8 Giant Animated Hits Nobody Can Explain. Who Bought All Those Tickets?

Every one of these made a fortune worldwide. None cracked a 7 on the movie.guru score. Somebody bought those tickets. Let's find out who.

Number one made $1.66 billion and still can't make a face.

1. 8
   Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)5.7

   The fourth panda movie runs on Jack Black fumes.

   $547.9M worldwide on a reported $85M budget, with a 5.7 movie.guru score. The kicks still land. The story kinda just shows up for attendance.
2. 7
   Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)6.2

   A great director stuck making a very expensive screensaver.

   $722.6M worldwide on a reported $200M budget, RT 56%. Barry Jenkins can shoot anything, and here he shot a lot of extremely realistic grass.
3. 6
   The Secret Life of Pets (2016)5.7

   A Toy Story pitch with more fur and less heart.

   $875.7M worldwide on a reported $75M budget, movie.guru score 5.7. Your dog does nothing all day, and that was worth nearly a billion.
4. 5
   Despicable Me 4 (2024)5.8

   The fourth Gru movie is a highlight reel without highlights.

   $972M worldwide and a CinemaScore A, but Metacritic 52. Audiences cheered a plot they forgot before reaching the parking lot.
5. 4
   Moana 2 (2024)6.0

   Moana 2 coasted on goodwill from the first one.

   $1.06B worldwide, Metacritic 58. Three directors, a reported $150M budget, and not one song you hummed in the car home.
6. 3
   The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)5.1

   A billion dollars for a Metacritic 37 is legit wild.

   $1.01B worldwide, with critics beating just 20% of movies. Chris Pratt says wahoo, planets spin, and the plot plays like a loading screen.
7. 2
   Minions (2015)5.0

   Minions is a merch catalog that learned to talk.

   $1.16B worldwide on a reported $74M budget, movie.guru score a flat 5.0. Sandra Bullock and Jon Hamm got paid to stand near gibberish.
8. 1
   The Lion King (2019)6.7

   The 2019 Lion King is the biggest shrug in animation.

   $1.66B worldwide, but the Guru's Take is 4.9. Photoreal lions can't make faces, so the big emotional moments play like a nature documentary on mute.

$612.83 says the first reply is a Lion King fan typing in all caps about their childhood.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it