Apr 6, 2023

Japanese Animated Feature Films Perform Well in International Markets

In recent months, we have repeatedly mentioned the remarkable box office success of anime films in Japanese cinemas. While Japan clearly leads the world in box office receipts for local animation, many other countries have their own homegrown animation success stories as well.

Here are three box-office success stories of feature-length animated films from smaller markets that have achieved great success in their home countries and abroad.

Warner Bros. has already brought animated feature films to theaters worldwide this year, but American audiences may be forgiven for not having noticed, as the company did nothing to promote the films in the U.S. and reported no box office receipts in North America. In Spain, however, the locally-produced film did take the No. 1 spot during the weekend of February 24-26. Screened on 558 screens, 204 fewer than Marvel's "Ant-Man & The Wasp," "Mummies" grossed an impressive 1.4 million euros (US$1.5 million). In comparison, DreamWorks' "Puss in Boots" only made €55 million: The Last Wish made only €558,000 (US$609,000) in its first weekend in Spain.

"The Mummies" has become the highest-grossing local film in Spain this year, now with €5.4 million ($590 million). Worldwide, it has grossed over 39.4 million euros (about $4.3 billion), making it a blockbuster by Spanish standards. It has been a hit across Europe, grossing 5.8 million euros ($6.3 million) in France, 2.1 million euros ($2.3 million) in the Netherlands and Italy, and 2 million euros ($1.8 million) in Poland and Germany. Why Warner abandoned its push in the U.S. remains a mystery, but it seems certain that the distributor missed an opportunity.

"The Mummies" is the directorial debut of Juan Jesús García Garrocha (a.k.a. "Gallo"), who was the art director for Spain's highest grossing original animated film series, "Tadeo Jones. The script was written by Jordi Gasl and Javier Barreira and produced by Jordi Gasl. The film was animated by Core Animation of Spain.

Under these circumstances, a locally produced animated feature film released in Ukrainian cinemas is already an anomaly; the phenomenal box office success of "Mavka" makes this feat even greater. The phenomenal box office success of "Song of the Forest" makes this feat even more impressive.

The film opened in cinemas on March 2 to an audience of 189,048 and grossed UAH 24.9 million (US$689,912) in its debut weekend, surpassing the opening box office of Avatar: A Water Journey. This spring, Mavka embarked on a world tour, securing distribution in over 80 countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.

So far, Mavka has grossed over 116.6 million UAH (approximately $3.1 million) in Ukraine. It was also released in France last weekend, where it drew more than 160,000 viewers and grossed approximately UAH 1.1 million ($1.2 million).

Animagrad and Film.ua produced "Mavka. Song of the Forest, directed by Oleg Malamji and Oleksandra Luban from a screenplay by Yaroslav Wojciech; Iryna Kostyuk, Anna Eliseeva, and Egor Olesov are the producers.

"Kathak the Brave Beluga Whale" is the fifth animated feature film produced by Quebec studio 10th Ave Productions, and has been a smash hit at the Quebec and Canadian box offices (recorded separately) since its release on February 24.

Distributed by Maison 4:3, the film debuted in fourth place in Quebec, grossing C$182,829 ($140,445) in its first weekend. Over the next six weeks, it grossed nearly C$1.5 million ($1.1 million) in Quebec. This figure is even higher for all Canadian provinces, but reliable figures for all of Canada are not yet available.

"Katak" was directed by Christine Dallaire-Dupont and Nicolas Lemay, written by André Lambert, illustrated by Philippe Arsenault Bussiere, and produced by Nancy Florence Savard.