Year’s top 10 films spotlight animation, heroes

Some viewers bemoan the domination of animated and comic book films at the multiplex, but the current figures for 2016 bear out why Hollywood isn’t markedly altering its recipe any time soon.

Of the top 10 new films at the North American box office this year, all 10 releases are either animated or almost entirely CGI, or a superhero-universe flick.

“Suicide Squad,” which opened to $135.1 million, now sits at the No. 10 spot, nudging out what would have been the lone exception to the comics-and-pixel sweep: “Star Trek Beyond” ($127.9 million).

Ahead of WB/DC’s “Squad” are four other superhero-world flicks, four animated features and Disney’s “The Jungle Book,” which is both a remake of an adapted cartoon and a film created almost completely “in computer,” virtually animated.

Here are the year’s top 10 releases (with domestic totals as of Aug. 7):

1. “Finding Dory” ($473.9 million)

2. “Captain America: Civil War” ($407.2 million)

3. “Deadpool” ($363.1 million)

4. “The Jungle Book” ($362.7 million)

5. “Zootopia” ($341.3 million)

6. “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” ($330.4 million)

7. “The Secret Life of Pets” ($319.6 million)

8. “X-Men: Apocalypse” ($155.4 million)

9. “Kung Fu Panda 3” ($143.5 million)

10. “Suicide Squad” ($135.1 million)

Some non-fans of these films might look at this list and harrumph with charges of a national “dumbing down” at the box office — a gripe that would undersell the more thoughtful and intelligent of these movies, including Pixar’s “Dory” entry.

Yet there are bigger conclusions to be drawn from this list.

1. Franchise branding is certainly good for business.

Eight of the films on this list are sequels, remakes or part of a larger, connected series of films. The only fresh entries here are the animal-centric animations “Zootopia” and “The Secret Life of Pets.”

It’s a stark reminder: In a crowded marketplace for building awareness, pre-branding breeds a built-in audience, which helps a film studio hedge its bets.

2. Animals are the fuzzy opiate of the masses.

When trying to appeal to a massive general audience, it’s tough to beat an animal act. All five animated and/or mostly CGI-painted films on this list are centered on critters, from marine life to domestic life, from an anthropomorphic metropolis to the jungle.

It’s also worth noting that in the domestic top 20 are two other creature-friendly films: No. 15, “The Angry Birds Movie” ($107.1 million) and No. 20, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” ($81.6 million).

3. Animation and superhero franchises get blockbuster promotion.

Of the year’s top 10, it’s highly likely that only Fox’s “Deadpool” had a pre-promotion price tag of less than $60 million.

That means that most of these films are huge investments with double-digit promotion budgets, which only boosts a title with pre-awareness. And nine of the 10 films have a huge parent in either Disney, Warner Bros. or Fox.

4. The power of the connected universe.

2008’s “Iron Man” really kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which of course includes this year’s biggest live-action film, Disney/Marvel’s “Civil War.” All five comic-book films on this list are either sequels or part of connected superhero universes, with “Batman v Superman” sharing connective tissue with “Suicide Squad” as WB/DC builds toward “Justice League.”