6 Classic Kids’ Movies You Won’t Believe Bombed at the Box Office
Children are notoriously fickle. Today’s hot new toy is tomorrow’s Goodwill donation. So, trying to find what kids like, especially at the movie theater, is a challenge. You never know if you’re going to make a Beauty and the Beast or a Troll In Central Park (which isn’t that bad of a movie, and has Don Bluth’s trademark gorgeous animation).
Audiences are just as fickle as children, turning yesterday’s bombs and flops into today’s beloved films and cult classics. While the following aren’t considered the biggest overlooked gems — no one is saying Rescuers Down Under is Citizen Kane, which itself was a box office failure — these movies didn’t connect with moviegoers at the time. But, they’ve come to be considered treasures of family viewing.
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Health Point Productions / Courtesy Everett Collection
It is difficult to believe, considering the space the film occupies in the cornerstone of pop culture. After all, it gave us gleefully singing Oompa Loompas, the delightful song “Pure Imagination,” and a generational hatred for Grandpa Joe. But at the time of release, the Gene Wilder-led musical wildly underperformed in theaters due to mixed reviews from critics and a lack of marketing from the studio.
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory had a production budget of about $3 million, but at the box office, it earned around $4 million during its original release. After factoring in marketing, the candymaker was a bit of a disappointment to the studio suits.
However, thanks to television reruns and the booming home video market, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory finally found its audience, with Wilder’s slightly sadistic yet endlessly captivating portrayal of the candy maker cementing the film as a beloved classic.
The Secret of NIMH (1982)
Everett Collection
The Don Bluth-directed animated feature was a dark fantasy adventure involving animal testing, intelligent rats, and magic. It was a bold departure from anything other studios were releasing at the time. Its darker themes and unflinching storytelling made it memorable to critics, while scenes featuring a decrepit owl, rats murdering each other, and the slow deaths of small children by drowning left a generation traumatized. In a good way.
In addition to its top-tier trauma, the animation quality was among the best.
However, The Secret of NIMH could not compete with E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, which was also out that summer. On a budget of around $7 million, it made $14 million. While it did recoup its budget, the studio expected far more from animated fare as it barely broke even after marketing costs.
Today, the film is hailed as a masterpiece in animated filmmaking. And still traumatizing.
Monster Squad (1987)
TriStar Pictures / Courtesy: Everett Collection
On paper, Monster Squad has all the ingredients for it to be a huge success. It was released in 1987, two years after The Goonies and at the height of ’80s zany adventure films. Horror comedy writer Fred Dekker (Night of the Creeps, House) and Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black worked together on the script. Plus, it had all the classic monsters: Dracula! Frankenstein! The Wolfman! The Mummy!
Sadly, it didn’t scare up an audience at the box office. The PG-13 rating may have hurt its appeal to younger kids, and older teens were likely still going to The Lost Boys, which opened two weeks prior. The Monster Squad ended its run with just a $3.8 million box office haul (against a $14 million budget).
But in the following decades, it has become more of a “cult classic” for generations of creepy kids. Just say “Wolfman has nards,” and you’ll find a fan of The Monster Squad.
The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
The 1990s are now considered a new golden age for Walt Disney Animation. Many point to Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King as the films that saved Disney’s reputation for top-tier animation.
However, 1990’s The Rescuers Down Under is often overlooked in these conversations. A sequel to 1977’s The Rescuers, the film’s voice cast is full of A-list talent: Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor reprising their roles as Bernard and Miss Bianca; John Candy as the albatross Wilbur; Tristan Rogers as Jake the hopping mouse; and George C. Scott as McLeach, one of the most sinister villains in Disney history.
Despite positive reviews by critics, audiences didn’t flock to it. According to IMDB, it grossed $47.4 million worldwide. With an estimated budget of $30 million (and that’s before the cost of promotion), the lackluster response had many consider it a bomb. The film would recoup some costs with the VHS market, as it became a staple of many kids’ homes.
The Iron Giant (1999)
Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Time has been good to The Iron Giant. Written and directed by Brad Bird (who would go on to make The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Pixar), the Warner Bros. animated film tells of a giant robot from outer space that crashes in Maine at the height of the Cold War. The film explores themes of fate, choices, and free will—pretty heavy for a kids’ movie. But an all-star cast makes it soar.
Jennifer Aniston, Vin Diesel, Harry Connick Jr., John Mahoney, Cloris Leachman, and Eli Marienthal star in this film that, for decades, remained a cult classic that few talked about. The film bombed at the box office, making just $31.7 million on an estimated $50 million budget. The failure is likely due to Warner Bros. failing to promote the movie to kids; the studio did a full-out media blitz for 1998’s Quest for Camelot, only to see it make $38 million on a $40 million budget.
The Iron Giant has stood the test of time. Vin Diesel uttering “Superman” will bring people to tears, and if you don’t know why, you need to watch The Iron Giant to find out.
Treasure Planet (2002)
Walt Disney/courtesy Everett Collection
Six years earlier, Disney had success adapting the Treasure Island story with Muppet Treasure Island (granted, that movie had both the Muppets and Tim Curry in his campy glory). It was Disney’s third adaptation of Treasure Island, following the 1950 film, which was faithful to Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel.
With Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Third Rock from the Sun), David Hyde Pierce (Fraiser), Martin Short (SCTV, Saturday Night Live), and Emma Thompson (Howards End), and Broadway’s Brian Murphy as Long John Silver, Treasure Island takes the story far into the future, and into space!
The film received mixed reviews and went on to make $109.6 million at the box office. But with a $140 million budget, Treasure Planet was considered a flop. In the following years, it has gained a following and is regarded as a buried gem.
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