What do you use Netflix for? True crime documentaries? Gripping new Netflix spy thrillers? Streaming from an array of animated movies? If you're in the latter camp, you're not alone — far from it!
As reported by Deadline, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos recently spoke at the UBS media conference. His speech mostly touched on the state of streaming: how Netflix is licensing more non-original shows, and how it's trying to make more unscripted content. However, one fascinating fact about the movies we watch was mentioned.
According to Sarandos, eight of the ten most-streamed movies of all time are animated features, not live-action ones. So people are watching a lot more digital or hand-drawn characters than they are human ones!
It's worth noting that Sarandos doesn't say whether these are the most-watched on Netflix or overall, however, it's clear that the man isn't only referring to Netflix Original movies.
That's because, of the most-watched Netflix Originals (as per the streamers' own lists), not a single movie on the list is animated. That's the case both for its English-language and non-English lists, so there are 20 movies in all.
However Netflix licenses a lot of its movies, and these are likely the big draw to many. At the time of writing The Grinch is enjoying its 12th consecutive week in Netflix UK's top 10, while in the US Trolls is on its eighth week and Minions is on its fifth in the top list. This year's super-hit The Super Mario Bros. Movie is also on Netflix in the US, though at the time of writing, it's not on the most-watched list.
If you look at the UK's most-watched movies, three of the top five are animated, with Sing 2 and the recent Leo in spots four and five respectively. Clearly, Netflix fans like their animated movies!
This latter is a Netflix Original released on Friday, November 17, starring Adam Sandler and pictured at the top of this article. Sarandos highlighted it as a great example of Netflix's animated offerings, though it's not been out long enough to have made it onto the streamers' overall rankings.
In his speech, Sarandos said that animated features are something the streamer is looking to put more effort into, and given the figures on what movies we're watching, that makes a lot of sense.
Netflix's animated efforts aren't over for the year either, with one of its biggest movies in a while set to debut on Friday, December 15. This is Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, a sequel to the 2000 Aardman film Chicken Run, which has been long in the works.
