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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteSome of Hollywood’s biggest reported animated-film paychecks came not from a first voice role, but from a sequel or a deal that included royalties and participation. Here are nine A-list performers whose animated-film compensation has been reported publicly—with an important distinction: these figures are estimates, negotiations, or retrospective accounts, not a verified ranking of final contracts.
How much do celebrities make for animated movies?
There is no reliable public database of actors’ final voice-role compensation. The figures below come from trade and news reporting, often based on sources who were not named. They describe different things: an upfront fee, an estimate of earnings to date, royalties, or a multi-film package. Those amounts cannot be compared as if they were all equivalent salaries.
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Pay can also change when a film becomes a franchise. An actor may accept a scale fee or defer salary on an early film, then negotiate a larger upfront payment or participation for a sequel. The examples below are arranged by film and deal context, not ranked by total earnings.
How much did the Shrek actors make?
Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz
In July 2001, ABC News reported that Myers, Murphy, and Diaz had deferred salaries for the original Shrek. According to Variety’s calculations relayed by ABC, each had earned about $3 million from a share of the film’s domestic gross by that point. That was an estimate of accrued participation, not a disclosed final paycheck.
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- Shrink-wrapped
The same report said the actors would need upfront fees for the sequel and that those fees could reach $5 million apiece. Negotiations were still pending, so $5 million was a possible negotiating figure—not a confirmed Shrek 2 salary. ABC News’ 2001 report provides the contemporaneous account.
Which actors got paid the most to voice animated characters?
Public reporting does not establish a definitive answer. These cases illustrate some of the largest reported figures, but the deal structures and levels of confirmation differ too much to make a trustworthy highest-paid list.
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen: Toy Story
The Los Angeles Times reported in 1999 that Hanks and Allen received traditional scale salaries of less than $50,000 each for the first Toy Story. For Toy Story 2, sources told the paper they received about $5 million upfront each, applied against worldwide home-video royalties. The upfront payment and royalties were components of a deal, not necessarily separate sums to add together as guaranteed earnings. The figures were press-reported terms, not official studio disclosures. The Los Angeles Times account also quoted Pixar director John Lasseter: “At Pixar, we’re always looking to make the most believable characters, so it’s not how big an actor is, but how good they are and how their voice and personality fit with the character.”
A 2025 TheWrap retrospective estimated that Hanks and Allen each made $15 million by Toy Story 3. That figure is an estimate in retrospective reporting, distinct from the earlier paper’s account of scale pay and the sequel’s upfront-plus-royalty structure. TheWrap’s retrospective discusses the reported progression.
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Steve Carell: Minions: The Rise of Gru
Cartoon Brew reported that Carell received $12.5 million for Minions: The Rise of Gru, attributing the salary figure to Variety. It is a reported amount, not a studio-confirmed contract. Carell has described recording sessions as intermittent across a long production period. Cartoon Brew’s account gives the attribution and context.
Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, and Josh Gad: Frozen sequels
TheWrap reported in 2025 that Bell, Menzel, and Gad had deals worth more than $60 million each across Frozen 3 and Frozen 4, including upfront fees and backend bonuses; it also reported that each earned $15 million for Frozen 2. But Bell publicly challenged the larger claim in March 2026, telling TheWrap, “I think there’s been a lot misreported about that Frozen deal,” and calling the $60 million account “somebody making a lot of things up.” She said the job pays very well but did not disclose her actual compensation. The package figure should therefore be treated as disputed reporting, not an established paycheck. TheWrap’s March 2026 report includes Bell’s response.
Rank #4
Robin Williams: Aladdin
A 2025 TheWrap retrospective says Williams allegedly accepted less than $500 a day for Aladdin, compared with his then-reported $8 million rate, and recounts agent Michael Ovitz’s account that Williams was slated for three days of voice work. The retrospective describes his later Aladdin and the King of Thieves agreement as multimillion-dollar and precedent-setting. These are attributed retrospective claims, not disclosed contract terms. TheWrap’s account presents the story and its attribution.
Owen Wilson: Cars 2
Fox News reported that Wilson was said to have received $2.5 million to return for Cars 2. This is a secondary-source estimate, not a published contract. Fox News’ voice-actor salary roundup is the source for the reported amount.
Best Value
Angelina Jolie: Kung Fu Panda
The same Fox News roundup reported that Jolie banked $1 million for Kung Fu Panda. The figure is a secondary estimate and should not be read as a studio-confirmed fee. Fox News’ report supplies the attribution.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why reported animated-film paychecks are hard to compare
- Participation versus salary: The Shrek estimate of about $3 million per actor described domestic-gross participation accrued by July 2001; the possible $5 million sequel figure was a negotiation projection.
- Upfront payment versus royalties: The Toy Story 2 reporting described about $5 million upfront per actor, applied against worldwide home-video royalties. It is not interchangeable with a fee that has no reported royalty component.
- One film versus a package: The Frozen figure covered two future sequels and reported backend bonuses, and Bell disputed the published total.
- Estimate versus confirmed contract: News reports and retrospectives can provide useful evidence, but no public contract or comprehensive salary record establishes each actor’s final total.
Does Forbes’ “Animation A-List” rank actors by salary?
No. Forbes’ 2010 “Animation A-List” assessed actors using animated-film box office and press attention; it was not a salary ranking. It should not be used to claim who earned the most. Forbes’ list methodology describes those criteria.
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