illumination | |
The Secret Life of Pets | July 8, 2016 | ||
Sing | December 21, 2016 | ||
Despicable Me 3 | June 30, 2017 | ||
The Grinch | November 9, 2018 | ||
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World | February 22, 2019 | DreamWorks Animation | |
The Secret Life of Pets 2 | June 7, 2019 | Illumination | |
Abominable | September 27, 2019 | DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio | |
Trolls World Tour | April 10, 2020 | DreamWorks Animation | |
The Croods: A New Age | November 25, 2020 | ||
Spirit Untamed | June 4, 2021 | ||
The Boss Baby: Family Business | July 2, 2021 | ||
Sing 2 | December 22, 2021 | Illumination | |
The Bad Guys | April 22, 2022 | DreamWorks Animation and Scholastic Entertainment | |
Minions: The Rise of Gru | July 1, 2022 | Illumination | |
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish | December 21, 2022 | DreamWorks Animation | |
The Super Mario Bros. Movie | April 5, 2023 | Illumination and Nintendo | |
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken | June 30, 2023 | DreamWorks Animation | |
Strays | August 18, 2023 | Picturestart, Lord Miller Productions, and Rabbit Hole Productions | |
Trolls Band Together | November 17, 2023 | DreamWorks Animation | |
Migration | December 22, 2023 | Illumination | |
Kung Fu Panda 4 | March 8, 2024 | DreamWorks Animation | |
Despicable Me 4 | July 3, 2024 | Illumination | |
The Wild Robot | September 27, 2024 | DreamWorks Animation |
Upcoming
See also: Upcoming DreamWorks Animation films and Upcoming Illumination filmsTitle | Intended theatrical release date by Universal Pictures |
Animation studio | |
---|---|---|---|
Dog Man | January 31, 2025 | DreamWorks Animation and Scholastic Entertainment | |
The Bad Guys 2 | August 1, 2025 | ||
Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie | September 26, 2025 | DreamWorks Animation | |
The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 | April 3, 2026 | Illumination and Nintendo | |
Shrek 5 | July 1, 2026 | DreamWorks Animation | |
LarryBoy | 2026 | Big Idea Entertainment and Kingstone Studios | |
Minions 3 | June 30, 2027 | Illumination | |
Untitled live-action/animated Lego film | TBA | The Lego Group, Animal Logic, and Rideback |
International releases
Title | Original theatrical release date | Animation studio | |
---|---|---|---|
Small Soldiers | July 10, 1998 | DreamWorks Pictures and Amblin Entertainment | |
The Abrafaxe – Under The Black Flag | October 25, 2001 (German) | Abrafaxe Trickfilm | |
Momo | December 21, 2001 (Italy) | Taurus Produktion | |
Coraline | February 6, 2009 | Laika | |
9 | September 9, 2009 | Starz Animation | |
Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! | July 10, 2009 (Denmark) | Universal Animation Studios and Imagine Entertainment | |
Nikté | December 18, 2009 (Mexico) | Animex Producciones | |
ParaNorman | August 17, 2012 | Laika | |
Underdogs | July 18, 2013 (Argentina) | Prana Studios and 100 Bares Producciones | |
Moshi Monsters: The Movie | December 20, 2013 | Spider Eye Productions | |
Song of the Sea | September 6, 2014 (Ireland) | StudioCanal and Cartoon Saloon | |
The Seventh Dwarf | September 25, 2014 (Germany) | Zipfelmützen Film GmbH & Co. KG | |
The Boxtrolls | September 26, 2014 | Laika | |
Yellowbird | October 11, 2014 | TeamTO | |
Ratchet & Clank | April 29, 2016 | Rainmaker Entertainment and Blockade Entertainment | |
Kubo and the Two Strings | August 19, 2016 | Laika | |
Ethel & Ernest | October 28, 2016 | Cloth Cat Animation | |
The Breadwinner | September 8, 2017 (Canada) | Elevation Pictures, StudioCanal, and Cartoon Saloon | |
Woody Woodpecker | October 5, 2017 (Brazil) | Universal Animation Studios and Cinemotion | |
The Boss Baby | March 21, 2018 (Japan) | DreamWorks Animation | |
The Addams Family | October 11, 2019 | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Cinesite | |
The Addams Family 2 | October 1, 2021 | ||
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On | February 17, 2023 (United Kingdom) | A24, Cinereach, You Want I Should, Human Woman, Sunbeam Television & Films, and Chiodo Bros. Productions | |
Mavka: The Forest Song | March 29, 2023 (France) | Animagrad Animation Studio and Film.UA | |
Piece by Piece | October 11, 2024 | The Lego Group, Tremolo Productions, and I Am Other |
Highest-grossing films
- † indicates films playing in theaters around the world in the week commencing 20 December 2024.
This list does not include films combining live-action with animation.
Rank | Film | Worldwide gross | Studio | Year | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Super Mario Bros. Movie | $1,363,298,473 | Illumination and Nintendo | 2023 | |
2 | Minions | $1,159,398,397 | Illumination | 2015 | |
3 | Despicable Me 3 | $1,034,799,409 | 2017 | ||
4 | Despicable Me 2 | $970,761,885 | 2013 | ||
5 | Despicable Me 4 | $968,240,710 | 2024 | ||
6 | Minions: The Rise of Gru | $939,628,210 | 2022 | ||
7 | The Secret Life of Pets | $875,457,937 | 2016 | ||
8 | Sing | $634,151,679 | |||
9 | Kung Fu Panda 4 | $546,362,086 | DreamWorks Animation | 2024 | |
10 | Despicable Me | $543,113,985 | Illumination | 2010 |
See also
- List of Universal Pictures films
- List of DreamWorks Animation productions
- List of Illumination productions
- List of unproduced Universal Pictures animated projects
Notes
Release Notes
- Listed are the original theatrical release dates in the United States (or other non-U.S. territories) when the film was contributed by Universal. Different distributors are attributed and credited for distributing each film throughout the history of Universal.
- Original Soviet release date was November 15, 1957
- Released by Universal Pictures in North America
- Listed are the original theatrical release dates in the United States (or other non-U.S. territories) when the film was contributed by Universal. Different distributors are attributed and credited for distributing each film throughout the history of Universal.
- ^ Not released theatrically in the United States, released as DTV film
Studio/Production Notes
- ^ Released by Universal outside North America
- ^ Released by Focus Features.
- Released by Gramercy Pictures.
- Released by Universal in Japan
- Released theatrically by MGM in USA
Rights Notes
References
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Culton, who made her directorial debut with Sony's Open Season, is currently writing and directing a film about a young girl and a Yeti for DWA with the working title Everest.
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- "Despicable Me". Box Office Mojo.
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