Most Expensive Animated Shows Of All Time
TV shows used to be cheaper and low budget, but these days you will find even a few of the most expensive animated shows very normally. We all know that the seasons of Game of Thrones have gone to costing $90 million. Even shows like Sense8 and Lost have cost $10 million. But we even have a few most expensive animated shows that have gone up when in their production costs over the last two decades!
You won’t believe that some of the most expensive animated shows have had production costs of $1 million PER EPISODE! The reasons could range from the amazing animation tech or even the pay demands from the voice actors. But the amount of money it takes to make our favorite shows might leave you surprised. Here are some of the most expensive animated shows ever made!
1. One Piece
Anime shows don’t usually make to the list of most expensive animated shows, but anime series like One Piece certainly does! This action-adventure show has more than 1000 episodes and has been airing since 1999! One Piece even tops as one of the most expensive anime shows with a budget of 10.75 million yen aka $100,000 per episode!
2. The Simpsons
This show is one of the longest-running animated shows of all time. But it is also one of the most expensive ones. The voice actors Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, and Dan Castellaneta make around $400,000 per episode. They even lend their voices to the majority of the characters. The budget for each episode is around $1.2 million and again it will depend on the case there are any guest stars in that episode.
3. Dragon Ball
The manga was created way back in 1984 and since then we have seen shows, collectibles, and even video games based on the same. This makes the franchise one of the most popular ones around the world. We don’t know much about the production costs of Dragon Ball Super or Dragon Ball Z or other major entries. But we do know that the lead voice actors who have worked on the show since the 80s make a lot. Masako Nozawa who voices Goku is the second-highest paid voice actor in Japan! She has earned around 40 million yen ($360,000) per year combining all her roles. Ryo Horikawa who voices Vegeta earns 30 mullion yen ($270,000) per year which also makes him the highest-earning male voice actor!
4. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
George Lucas wanted the Clone Wars to succeed and he hasn’t been shy expressing telling the same. In an interview given by him during the first season, he claimed that each episode cost around $1 million!
However, the fans have guessed that over the course of the series, the creators understood how to make the series more efficient. This further reduced the budget!
5. Father of the Pride
Have you ever heard about this show? Please be honest! One of the most expensive animated shows turned out to be one of the biggest flops too! DreamWorks Animation did everything it could to make this show a big hit. It had a stellar cast back in 2004 like Cheryl Hines, Carl Reiner, and John Goodman.
The show just couldn’t justify the cost and it just went down when it came to ratings. They had to cancel it even before the first season finished the production.
