# What actors are REALLY responsible for the success of an animated film?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-are-really-responsible-for-the-success-of-an-animated-film/483435>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 28, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-are-really-responsible-for-the-success-of-an-animated-film/483435 "2009-01-28T20:49:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![The\_Superhero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Superhero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Superhero)\
**Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-are-really-responsible-for-the-success-of-an-animated-film/483435/41 "2009-01-30T00:25:59Z")

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> [@Miller](#):
>
> I don’t know that Tim Allen’s name has ever leant anything legitimacy. Particularly in 1995, when he was mostly known as a stand-up comic with a particularly grating catchphrase who’d done one movie, the inexplicably successful _The Santa Clause_. Even Tom Hanks had only recently graduated from dumb sex comedies to major box office draw. He had a couple of big hits under his belt (including _Forrest Gump_ from the previous year) and was just starting to attract attention as a serious dramatic actor with _Philadelphia_, but he was still mostly famous for starring in light comedies like _Big_ and _Sleepless in Seattle_.

But whether he was considered a “serious dramatic actor” at the time has nothing to do with his popularity with the public. In fact, if you ask 100 random people who their favorite actor is, I’d guess that probably get a list weighted far more towards the stars of light comedies than those considered “serious dramatic actors.” We’re talking box office appeal here, not critical respect.

And at the time of the release of “Toy Story” in the fall of 1995, the point at which moviegoers were deciding whether or not to plunk down their $7 (which is the important point in this discussion, not the point at which a given actor was cast in a role), Tom Hanks was enormously popular. In fact, at that time, he was arguably the most popular movie star in Hollywood. At that time, he was coming off a run of:

**“Apollo 13”** - $173,000,000 domestic gross, at that point trailing only “Batman Forever” for the year’s highest (though both were ultimately beat by “Toy Story”)  
**“Forrest Gump”** - $329,000,000 domestic gross and an Oscar, far and away the highest gross of '94  
**“Philadelphia”** - $77,000,000 domestic gross and an Oscar, the 12th-highest gross of '93  
**“Sleepless in Seattle”** - $126,000,000 domestic gross, the 5th-highest gross of '93  
**“A League of Their Own”** - $107,000,000 domestic gross, the 10th-highest gross of '92

(all numbers from [www.boxofficemojo.com](http://www.boxofficemojo.com))

Does this mean that Hanks was responsible for the success of “Toy Story”? No idea. But you can’t claim that he wasn’t a huge star at the time of the movie’s release.

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