As Pixar’s sequel unexpectedly becomes the fastest-ever $1bn movie, and with Despicable Me 4 poised to top the box office, film-makers reveal the secrets of their successes – and why adults are the new superfans of family films

Five weeks ago, Hollywood was in the doldrums. A succession of hotly tipped blockbusters – The Fall Guy, Furiosa, IF – flopped. The mood was ominous. The last time early summer box-office takings had been so low was in 2000.

Today, considerably more cheerful records are being broken, thanks entirely to children’s films. Three weeks ago saw the release of Inside Out 2, Pixar’s sequel to its 2015 animation about the emotions jostling for supremacy in the head of an 11-year-old girl named Riley.