For fourteen years, Disney reigned supreme over the animated box office. From Frozen to Zootopia, the studio’s streak seemed unbreakable. But in 2025, the Chinese animated sequel Ne Zha 2 rewrote the rules. Grossing $2.2 billion worldwide, it became the first animated film in history to cross the $2 billion mark and the first non-Hollywood production to do so.
This wasn’t just a...