Pixar: What do ratings have to say about Box Office Success?

Proud Corgi: Nithya Mani, Anushka Singh, Sofie Cole

2026-03-04

Introduction

Pixar films are widely praised both critically and commercially, but the evaluation of these films can vary across different rating platforms. Additionally, it’s not always clear what factors contribute most strongly to their financial success.

In this analysis, we explore two key questions using the Pixar films dataset from TidyTuesday:

  1. Do major rating platforms evaluate Pixar films differently?
  2. What factors are most closely associated with box office performance?

Question 1

Do rating platforms evaluate Pixar films differently?

We compared ratings from four major platforms:

• Rotten Tomatoes
• Metacritic
• Critics’ Choice
• CinemaScore

Each platform uses a different scoring system, so we standardized ratings within each site to compare ratings. A value above 0 means the film is rated above that site’s average, while below 0 indicate below-average ratings.

Question 1 Results

Question 1 Results

Question 1 Insights

Key Insight

Despite using different scoring systems, rating platforms largely agree on which Pixar films perform best and worst.

  • Most films fall above each platform’s average rating, reflecting Pixar’s overall strong reputation among critics and audiences.

  • Some films shift in their relative ranking depending on the platform. This suggests that different rating systems emphasize slightly different aspects of film evaluation.

  • Platforms summarize reviews in different ways which can produce different score distributions even when reviewers broadly agree.

Question 2

What factors correlate with Pixar box office success?

Box office performance is influenced by multiple factors beyond audience enjoyment. In this analysis, we examined the relationships between worldwide box office revenue and several key factors:

• Production budget
• Runtime
• Critic ratings across platforms

The goal is to determine whether financial success is driven more by production investment or critical reception.

Question 2 Results

Question 2 Results

Question 2 Insights

Note

Key Insight

Box office success for Pixar films is influenced by both production investment and critical reception, but budget alone does not guarantee high revenue.

  • Production budget shows a moderate positive relationship with box office revenue.

  • Critical ratings also correlate with revenue, suggesting that films with stronger reviews tend to perform better financially.

  • Runtime shows little relationship with box office success.

Conclusion

  • Rating platforms generally agree on which Pixar films perform well, though their scoring systems produce slightly different evaluations

  • Box office success is influenced by both production budget and critical reception, with critical ratings showing a stronger relationship with rev. than runtime

  • Production budget and critical reception both have an impact on a film’s financial success

  • Overall, financial success and critical reception tend to move together, but no one factor fully explains box office outcomes