Box office trends have changed significantly over the years, but animated family films have typically always been a reliable draw. As the recent success of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie shows, few things are as coveted in Hollywood as a massive animated franchise with widespread appeal. Over the years, studios like DreamWorks and Illumination have reaped the benefits of viewers’ love for animated works, entertaining moviegoers with long-running series like Madagascar and Despicable Me. Both have brought in billions of dollars at the worldwide box office, and now these two lucrative properties are rising up the streaming charts.
For the week of March 30th – April 5th, the Madagascar and Despicable Me franchises each had an installment that ranked in the top 10 on Netflix in the United States. The original Madagascar film came in third place, while Minions: The Rise of Gru was in fifth. Globally, Madagascar was the No. 8 film, while Despicable Me 4 came in ninth.
Madagascar and Despicable Me‘s Streaming Success Explained
All four Madagascar movies (the three mainline entries, plus spinoff Penguins of Madagascar) were added to Netflix’s library on April 1st, which makes the streaming performance of the first film all the more impressive. Despite only becoming available on the streamer in the middle of the week, it was able to rack up 4.9 million views and was watched for a total of 7 million hours worldwide. It’s a sign of the franchise’s enduring popularity. Madagascar has been out of the spotlight for a while, as Penguins of Madagascar was released back in 2014. A fourth mainline film was being developed, but hasn’t come to fruition yet all these years later.
The Madagascar movies weren’t always critical darlings (although, Rotten Tomatoes scores improved as the main series went on), but they were all very successful at the box office. The franchise earned a loyal following thanks to its colorful cast of animal characters, many of whom are voiced by celebrities who are still famous to this day. Additionally, the penguins always stole whatever scenes they were in, so the films are fun to watch. The streaming success of the original can probably be attributed to nostalgia for the property (that first film is now over 20 years old) and the fact that it’s entertainment for the whole family. Zootopia 2 and Hoppers have shown that talking animals can be the biggest draw for kids animation.
The performance of Despicable Me is perhaps a little less surprising. That franchise is still ongoing, with new installment Minions & Monsters set to become one of the biggest box office hits this summer. Like Madagascar, Despicable Me has an uneven critical track record, but its box office history is spotless. The 2010 original is the lowest-grossing entry with $543.1 million worldwide; all the other films made at least $940.4 million, so this franchise has clearly resonated strongly with the general public. Especially since it continues to be a sizable draw in theaters, it’s no shock to see Netflix users cue up Despicable Me films. The Minions and their zany antics will always be a draw, making these perfect for family movie night.
The Despicable Me franchise isn’t going to go away any time soon, but it’ll be interesting to see if Madagascar‘s surge up the streaming charts has any effect on the prolonged development of Madagascar 4. On one hand, studios shouldn’t read too much into streaming numbers because viewership totals are not equivalent to box office performance. On the other, it shows there’s still an audience for the Madagascar series, so there would likely be interest in a new installment even though so much time has passed. DreamWorks is finally making Shrek 5, which is releasing 17 years after Shrek Forever After (there have also been two Puss in Boots spinoffs since then), so the studio is no stranger to reviving a classic IP after an extended hiatus.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!