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After revisiting our favorite ‘90s cartoons in our last report, the team at Frontier Bundles decided to take another nostalgic trip back by uncovering every state’s favorite ‘90s movie. We looked at the 20 highest-earning movies from 1990 to 1999—movies that defined a generation.
Read on to see if your favorite film made the cut, or jot down some ideas for an upcoming movie night!
Hometown pride
- New York can’t get enough of Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost, which takes place in New York City and was partially filmed there.
- Hawaii searched more than any other state for Jurassic Park, which was partially filmed on the island of Kauai–the “Garden Isle.”
- Twister is most popular in Oklahoma and Kentucky, where twisters are a regular occurrence for the locals.
- Illinois loves Home Alone, which is appropriate given the film’s setting.
The Disney Renaissance
The ‘90s were a powerhouse decade for Disney. Its animated films saw more commercial success than ever before. Four of these films top our list:
- The Lion King was the most popular film from the ‘90s, winning 8 states. It’s won countless awards, is one of the highest-grossing films of all time, and has its own broadway play. Disney currently has a live action version of The Lion King in the works for 2019.
- Aladdin was the highest-grossing animated film of all time until it was dethroned by The Lion King, but it’s still California’s favorite.
- Beauty and the Beast was North Dakota and Utah’s favorite film. It won a Golden Globe award and two Academy Awards, and the love for this fairy tale hasn’t faded—Disney’s live action version starring Emma Watson is the highest-grossing PG-rated film ever in the US.
- Toy Story 2, produced by Pixar for Disney, is one of the few films that has received a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Toy Story 2 was Delaware’s favorite film from the ‘90s. (The first Toy Story didn’t make quite enough money to make it into the top 20 list.)
Other most-searched favorites:
- Historical fiction classics, such as the tragic story of the Titanic and the gritty but inspiring Saving Private Ryan.
- Science fiction movies, including Jurassic Park, The Phantom Menace, Terminator 2, and Men in Black, which are all part of hugely popular franchises still producing blockbusters.
- End-of-the-world movies featuring giant asteroids, invading aliens, and artificial intelligence bent on destroying humanity are inexplicably popular among 8 states. Earth had some close calls in the ‘90s in films such as Armageddon, Independence Day, and Terminator 2.
See the full results below!
| Alabama | The Lion King |
| Alaska | The Phantom Menace |
| Arizona | The Lost World |
| Arkansas | The Lion King |
| California | Aladdin |
| Colorado | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me |
| Connecticut | Saving Private Ryan |
| Delaware | Toy Story 2 |
| District of Columbia | Mrs. Doubtfire |
| Florida | Men in Black |
| Georgia | Forrest Gump |
| Hawaii | Jurassic Park |
| Idaho | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me |
| Illinois | Home Alone |
| Indiana | The Lion King |
| Iowa | Saving Private Ryan |
| Kansas | Titanic |
| Kentucky | Home Alone |
| Louisiana | The Lion King |
| Maine | Armageddon |
| Maryland | The Lion King |
| Massachusetts | Titanic |
| Michigan | Home Alone |
| Minnesota | Home Alone |
| Mississippi | The Phantom Menace |
| Missouri | The Lion King |
| Montana | Terminator 2 |
| Nebraska | The Lost World |
| Nevada | Ghost |
| New Hampshire | Saving Private Ryan |
| New Jersey | Saving Private Ryan |
| New Mexico | Terminator 2 |
| New York | Ghost |
| North Carolina | Titanic |
| North Dakota | Beauty and the Beast |
| Ohio | Home Alone |
| Oklahoma | Twister |
| Oregon | Titanic |
| Pennsylvania | Home Alone |
| Rhode Island | Titanic |
| South Carolina | Forrest Gump |
| South Dakota | Terminator 2 |
| Tennessee | The Lion King |
| Texas | The Lion King |
| Utah | Beauty and the Beast |
| Vermont | Armageddon |
| Virginia | Independence Day |
| Washington | Terminator 2 |
| West Virginia | Armageddon |
| Wisconsin | Home Alone |
| Wyoming | Mrs. Doubtfire |
Methodology:
Data analysts at Frontier Bundles used unadjusted domestic gross total earnings to generate a list of the 20 most popular movies released in the United States during the ‘90s. The top-earning movies were included in the list regardless of genre or rating, so the options ranged from Disney’s animated Aladdin to high-intensity films like Saving Private Ryan.
From there, we analyzed Google Trends data from the past year to identify movies that stand the test of time—which movies are people still searching for after all these years? The results are indicative of each state’s favorite ‘90s movie.
Image Credits:
https://www.instagram.com/p/la1Fk5jmRp/?hl=en&taken-by=the_lion_king_movie https://www.instagram.com/p/BlS1Q_Mn5Wp/?hl=en&tagged=homealonemovie https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc5F8RSFsSx/?taken-by=titanic.movie https://www.instagram.com/p/BlTTSjnBVv5/?hl=en&tagged=terminator2 https://www.instagram.com/p/BlO7328FdE_/?hl=en&tagged=savingprivateryan https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj8A1d3hl7q/?hl=en&tagged=armageddonmovie https://www.instagram.com/p/BR8OrsAAfUM/?hl=en&taken-by=austin___powers___ https://www.instagram.com/p/BldGuoABGfG/?hl=en&tagged=beautyandthebeastmovie https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk56mTNlaOE/?tagged=forrestgump https://www.instagram.com/p/BlMK7JRhtha/?tagged=ghostmovie https://www.instagram.com/p/Bki7IhplLWJ/?tagged=mrsdoubtfiremovie https://www.instagram.com/p/BlaWcrGFu50/?tagged=phantommenace https://www.instagram.com/p/BlSR8fUF1P7/?tagged=jurassicparkmovie https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgl-ZmcA5iW/?tagged=aladdinmovie https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk017gwA7ut/?tagged=independencedaymovie%F0%9F%8E%AC https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj-YdFvnFkg/?tagged=jurassicparkmovie https://www.instagram.com/p/BeJC4mwFySH/?tagged=meninblackmovie https://www.instagram.com/p/BcxI9-DBD_9/?tagged=toystory2movie https://www.instagram.com/p/BhHPY0tB6jm/?tagged=twistermovie