There’s One Animated Movie Record Disney Cannot Break (Not Even With Toy Story 5 Or Frozen 3)

For nearly 90 years, Disney has been synonymous with animated films. Ever since Snow White revolutionized the industry in 1937, the Mouse House has spent decades putting together one of the most prolific libraries of animated titles in Hollywood history. Not only has Disney achieved phenomenal critical success through these movies, they’ve also struck goldmine after goldmine at the box office. Whether it’s one of Disney’s in-house offerings or something from Pixar, the company’s animated movies typically find themselves at the top of the charts and in the record books. For instance, Toy Story 4 is the highest-grossing G-rated film of all time domestically, and Inside Out 2 holds that mark for PG-rated films.

Few studios can truly compete with Disney when it comes to box office prowess, but there’s one mark even the mighty Mouse may not be able to topple. In 2025, Disney released three films that grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, yet none of them finished the year as the highest-grossing movie. That’s because a non-Disney animated sequel became a phenomenon, setting new records that could stand the test of time.

Ne Zha 2 Was 2025’s Highest-Grossing Movie

Arguably the biggest box office story of the past year was Ne Zha 2, a Chinese animated sequel that wildly outperformed its predecessor and became the latest member of the rare $2 billion worldwide club. To put that number in perspective, the original Ne Zha earned $726.2 million globally, so the follow-up’s performance was a marked improvement. Building off of the positive reception to the first film, Ne Zha 2 was able to captivate audiences (particularly in China) thanks to its engaging story and stunning visuals. It was by far the biggest movie event of the year in China.

Zootopia 2 notwithstanding, Hollywood productions have fallen on hard times at the Chinese box office of late, but Ne Zha 2 proved there’s still a strong appetite for moviegoing in the country. Of the whopping $2.244 billion Ne Zha 2 grossed, $2.209 billion came from screenings in China. To get an idea of how wild that figure is, no American movie has ever grossed $1 billion at the domestic box office. For the past decade, the record holder has been Star Wars: The Force Awakens with $936.6 million, a mark that may never be topped. Ne Zha 2 made over $2 billion in a single country.

Read Next

2026 Might Have 4 Billion Dollar Movies In The Space Of Just 6 Weeks

The other members of the $2 billion club struck more of a balance between the domestic and international box office. Among those six movies, the original Avatar is the only other one to earn more than $2 billion from international markets. All of the others wouldn’t have reached that milestone if not for strong showings in the United States. Avengers: Infinity War stands at $2.052 billion, and $678.8 million of that came from domestic screenings. In contrast, Ne Zha 2 made just $23.3 million (roughly 1% of its total gross) in North America.

Ne Zha 2 is the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, and it isn’t even all that close. In second place on that chart is Inside Out 2, which earned $1.6 billion during its run. That is a difference of over $545 million, and it’s very difficult to see where another animated movie is going to find that much money. In history, no Disney Animation Studios release has even topped $500 million domestically for its entire theatrical run (Frozen II made $477.3 million), and only two Pixar movies have accomplished the feat. Asking an animated film to make up a $545 gap seems like an impossible task. Ne Zha 2‘s numbers are unprecedented, to put it lightly.

Toy Story 5 and Frozen 3 Are No Match for Ne Zha 2

When looking for Disney films that could theoretically challenge Ne Zha 2‘s record, all of the potential contenders fall well short. Zootopia 2 had a massive opening over Thanksgiving weekend (thanks in large part to a strong showing in China) and passed the $1 billion mark in record time, but it’s largely topped off now. As of this writing, the Disney sequel has grossed $1.592 billion, and business is starting to slow down after a hot start. For the weekend of January 2-4, Zootopia 2 earned $19.3 million. Barring an unforeseen late surge, it’s not even going to hit $2 billion yet alone $2.2 billion.

Disney has a couple of other sequels in the pipeline that hypothetically could have an outside shot at $2 billion, but neither are likely to get there. First up is this summer’s Toy Story 5. While that should be the box office rebound Pixar desperately needs after Elio bombed last year, it probably won’t pose much of a threat to Ne Zha 2. The highest-grossing installment in the Toy Story franchise is 2019’s Toy Story 4 with $1.073 billion. Toy Story 5 would have to drastically outperform that in order to catch Ne Zha 2. The gap between Ne Zha 2 and Toy Story 4 is well over $1 billion. Based on Toy Story‘s track record, it’s hard to see where that extra $1 billion is coming from.

Frozen III is in the same boat. The first two installments in the series each topped $1 billion, with Frozen II leading the pack at $1.450 billion. The third movie will undoubtedly make gobs of cash for Disney, but there’s virtually no way where it can come close to Ne Zha 2. Again, there’s just too much of a gap to overcome. Frozen II didn’t even earn $1 billion in international markets. Asking the threequel to match Frozen II‘s gross plus an additional $790.5 million to topple Ne Zha 2 is a tall task. As is the case with Toy Story 5, it’s hard to see where Frozen III could get that much extra money from. Some movies are lucky to make $790 million total, never mind an extra $790 million to supplement a $1 billion haul.

It’s worth pointing out that Ne Zha 2 did wildly outgross its own predecessor, so there’s arguably a precedent that Toy Story 5 or Frozen III could follow. However, what Ne Zha 2 pulled off is an extremely rare feat, and it’s entirely unrealistic to expect either Toy Story 5 or Frozen III to follow suit. It’s safe to predict both will hit $1 billion, but they will likely take the same path as Inside Out 2 and Zootopia 2, maxing out at $1+ billion after a substantial opening. In order to reach $2 billion, a film needs to have unreasonably strong legs at the box office, and the theatrical landscape is too competitive (especially in the summer, when Toy Story 5 arrives) for a movie to stick around for that long. Theatergoing habits have also changed drastically, having an impact on overall box office numbers. There are a lot of factors working against Disney here, and this is one record they probably will never be able to beat.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!