Is Ne Zha 2's box office record really the end of Disney and Pixar's domination?

An image from Ne Zha 2 Chinese animation
(Image credit: Chengdu Coco Cartoon)

If you had to guess who made the highest grossing animated film of all time, you would probably say Disney and Pixar (basically Disney since its owned the latter since 2006). And until a few days ago you would have been right.

The top three highest grossing animations until this month were Inside Out 2 (2024), The Lion King (2019) and Frozen 2 (2019). But they've just been overtaken by the sequel to a film that will have completely passed by many film goers in the west. Chengdu Coco Cartoon's Ne Zha 2 has grossed around $1.7bn and counting since its release on 29 January (see our pick of the best animation software if you're up for the challenge).

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Joe Foley
Freelance journalist and editor

Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.