'The Lion King' Is The Biggest Animated Film Ever (Even If Disney Won't Admit It)

It was always obvious that Disney's "re-imagining" of The Lion King was going to be huge. The original is the most beloved film of the renaissance era of the Mouse House, and is in the perfect nostalgia sweetspot to appeal to kids, young adults and those who grew up on the original and now have kids of their own. And no amount of critical mauling or a debate over whether to classify it as animation (which it totally is) was ever going to change that.

And indeed huge it was, quickly roaring to a $1.3 billion at the global box office, making it second only to Avengers Endgame at the 2019 box-office.This also puts at (at time of writing) at number 11 on the all time worldwide box-office chart, just behind Black Panther. And it's been out less than a month.

This also means that it has knocked Frozen off its perch and become the highest grossing animated film ever (unadjusted for inflation). You'd think that Disney would want to shout out this impressive achievement. But instead, thanks to the  bizarre decision to try and claim the film is not animated, we're in a weird place where the highest grossing animated film from the most iconic animation studio in the world is trying to pass itself off as live-action.

Nobody is really sure why they are taking this stance- is is to try and make it more mature, or to try and avoid Disney's Live Action studio eating Disney Animation's lunch? Is there some sort of accounting reason (and VFX staff cheaper than animators?), or are they trying to boost its chances of awards?

Whatever the reason- we have a new king of the animation box office. Although Simba might want to watch over his shoulder- Frozen II is just around the corner.

[source; Box Office Mojo]