Disney Animation Studios has broken its own records. Zootopia 2 is now officially the most successful animated movie in Disney Animation Studios’ history, succeeding Frozen 2, which at one point was defining a new landscape at Disney and elsewhere in terms of what was possible at the movies in terms of predicted box office success. Disney’s innovation in leveraging its well-crafted animated world with its themes of social awareness in launching a franchise that will extend well beyond its initial screen success is unmatched.
With a worldwide cumulative total of $1.46 billion, the film has managed to surpass the $1.45 billion gross achieved by Frozen 2 in the previous year and take the number one position in the list of releases by Walt Disney Animation. The achievement has come at a time when the film has been enjoying success during the holiday season and highlights the fact that an animated sequel, when properly developed, has the ability to break the barriers set by Disney franchises.
How Zootopia 2 swept the international box office
Worldwide success for Zootopia 2 has been fueled by the support of the worldwide audience. With a worldwide gross of $1.46 billion, it has grossed a component of $333 million in the United States, which contrasts sharply with the $1.13 billion grossed internationally. The film continues to perform well over the holiday season, grossing a component of $88 million in its fifth week of release.
The sequel broke records again with the achievement of the $1 billion mark in just 17 days, making this the fastest PG-rated film to do so. Its performance in the Chinese market has been quite impressive since the movie has already crossed the $500 million mark and is far above any latest release from the US.
Of these, only three movies have broken the billion-dollar barrier so far in the year 2026, and these are Zootopia 2, Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch, and China’s animated success, Ne Zha 2, which is at the forefront of the box office performance for this year. Of these, Zootopia 2 is one movie that demonstrates how original worlds, when revisited, are able to compete with or even beat Disney’s most successful intellectual properties.
Bringing Ginnifer Goodwin’s plucky rabbit cop Judy Hopps and Jason Bateman’s cunning fox Nick Wilde back together adds the buddy cop element that made the first film successful in the first place. This time around, the duo tackles another case with a reptilian villain that puts the very fabric of the world of Zootopia at stake. Thanks to its record-breaking performance, Zootopia 2 not only changed the commercial landscape for Disney Animation but also reinforced an existing thirst for clever, character-driven animation that strikes a balance between broad appeal and imaginative storytelling for releases yet to come.
