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Since 1937 with the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney has been synonymous with top-notch entertainment. When the company followed up its 2009 purchase of Marvel Entertainment with the acquisition of the Star Wars franchise, it was predetermined that they would have several good years to come in the very near future. Still, no one could have anticipated just how happy Disney’s 90th birthday would be.

The festivities kicked off for them when Oz the Great and Powerful debuted in March with $79.1 million. The studio’s precursor to the Wizard of Oz story, featuring James Franco as the wizard and Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz as various witches, was a 3D special effects spectacle, though not critically beloved. It finished with a solid $234.9 million domestically, and added another $258.4 million from international venues. Although with its $215 million budget it wasn’t a whopper of a money earner, it still brought plenty of revenue for Disney considering that they had ancillary revenue as well (toys and other merchandise).

Ultimately, of course, the big money would come from Iron Man 3, which got a huge boost thanks to the popularity of Marvel’s The Avengers. Its opening weekend was an outrageous $174.1 million, which put it well ahead of the previous films in the Iron Man series. The original film opened with $98.6 million, while Iron Man 2 had a debut weekend of $128.1 million. But whereas Iron Man 2’s domestic total declined from the first, Iron Man 3 saw a massive uptick. Its final tally in North America was $409 million (a big increase from the $318 million and $312 million of the first two films. Foreign grosses were even more impressive – Iron Man 3 earned $806.4 million, easily putting it into the billion dollar worldwide club, and eviscerating the international totals of the first two films in the series ($266.8 million and $311.5 million, respectively). The Marvel brand had grown, and not only was Disney benefiting from the box office, but toy sales and other merchandise are the icing on a particularly delicious cake.

Another highly anticipated sequel followed quickly behind Iron Man 3, and this time it was the follow-up to the beloved 2001 Pixar flick Monsters, Inc. Monsters University went back in time to Mike Wazowski and Sulley’s college days, and this Animal House/Revenge of the Nerds for a new generation had plenty of audience demand to fulfill. With an $82.4 million opening, the movie was easily able to attain the typical Pixar heights by finishing with $268.5 domestically, but an even more stellar $475.1 million overseas. All this was accomplished on a $200 million budget, and once again merchandise factored in. If there is an anti-silver lining, it’s that Monsters University wound up losing the summer animation race to Despicable Me 2, but otherwise there is simply no fault to be found with the strategy Disney employed to bring these beloved characters back into theaters.

Their next animated picture might have seemed like a cynical money grab, but… well, okay. It was a cynical money grab. And you might remember Planes as a minor performer. The thing is, you wouldn’t really be right. With a relatively sparse $50 million budget, Planes was able to accumulate $90.3 million from domestic venues by the end of its run, not to mention an additional $129.5 million from international locations. All Disney was looking for here was a movie that made money, and while you might argue that the film tarnishes the Cars franchise for Pixar, let’s just be honest and say that Cars 2 already did that. These particular movies are made with the purpose of selling toys. The fact that Planes made money was just gravy. Mission accomplished once again.

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