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Steve Carell's $300 Million Animated Hit With a 'Wolf of Wall Street' Star is a Streaming Smash 17 Years Later

Published

4 days ago

5th July 2025

Such is the nature of the ever-revolving door of animated movies; many once-beloved projects will soon find themselves lost to time. Boasting a strong “certified fresh” 79% critics’ score and 73% from audiences on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the 2008 family-friendly adventure Horton Hears a Who!, based on Dr. Seuss‘ classic 1954 book of the same name, was once a huge success at the end of the noughties.

Directed by the duo of Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, the movie was a certain success upon arrival, but has found itself falling out of discourse as more relevant animated projects have since been released. This is made even more surprising when learning of the movie’s stacked voice cast, headlined by the duo of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. Alongside the two comedy giants are the likes of Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Isla Fisher, Amy Poehler, and many more in what reads as a Horton Hears a Who‘s-Who of 21st-century comedy genius.

17 years on from the movie’s theatrical debut, and it is finally back in the spotlight, officially joining the list of the ten most-streamed movies on Peacock in the US, as of July 2. Horton Hears a Who! officially joins the list in the #10 spot, with nine other big-name titles proving even more popular than the star-studded animated affair. At #9 on the list is Ke Huy Quan‘s 2025 box office flop Love Hurts, with the high school comedy classic American Pie at #8, and Jordan Peele‘s Nope at #7. Reese Witherspoon‘s Legally Blonde is at #6, with Peter Hastings’ Dog Man at #5, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom at #4. Trolls Band Together is at #3, with Despicable Me 3 at #2, and Jaume Collet-Serra‘s new horror The Woman in the Yard topping the charts.

How Did ‘Horton Hears a Who!’ Perform at the Box Office?

Made for a reported budget of $85 million, Horton Hears a Who! was an unquestionable success for Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox, returning 3.5 times this investment with a global total that fell just shy of the $300 million mark. Domestically, Horton Hears a Who! earned $154.5 million from almost five months in American theaters, with a further $144.9 million coming from overseas markets. In the global 2008 box office rankings, Horton Hears a Who! finished the year in 18th place, falling short of the likes of Bolt and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Horton Hears a Who! is streaming now on Peacock.