Why So Many Cartoons Are Made

Because creators of animation see (and so aim for) this:

... How To Train Your Dragon 2 completed its run in U.S. theaters before the third quarter began. But, thanks to a strong international box office performance, the movie is still racking up revenue.

And that's just the beginning for sales tied to Dragon 2: The film was recently launched into the digital home entertainment market, where it jumped to the top of the download list on Apple's iTunes store. Management also expects more than $60 million in consumer product sales tied to the franchise through next year. ...

The reason so many cartoons (of all types) get created year by year is that so many cartoons make so much money. And keep making it.

But these are the big, high-budget, high profile American cartoon features. There are also the second tier features from Spain, South America, Europe and Africa that cost from $10 to $45 million and make neat, tidy profits without major releases in the U.S. and Canada.

The fact is, animation has become the most reliable and profitable segment of the film industry, and that's why so much of it gets made in 2014. We are way past the era where cartoons were a small, sleepy side show to the real movie business. Animation has become more mainstream than mainstream movies. Sometimes the reality of it is hard to get your head around.