Zootopia 2 has been a smash hit in the worldwide box office during this holiday debut weekend, and it’s proof positive that animation deserves a lot more respect in theaters than it gets right now. It’s been a wild time to be a fan of animation because while some of the biggest standouts of the year have been animated films, they are usually not the first ones brought up when talking about some of the biggest releases of the year. For one reason or another, they’re just not in many conversations overall despite how much success with fans they have in theaters.
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Most of the time the general sentiment is that animation is for children. And that’s not entirely false, but also can be used to great effect. Zootopia 2 has gone on to smash records previously held by Disney releases based on both brand recognition and its appeal to children, and it’s just another example this year of an animated film defying those previously held records and conventions. There might be fewer animated films hitting theaters in recent years, but each of those has been such a hit that there’s an argument to be made to get many more efforts.
Zootopia 2 Is Just Animation’s Latest Hit in 2025
Zootopia 2 has broken all sorts of records with $556 million USD over its opening weekend, and it’s currently the 19th biggest box office film of 2025 so far. But when looking at the top ten, there is a trend to be found with Ne Zha 2 in the top spot nearing $2 billion USD, a live-action version of Lilo and Stitch with over $1 billion, A Minecraft Movie coming in third with $957 million, Jurassic Park: Rebirth in fourth with $868 million, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle in fifth place with $662 million.
Two out of these top five films are animated, one of these films is a live-action reboot of an animated classic, one of these films takes place largely in a CG animated world, and one of these films features CG animated monsters. You can even expand it further to sixth place with the live-action reboot of How to Train Your Dragon, and it really emphasizes just how big of an impact animation has had on movies this year overall. But when you look at what actually released, a much smaller percentage of these animated films are directly marketed to children than you’d think.
Because while animated films have been deigned to be just “for kids,” there are only arounds less than ten of these potential children’s animated films hitting theaters in the United States this year. But Zootopia 2 proves that yes it’s a successful Disney brand, but more importantly proves that there’s an appetite for animated films in theaters. But even when they’re made and final success through streaming platforms (and later in theaters), bringing animation to theaters is never really part of that conversation.
Bring More Animation to Theaters
There’s just not enough in theaters for kids anymore, and these films doing so well with such a wide audience just reveals how hungry kids are for great entertainment. Just look at the success of KPop Demon Hunters. It’s been absolutely dominating Netflix ever since it made its debut with the streaming service earlier this Summer, but that was just because Sony Pictures Animation wasn’t confident about the film’s potential success in theaters. So the film ended up being both a streaming hit, and a theatrical hit later when it eventually did go to theaters with a sing along version.
That’s another kind of missed opportunity that would have been on the table. Then you have films like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle that aren’t explicitly for children, but have managed to cast such a wide net that they are some of the biggest hits of the year. The box office for the year overall has taken a hit despite some huge franchise releases and successes, but animated films are stronger than ever. They scratch an itch that everyone has, but no one fully recognizes how important animation truly is to theaters because it’s been knocked down in the public perception for such a long time.
Animated films aren’t just for kids, and even when they are they’re such a hit that the box office clearly needs them. Animation has been ignored in theaters for such a long time, and consecutive successes that we’ve seen throughout 2025 is a good showcase for the health of the industry. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out how to also lift up everyone who works on bringing all of these animated works to life for fans worldwide to enjoy.
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