The history of animated movies in September

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The history of animated movies in September

As someone who has spent countless hours in the dimly lit theaters of yesteryears and witnessed the evolution of cinema, I can confidently say that the notion of certain months being “cursed” for movie releases is largely a misconception perpetuated by cynics and movie snobs.

Generally speaking, there’s usually a gap between the release of animated films. However, it’s common to see a break even on weekends when new Pixar or DreamWorks titles come out. Interestingly, ‘Transformers One’ and ‘The Wild Robot’ are bucking that trend. The former was released by Paramount on September 20th, while the latter, directed by Chris Sanders, will hit theaters a week later on September 27th. This mirrors the crowded release frame of Thanksgiving 1991, when ‘An American Tale: Fievel Goes West’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ were both released just two weeks apart. However, this time around, the competition is in late September, a popular time for launching family-friendly animated films.

It’s surprising that late September, traditionally considered a slow period for Hollywood, has become a hotspot where studios are rushing to debut family-friendly animated movies. For nearly two decades, this pattern has been consistent… yet it was not always the norm for animated blockbusters to premiere during this timeframe.

In the early 2000s, there were only a limited number of venues for releasing animated films. During summertime, Disney (with titles like The Lion King) and DreamWorks Animation (starting with Shrek) were the most popular choices, as kids were on vacation then. Ice Age made March a lucrative month in 2002. It took several years before other studios followed Blue Sky Studios’ lead and released their animated films around that time. Disney often chose to release a budget-friendly animated film during the President’s Day weekend in February, while both Thanksgiving and Christmas could be used as launchpads for animated features. However, Thanksgiving was a much more common choice than Christmas.

Regarding September? It was generally overlooked. In fact, up until 2004, it had only produced two movies that earned over $30 million domestically on their opening weekend. This period was seen as a quiet transition time between the busy blockbuster months and award season, not typically associated with animated family movies. By 2004, no animated films were among the top 30 domestic opening weekends. The only title that could be considered family-friendly was “Remember the Titans”. However, a year later, one film tested whether September could accommodate successful animated family films.

In the last days of September 2005, Tim Burton’s film “Corpse Bride” hit theaters and earned $19 million. This wasn’t enough to make Pixar employees break into a sweat. In fact, it was the 13th highest opening for September at that time. The eerie tale of the undead lovers paved the way for future family-friendly animated films released in September, particularly those with a spooky ambiance, like “Corpse Bride.” Given the success of one such film premiering in September, it was decided to take another chance with a more expensive project, “Open Season.

In 2006, Sony Pictures Animation launched its first full-length film on September 29, a date chosen due to the fierce competition in the animated family movie genre. With an abundance of computer-animated family films premiering that year, it was clear that studios had no other option but to capitalize on September. The months flew by with releases like “The Wild“, “The Ant Bully“, and “Barnyard>” gracing theaters. In fact, the last three weekends of summer 2006 saw a new PG-rated animated family movie debut each weekend! The calendar was so jam-packed that studios like Sony had no choice but to make the most of September.

In its debut weekend, the movie titled “Open Season” earned $23.6 million, a figure that was moderately average compared to other 2006 animated films. However, it didn’t flop in its release slot. In fact, it outperformed summertime animated films like “Barnyard” and “The Ant Bully”. What truly sets this movie apart is its soundtrack, which includes the hits “Love You in The Fall” and “Wild As I Wanna Be”. These songs make a strong case for the existence of an otherwise quite predictable animated film.

Following the release of “Open Season”, Sony aimed to establish late September as their preferred timeframe for debuting new animated films. This strategy mirrored Pixar’s dominance in mid-June and Blue Sky Studios’ preference for spring months like April and March. In 2009, this strategy proved successful with Sony’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”. This film opened to an impressive $30.3 million, outperforming almost all other September openings in 2009. Remarkably, it continued to perform well in the subsequent weeks, earning over four times its opening weekend revenue. With few new family movies released in October, “Meatballs” had ample space to thrive in the market. Additionally, late September releases like this one tend to have a longer run through October.

In September 2011, an updated version of “The Lion King” was re-released, earning $30 million on its opening weekend and over $90 million overall in the U.S., solidifying September as a prime time for releasing family-friendly animated films. The next year, Sony Animation’s “Hotel Transylvania,” which opened with $42 million and was an Adam Sandler feature, broke several records for September releases by having the biggest opening ever for that month and becoming the first film to gross over $40 million in its debut. Much like “Corpse Bride” seven years prior, “Transylvania” thrived partially because it was released close to Halloween. The advantageous timing of September for family movies became increasingly evident. By the end of 2012, “Hotel Transylvania” ranked as the 19th highest-grossing film of the year domestically, making September a powerhouse release slot for animated family films.

By December 2015, the initial two “Hotel Transylvania” films held the top two spots for highest grossing opening weekends in September history. Consequently, other production companies started venturing into this timeframe. Laika took advantage of it with “The Boxtrolls” in 2014, earning a strong $17.3 million debut, setting a new record for Laika’s biggest domestic opening weekend. Not only Laika was interested in this period, but also the creators of “Coraline”. From 2016 to 2018, Warner Animation Group released an annual animated movie (Storks, The Lego Ninjago Movie, Smallfoot) during late September, a strategy they had started with Corpse Bride. Following the success of The Lego Movie, Warner aimed to return in late September as a victorious hero. However, this did not materialize. All three films opened with lower earnings than Open Season from over a decade ago. Only Smallfoot managed to gain traction. The Lego Ninjago Movie was particularly underwhelming with its $20 million opening, only 15% more than The Boxtrolls and less than a third of the debut of The Lego Movie in February 2014. A late September release couldn’t save a Lego spin-off that didn’t generate much anticipation.

Several titles under the Warner Bros. banner faced numerous challenges, one of which was their marketing strategies not appealing broadly enough, especially compared to blockbuster animated films. It’s possible that Warner Bros. has had a tough time with animated productions. Apart from Happy Feet, The Lego Movie, and The Lego Batman Movie, the studio associated with Bugs Bunny has struggled at the box office with animated features. In September 2019, Warner Animation Group decided to take a break, consequently allowing DreamWorks’ lower-priced cartoon film, Abominable, to fill that slot instead.

As of now, Sony Pictures Animation hasn’t reclaimed the late September slot in the cinema calendar. Typically, movies like “Hotel Transylvania: Summer Vacation” and the two “Spider-Verse” installments have thrived in July or June. With the end of the 2010s, it was uncertain which studios would now dominate late September. The reluctance of major studios to release animated family films into theaters after the COVID-19 pandemic meant it took until 2023 for another animated movie to debut in late September. This time, Paramount chose the release date for “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie“, which earned $65.2 million. While that’s not as much as “Hotel Transylvania“, it’s a significant amount considering its $30 million budget. In fact, it made more than “The Lego Ninjago Movie” despite costing $40 million less to produce!

This month, “Transformers One” and “The Wild Robot” are continuing the tradition established by movies like “Open Season” and “Hotel Transylvania”. Unfortunately, “Transformers One” didn’t meet expectations due to its prequel/reboot having a $25 million opening weekend. Interestingly enough, such an opening would have been unthinkable for an animated movie 20 years ago. In fact, 20 years ago, “Transformers One” would have held the third-largest September opening in history. The movie market landscape has undergone a massive shift over the past two decades due to the surge of high-quality theatrical animated family films. With more and more studios aiming to create the next “Inside Out” or “Shrek”, popular release dates for such movies are quickly filled up. As a result, studios have had to find innovative ways to debut movies like “Hotel Transylvania” and “The Wild Robot”.

If there’s anything studios should take away from this phenomenon, it’s that no time of the year is truly cursed for releasing movies. Executives and movie geeks alike enjoy making jokes about certain months being “dead” or “cursed”, which can be amusing. However, nine times out of ten, people will show up to an enticing-looking movie no matter when it’s released. Average moviegoers won’t think “But why is this dropping over the weekend after Thanksgiving?”. They’ll come out if your feature has solid marketing and something that appeals to the general public. Let’s get creative with our release dates instead of so often cramming everything into just a handful of July or March weekends. Just look at what a game-changer it was when Sony took a risk on a late September date for the movie that launched that ever-popular classic “Love You in the Fall”…

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2024-09-25 15:15