Why Animated Horror Movies Struggle at the Box Office

By Marcus Rodriguez

Animated horror films often receive little to no critical or commercial recognition, therunneronline.com reported. While Stephen King novels and live-action films like Get Out find broad audiences, animated horror receives little recognition despite animation improving each year and having few to no restrictions beyond the animators’ imagination.

The Contrast With Live-Action Success

While the horror genre is popular within itself compared to Pixar or Disney movies, the animation aspect of it has always lacked a sense of popularity or audience demand. According to the article “Why Hasn’t Animated Horror Succeeded?”, While the novels of Stephen King continue to be bestsellers, and films ranging from Friday the 13th (Cunningham, 1980) to the Oscar-nominated Get Out (Peele, 2017) prove successful with audiences and critics alike, on the rare occasion where animation has attempted horror, it has often received little to no critical or commercial recognition, especially when compared to its live-action and literary counterparts.

The medium of animation is only bound by the animators’ imagination, and it is my impression, as an admirer of both the medium and genre, that this would suit the horror genre immensely. This advantage contrasts with live-action horror films, which face more limitations involving real actors and props.

Artistry, Profitability, and Visuals

The lack of recognition brings up the questions of artistry and profitability. If animation contradicts or negatively impacts how a story is told or portrayed, it is often seen as bad or not worth watching. Blending a storyline and finding a happy medium with animation art can be difficult. The book Contemporary Hollywood Animation notes that artistry is still an important concern in the production of animated franchise films, of course, but primarily insofar as positive or negative reception directly affects the profitability and sustainability of the wider brand.

Additionally, horror is frequently portrayed through gore, which can strain the storyline or cause the plot to vanish completely. Horror animation also commonly lacks color or misjudges how to portray a film, causing a lack of audience appreciation because color naturally catches the human eye. Despite these historical struggles, the genre could change with effort, encouragement, and different perspectives concerning creativity.

More on Box Office: Other Mommy Tops Box Office With $27.5M as The Social Reckoning Struggles · Tom Cruise's Digger Bombs With $20 Million Global Opening Box Office Debut