Under-Performing?

Animation box office. Not like it was in the good old days (2013).

‘Planes 2' Taking Flight in Bummer Year for Animated Movies at Box Office

With “Minions” and “Good Dinosaur” pushed, and “Dragon” and “Rio” sequels failing to outstrip the originals, there's a post-”Frozen” hangover ...

Like the overall box office, which is running about 5 percent behind last year thanks to a very soft summer, this year's animated movies suffer by comparison to the record-breaking 2013. ...

It's probably a numerology thing. 13 is just more powerful than dull, icky 14.

In point of fact, it's the movies. Princess features, expertly done, are more potent at the box office than remakes of Jay Ward television shows. It's really pretty simple: When you create a movie people don't much want to see, they don't go see it.

Even worked that way when I was a kid.

Add On: But seriously. How can any media outlet claim that 2014 animated features are under-performing when this:

Transformers: Age of Extinction took command of the foreign box office this weekend for the third week in a row. The Michael Bay sequel collected $102 million this week, helping to reach a grand total of $752.5 million earned from 50 national markets.

Chinese audiences are credited for the robust results. The People’s Republic makes up $262.6 million of the worldwide total — the highest amount ever earned by a foreign release in the country.

Second place went to DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 with $34.4 million from 62 markets.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes came third by raking in $31.1 million from 30 territories, while also leading the U.S. box office with an estimated $73 million.

Squint your eyes a little, and animated features finished 1,2,3 at the global box office. What is Transformers, after all, but a big cartoon?