List of creators of billion-dollar animated movie franchises
This list is limited to the original creators of source material for animated movie franchises that have each generated over $1 billion from all revenues after only 1 sequel. Total revenues are defined as theatrical markets (worldwide box office) plus ancillary markets (home media, cable, merchandising, books, video games, TV series, theme parks, etc.). Creators of franchises are divided into two categories and are defined as either one creator who originated the source material alone or multiple creators who originated the source material in collaboration.
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Sole-creators of source material
Of the 12 animated movie franchises that have each generated total revenues exceeding $1 billion after only 1 sequel, 7 of them were created by sole-individuals.
RANKING TO REACH $1 BILLION |
SOLE-CREATOR |
FRANCHISE |
SOURCE MATERIAL |
PROJECT ORIGINATED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1st |
William Steig |
Shrek |
His book Shrek! |
in-house at movie studio |
2nd |
Michael J. Wilson |
Ice Age |
His original screen story Ice Age based on a title and IDeaS from producer |
in-house at movie studio |
3rd |
Sergio Pablos |
Despicable Me |
His original screen story Evil Me |
by screenwriter outside studio |
4th |
Carlos Saldanha |
Rio |
His original screen story Rio |
in-house at movie studio |
5th |
Cressida Cowell |
How To Train Your Dragon |
Her book How To Train Your Dragon |
in-house at movie studio |
6th |
Todd Durham |
Hotel Transylvania |
His original screen story based on his book Hotel Transylvania |
by screenwriter outside studio |
7th |
Andrew Stanton |
Finding Nemo |
His original screen story Finding Nemo |
in-house at movie studio |
Multiple-creators of source material
Of the 12 animated movie franchises that have each generated total revenues exceeding $1 billion after only 1 sequel, 5 of them were created in collaboration.
RANKING TO REACH $1 BILLION |
MULTIPLE-CREATORS |
FRANCHISE |
SOURCE MATERIAL |
PROJECT ORIGINATED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1st |
John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton |
Toy Story |
Their original screen story |
in-house at movie studio |
2nd |
Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath |
Madagascar |
Their original screen story |
in-house at movie studio |
3rd |
Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris |
Kung Fu Panda |
Their screen story based on ideas & title from DreamWorks |
in-house at movie studio |
4th |
John Lasseter, Joe Ranft |
Cars |
Their original screen story |
in-house at movie studio |
5th |
John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft |
Monsters, Inc. |
Their original screen story |
in-house at movie studio |
Creators, alphabetical
The following 14 creators of source material for franchises are members of the billion-dollar club, representing 12 animated movie franchises and over $12 billion in total revenues.
CREATOR |
$1-BILLION ANIMATION FRANCHISE |
ROLE IN CREATION OF SOURCE MATERIAL |
PRODUCTION STUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|
Cressida Cowell |
How To Train Your Dragon |
sole-creator of source material |
DreamWorks |
Eric Darnell |
Madagascar |
1 of 2 creators of source material |
DreamWorks |
Pete Docter |
Toy Story |
1 of 3 creators of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
Pete Docter |
Monsters, Inc. |
1 of 4 creators of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
Todd Durham |
Hotel Transylvania |
sole-creator of source material |
Sony Pictures |
John Lasseter |
Toy Story |
1 of 3 creators of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
John Lasseter |
Cars |
1 of 2 creators of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
John Lasseter |
Monsters, Inc. |
1 of 4 creators of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
Tom McGrath |
Madagascar |
1 of 2 creators of source material |
DreamWorks |
Sergio Pablos |
Despicable Me |
sole-creator of source material |
Universal |
Joe Ranft |
Cars |
1 of 2 creators of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
Joe Ranft |
Monsters, Inc. |
1 of 4 creators of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
Ethan Reiff |
Kung Fu Panda |
1 of 2 creators of source material |
DreamWorks |
Carlos Saldanha |
Rio |
sole-creator of source material |
20th Century Fox |
Andrew Stanton |
Toy Story |
1 of 3 creators of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
Andrew Stanton |
Monsters, Inc. |
1 of 4 creators of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
Andrew Stanton |
Finding Nemo |
sole-creator of source material |
Disney-Pixar |
William Steig |
Shrek |
sole-creator of source material |
DreamWorks |
Cyrus Voris |
Kung Fu Panda |
1 of 2 creators of source material |
DreamWorks |
Michael J. Wilson |
Ice Age |
sole-creator of source material |
20th Century Fox |