Some Of Your Favorite Childhood Movies Were Actually Huge Box Office Flops

Production budget: $50 million

Box office earnings: $32 million

There are The Iron Giant references still made in pop culture today. It's one of those quintessential '90s animated films that almost all millennials fondly remember. 

The failure of the 1999 film to perform at the box office can be blamed entirely on WB's choice basically not to market the movie. They had just experienced a flop with The Quest for Camelot, and they couldn't afford to dump a lot of money into advertising only to have another box office failure on their hands. 

This proved to be the wrong call when the critics started finally viewing the film and giving it fantastic reviews. The moviegoers who did see it in the theater loved the touching relationship between the alien robot and a boy - so much so that when the time came to release The Iron Giant on VHS, the studio finally allocated the budget to market the film properly. 

Production budget: $100 million

Box office earnings: $169 million

Love for The Emperor’s New Groove has only grown in recent years, with Yzma and Kronk even becoming popular Halloween costumes in the last few years. So it's surprising for some people to learn that the funny, heartwarming film originally wasn't a Disney slam dunk. 

Part of the issues on the production side came from disagreements with the creative team and studio. Specifically, the original movie's plot was entirely different - it was more serious in tone, followed a Prince and the Pauper-themed journey, and was titled The Kingdom of the Sun. When test audiences didn't agree with the movie, and Disney wouldn't give the production crew an extension, the director quit the project altogether. The new director decided to scrap all the existing footage (some $30 million worth). 

When the film was finally released (it got a six-month extension ironically after the original director quit), it underperformed against the other movies released in December 2000. 

Production budget: $140 million

Box office earnings: $110 million

Treasure Planet has grown to have a cult following among millennials for its great adventure tale about space pilots hunting treasure. What's not to like, right? But when it was originally released in 2002, there wasn't that same love at the box office. 

There are a few different reasons this may have been the case. One may have been Disney's choice to change the age of the protagonist from 12 to 15. The rebellious teenager may not have connected with the target audience as much as a younger Jim would have. 

Also, Treasure Planet was released at the same time as massive hits like Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and The Santa Clause 2. 

Production budget: $31 million

Box office earnings: $11 million

It may surprise some readers to learn that Balto, a film many of us consider a classic, grossed only $11 million worldwide when it came out in 1995. 

The biggest thing Balto had going against it was the fact that one of the most popular animated films of all time, Toy Story, came out just three weeks before Balto's release. This meant that the world was buzzing about the first fully computer-animated movie, and audiences weren't as interested in a story about a dog getting medicine for a group of sick kids in Alaska (even if it was based on an amazing true story). 

However, Balto did eventually achieve its deserved attention after its home video release, spurring the creation of two sequels. 

Production budget: $38 million

Box office earnings: $28 million

The Rescuers Down Under was Disney's first theatrical animated sequel. It was released in 1990, a full 13 years after the original The Rescuers. 

While the sequel is beloved for its return of the lovable characters of Bernard and Bianca, it had tough competition upon its release: Home Alone came out the same weekend. Home Alone went on to make $285 million at the box office, making it hard for any other movies in the theater at the time to make much of a dent. 

Production budget: $145 million

Box office earnings: $306 million

At first glance, it seems like Rise of the Guardians was pretty successful - making over $300 million at the box office. However, this is an example of just how much money goes into the marketing for big-budget animated films. 

It's reported that Rise of the Guardians had an advertising cost of around $125 million - meaning that the movie actually lost money for the studio. Over 350 employees were laid off after the film's disappointing showing. 

Yet, despite the high marketing costs, this film deserved to be a hit because of its imaginative, emotion-fueled story that pitted all of our favorite holiday icons (Santa, Easter Bunny, Jack Frost) against the dubious Boogeyman.