High Grossing Movies Based on Public Domain Works
Revenue = $24.1 million (revenue figures listed where available - based on wikipedia data).
2. Tom and Huck (1995) based on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (1876)
Revenue = $23.9 million
3. Aladdin (1992) from a folk tale in One Thousand and One Nights (1706)
Revenue = $504 million
4. Alice in Wonderland (1951) based on Lewis Carroll's book (1865)
5. Alice in Wonderland (2010) based on Lewis Carroll's book (1865)
Revenue = $1.02 billion
6. Around the World in 80 Days (2004) based on Jules Verne's book (1873)
Revenue = $72.2 million
7. Atlantis (2001) from the Legend of Atlantis (Socratic Dialogues "Timaeus" & "Critias" by Plato ~360 BC.)
8. Beauty and the Beast (1991) by G-S Barbot de Villeneuve's book (1775)
Revenue = $425 million
9. Bug's Life (1998) from Aesop's Fables
Revenue = $363.4 million
10. Cinderella(1950) from Charles Perrault's folk tale (Grimm's Fairy Tails) (1697)
Revenue = $85 million
11. Chicken Little (2005) from the folk tale
Revenue = $314.4 million
12. Christmas Carol (2009) from Charles Dickens (1843)
Revenue = $325.3 million
13. Fantasia (1940) scored and based on Bach, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven & other classical compositions (however, " The Rite Of Spring" was licensed)
Revenue = $83.3 million (22nd highest-grossing film of all time as adjusted for inflation)
14. Fantasia 2000 (1999)
Revenue = $90.9 million
15. Frozen (2013) from Hans Christian Anderson's Ice Queen (1845)
Revenue = $810.3 million
16. Hercules (1997) from the Greek myth
Revenue = $252.7 million
17. In Search of the Castaways (1962) based on Jules Verne novel (1868)
Revenue = $21.7 million
18. John Carter (2012) based on A Princess of by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1917)
Revenue = $284 million
19. Kidnapped (1960) by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
20. Little Mermaid (1989) by Hans Christian Anderson (1837)
Revenue = $211.3 million
21. Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N. (1966) based on Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)
Revenue = $22.5 million
22. Mulan (1998) from the Chinese Legend of Hua Mulan
Revenue = $304.3 million 23. Oliver & Company (1988) based on Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1839)
Revenue = $74 million
24. Return to Neverland (2002) based on Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (1904)
Revenue = $109.9 million
25. Pinocchio (1940) by Carlo Collodi (1883)
Revenue = $84.3 million (39th highest grossing box office gross as adjusted for inflation)
26. Pocahontas (1995) from the life and legend of Pocahontas
Revenue = $346 million
27. Princess and the Frog (2009) from the Brothers Grimm folk tale The Frog Prince
Revenue = $267 million
28. Return to Oz (1985) from L. Frank Baum's books
(When original Oz film was made it was under copyright. Disney purchased rights to all the books. But when Return to Oz was made it had entered the public domain.)
29. Rob Roy the Highland Rogue (1953) based on the Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott (1817)
30. Robin Hood (1973) from the English folk tales
Revenue = $87 million 31. Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) from the poem by Johann Goethe (1797)
Revenue = $236.9 million
32. Snow White (1937) from the Brothers Grimm folk tale (1857)
Revenue = $416 million (10th highest grossing film as adjusted for inflation)
33. Sleeping Beauty (1959) from the Charles Perrault folk tale (1697) (also with music/characters from Tchaikovsky's 1890 ballet)
Revenue = $51.6 million) (31st highest grossing film as adjusted for inflation)
34. Swiss Family Robinson (1960) by Johann David Wyss (1812)
Revenue = $40 million (83d highest grossing film as adjusted)
35. Tangled (2010) from the Brothers' Grimm fairy tale Rapunzel (1812)
Revenue = $591.8 million
36. Tarzan (1999) from Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1914)
Revenue = $448.2 million
37. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) based on the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (1820) and Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)
38. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) from Victor Hugo's Book (1831)
Revenue = $325.4 million
39. The Lion King (1994) from Hamlet (1603) and inspired from a 1960s Japanese animated series called Kimba the White Lion
Revenue = $987.5 million
40. The Jungle Book (1967) by Rudyard Kipling (1894 copyright, movie released just one year after copyright expired)
Revenue = $205.8 million (30th highest grossing film with inflation)
41. The Jungle Book (1994 live action version) by Rudyard Kipling (1894)
Revenue = $43 million
42. Three Musketeers (1993) by Alexandre Dumas (1844)
Revenue = $53.9 million
43. The Reluctant Dragon (1941) based on the story by Kenneth Grahame (1898).
44. The Sword in the Stone (1963) from the Arthurian Legends
Revenue = $22.2 million
45. Treasure Planet (20002) based on Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883)
Revenue = $109.6 million
46. Muppet Treasure Island (1996) based on Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883)
Revenue = $34.4 million
47. Treasure Island (1950) based on Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1883)
48. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) by Jules Verne (1870)
Revenue = $28.2 million
49. White Fang (1991) by Jack London (1906)
Revenue = $34.8 million
50. White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994) based on book by Jack London (1906)
Revenue = $8.8 million
