Animation Stands Out in Netflix’s Most-Watched Movies of Late 2023

Netflix has dropped another big chunk of viewing data, following up its first What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report with the numbers from July to December of 2023. One striking takeaway is that a third of the top titles are original and acquired animated features, accounting for 33 of the 100 most-viewed films of the period (totaling 1.087 billion views).

Netflix Original Leo, starring Adam Sandler, made a splash with its Thanksgiving debut, ranking #3 overall in the report with 96 million views. The most-viewed animated features topping the list also included (views in millions):

• The Boss Baby – DreamWorks Animation, 2017 – 61.7M views
• PAW Patrol: The Movie – Spin Master, 2021 – 59M
• Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie – The Awakening / SND , 2023 – 49.7M
• Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch – Illumination, 2018 – 45.3M
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie – Illumination, 2023 – 44.9M
• The Monkey King – Netflix Original, 2023 – 42.9M
• Sing – Illumination, 2016 – 40.8M
• Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation, 2012 – 40.1M
• Trolls – DreamWorks, 2016 – 38.3M
• Sing 2 – Illumination, 2021 – 37.5M
• Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget – Netflix Original / Aardman, 2023 – 35.2M
• Shrek – DreamWorks, 2001 – 35.1M
• The Croods: A New Age – DreamWorks, 2020 – 34.7M
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – DreamWorks, 2022 – 33.8M

• Nimona – Netflix Original, 2023 – 31.2M ***Oscar Best Animated Feature nominee
• Woody Woodpecker – Universal Animation Studios / Universal 1440, 2018 – 29.1M
• Shrek 2 – DreamWorks, 2004 – 27M
• Minions: The Rise of Gru – Illumination, 2023 – 26.2M
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – SPA, 2023 – 24.7M
• Despicable Me 2 – Illumination, 2013 – 23.9M
• The Secret Life of Pets – Illumination, 2016 – 23.9M
• Minions & More Volume 2 (special) – Illumination, 2022 – 23.8M
• The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday (special) – DreamWorks, 2023 – 23.5M
• Minions – Illumination, 2015 – 22.4M
•  The Sea Beast – Netflix Original, 2022 – 20.8M ***Oscar Best Animated Feature nominee
• Madagascar – DreamWorks, 2005 – 20.8M
• Back to the Outback – Netflix Original – 19.6M
• The Croods – DreamWorks, 2013 – 19.3M
• Bee Movie – DreamWorks, 2007 – 19.1M
• Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie – DreamWorks, 2017 – 19M
• Hotel Transylvania 2 – SPA, 2015 – 18.3M

[Source: Deadline]