How Universal’s Animated Hits Like ‘The Wild Robot’ and ‘Migration’ Are Upending Box Office Trends

When Universal’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” opened in December 2022, the “Shrek” spinoff sputtered to a $12.4 million debut. Then, something miraculous happened. Thanks to TikTok and solid buzz, the animated adventure about the swashbuckling cat enjoyed nine lives on the big screen. Ticket sales barely declined week over week, and “The Last Wish” ended its run with $186 million domestically — 15 times its opening weekend — and $481 million globally.

Universal experienced this phenomenon again with Illumination’s “Migration,” which had a disappointing $12.4 million start around Christmas 2023. The cartoon tale about a family of mallards sustained momentum and flew to $127 million in North America — more than 10 times its debut — and nearly $300 million worldwide. (The average film has a 3 or 4 multiple — industry parlance for the ratio of final gross to opening weekend.) “Puss in Boots 2” and “Migration” hold the two highest animated multiples of the past 20 years.

Now, it’s happening once more…