'Frozen 2' becomes the highest-grossing animated movie of all time

Ben Arnold
·Contributor
From the Academy Award®-winning team—directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, and producer Peter Del Vecho—and featuring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad, and the music of Oscar®-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Frozen 2” opens in U.S. theaters on Nov. 22, 2019. ©2019 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
Frozen 2 (Credit: Disney)

Frozen 2 has become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, as of this weekend sitting on a box office haul of $1.325 billion - just over £1 billion.

That puts it ahead of the previous chapter in Arrendelle lore, Frozen, which made $1.28 billion, and bumps Incredibles 2 into third place, with $1.24 billion.

Read more: Disney smashes all-time box office record

All three movies are Disney productions, Incredibles 2 being from its spin-off studio Pixar, lifting it head and shoulders above any of the other major animation studios.

Though it still has a few million to go until it tops Jon Favreau's CGI-remake of The Lion King – which made $1.65 billion – Disney still considers it a 'live-action' version of the original rather than animation.

In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Frozen 2, Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) and Olaf (voice of Josh Gad) venture far from Arendelle in a dangerous but remarkable journey to help Elsa find answers about the past. From the Academy Award®-winning team—directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, producer Peter Del Vecho and songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Frozen 2” opens in U.S. theaters on Nov. 22, 2019. ©2019 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
Frozen 2 (Credit: Disney)

Whatever the case, Frozen 2 may still have legs to pass The Lion King's total in the coming weeks, which would make the point somewhat moot.

The movie revisits sisters Anna and Elsa, as Else seeks to discover the origins of her magical powers in a journey which takes them deep into the north.

It's a fine start to the New Year from the Mouse House, following news that it smashed through the record for most money made by a single studio in 2019.

Read more: What’s the future for the Star Wars franchise?

Disney made over $11 billion thanks to billion-plus grossers including Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, The Lion King and Aladdin.

When added to the figure made by Fox, which Disney acquired last Spring, that figure leapt up to $13.15 billion.

That amounts to a massive 13.7 percent of all the movie receipts in the US last year.