Pixar’s most and least successful movies at the box office, ranked

Pixar

With the release of its 17th film, “Finding Dory,” on June 17, Pixar will likely continue the box-office domination that began with the release of its first film, “Toy Story,” in 1995.

Though each Pixar film released has made the studio a substantial net profit, not every movie has lived up to the immense success of some of the company’s true blockbuster hits. 

Using Box Office Mojo’s and The Numbers’ sales and production statistics for each film, Business Insider has ranked all 16 Pixar movies so far by their inflation-adjusted net profit, to keep things on an even playing field (so, subtracting budget from box-office gross) to determine which film was the most financially successful of its time. (The formula doesn’t take into account marketing and other costs, however, so net profits are actually likely smaller.)

Accordingly, we adjusted all global box-office receipts and budgets for inflation through 2016 using the US inflation calculator. 

Read on to see which Pixar film came out on top, and which landed at the bottom of the heap:

16. “The Good Dinosaur” (2015)

Adjusted gross: 335 million

Unadjusted gross: 331.9 million

Adjusted budget: 176.7 million

Unadjusted budget: 175 million*

 

Adjusted net profit: 158.3 million

*Note: Pixar never officially disclosed budget information for “The Good Dinosaur,” but the LA Times reported that the budget was estimated between $175 and $200 million. Given the lowest possible budget, this film was still the least financially successful.

15. “A Bug’s Life” (1998)

Adjusted gross: 533.4 million

Unadjusted gross: 363.4 million

Adjusted budget: 176.1 million

Unadjusted budget: 120 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 357.3 million

14. “Brave” (2012)

Adjusted gross: 561.7 million

Unadjusted gross: 539 million

Adjusted budget: 192.8 million

Unadjusted budget: 185 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 368.9 million

13. “WALL-E” (2008)

Adjusted gross: 579.3 million

Unadjusted gross: 521.3 million

Adjusted budget: 200 million

Unadjusted budget: 180 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 379.3 million

12. “Cars 2″ (2011)

Adjusted gross: 595.5 million

Unadjusted gross: 559.9 million

Adjusted budget: 212.7 million

Unadjusted budget: 200 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 382.8 million

11. “Cars” (2006)

Adjusted gross: 548.3 million

Unadjusted gross: 462 million

Adjusted budget: 142.4 million

Unadjusted budget: 120 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 405.9 million

10. “Toy Story” (1995)

Adjusted gross: 568.3 million

Unadjusted gross: 362 million

Adjusted budget: 47.1 million

Unadjusted budget: 30 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 521.2 million

9. “Ratatouille” (2007)

Adjusted gross: 719.7 million

Unadjusted gross: 623.7 million

Adjusted budget: 173.1 million

Unadjusted budget: 150 million 

 

Adjusted net profit: 546.6 million

8. “Toy Story 2″

Adjusted gross: 696.5 million

Unadjusted gross: 485 million

Adjusted budget: 129.3 million

Unadjusted budget: 90 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 567.2 million

7. “Monsters University” (2013)

Adjusted gross: 763.7 million

Unadjusted gross: 743.6 million

Adjusted budget: 179.7 million

Unadjusted budget: 175 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 584 million

6. “Monsters Inc.” (2001)

Adjusted gross: 760.8 million

Unadjusted gross: 562.8 million

Adjusted budget: 155.5 million

Unadjusted budget: 115 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 605.3 million

5. “UP” (2009)

Adjusted gross: 815.7 million

Unadjusted gross: 731.4 million

Adjusted budget: 195.2 million

Unadjusted budget: 175 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 640.7 million

4. “The Incredibles” (2004)

Adjusted gross: 799.7 million

Unadjusted gross: 631.4 million

Adjusted budget: 116.5 million

Unadjusted budget: 92 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 683.2 million

3. “Inside Out” (2015)

Adjusted gross: 865.5 million

Unadjusted gross: 857.4 million

Adjusted budget: 176.7 million

Unadjusted budget: 175 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 688.8 million

2. “Toy Story 3″ (2010)

Adjusted gross: 1.167 billion

Unadjusted gross: 1.063 billion

Adjusted budget: 219.4 million

Unadjusted budget: 200 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 947.2 million

1. “Finding Nemo” (2003)

Adjusted gross: 1.22 billion

Unadjusted gross: 936.7 million

Adjusted budget: 122.2 million

Unadjusted budget: 94 million

 

Adjusted net profit: 1.097 billion

Read more stories on Business Insider, Malaysian edition of the world’s fastest-growing business and technology news website.