After a slow year in 2024, the Chinese box office is roaring back, with an exceptional Spring Festival performance totaling 9.5 billion yuan. Leading the charts is Ne Zha 2, the animated sequel to director Jiaozi’s 2019 hit. Grossing over 14 billion yuan (more than 2 billion US dollars), the film has surpassed Disney blockbusters like Inside Out 2 and Frozen II, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time.

At this historic moment for Chinese animation, the latest episode of the Middle Earth Podcast, hosted by Aladin Farré and produced by The World of Chinese magazine, explores the key factors behind the film’s success—from the dedication of its creators to advancements in AI technology that made the ambitious production possible.

Guests:

Dalton Grant Jr is an animation writer and director at Maple Toon Animation Studio.

Lena Li is an IP acquisitions consultant.

Hayley Zhao is a journalist and editor at The World of Chinese.

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The following are excerpts from the transcript of the episode (edited for clarity):

5:40

Aladin: Ne Zha 2 has undoubtedly topped the charts, but what was it like when the first film in the series came out in 2019?

Lena Li: It was a phenomenal moment for the animation industry. Its box office earnings at the time were around 5 billion yuan, making it one of the highest-grossing animated movies in China. Its success prompted the production studio to invest more and grant the director greater creative freedom in preparing for Ne Zha 2.

Aladin: As a writer, what do you think about the portrayal of Nezha as a character?

Dalton Grant Jr: Characters like Nezha have a duality. What makes a good character is a conflicted character. On the one hand, he’s built to destroy and do the so-called bad things in his universe. But on the other, he has a heart and feelings for the things he cares about. This duality creates a much more interesting character—and it’s fun to write.

7:23

Aladin: There is a five-year gap between the first and second movie. Why did it take so long?

Li: The main reason is the high standards set by director Jiaozi. He is incredibly strict and meticulous with the script, and the first installment left much of the story untold, so the second one had to be more tightly structured.

Guangxian Media, the primary investor behind the Ne Zha IP, was heavily involved in the scriptwriting process, which underwent numerous rounds of revisions. Jiaozi’s high standards for animation also led to extensive work in post-production. Some parts were outsourced to other studios, but when the quality didn’t meet expectations, new teams were brought in until he was satisfied with the final product. This contributed to the lengthy production timeline. Ne Zha 2 is also longer than the first film, with more complex storylines and twice as many characters. All the characters were redesigned for the sequel.

One particularly striking scene features sea monsters attacking Ne Zha’s village, with each monster still bound to hell by chains. It’s an impressive visual, especially during the fight scenes, and something never seen in other animation films. That scene alone took over four months to create, just to give you a sense of the scale of the production.

10:37

Aladin: Animation played a huge role in the movie’s success. The rapid advancement of AI tools, such as DeepSeek, has also generated significant buzz recently. From your professional perspective, what new techniques were used in this film?

Grant: To my knowledge, AI was indeed used in a new way for this film. The animation industry has been incorporating AI into 3D animation for years. It’s just part of the rendering process. In the past, characters were rendered on one layer and the environment on another, which made it harder for directors to view the final output in real time, sometimes affecting their judgment.

For Ne Zha 2, they developed a special AI-powered rendering engine that enables higher-quality renders at a faster speed, allowing for quicker previews. Typically, dynamic simulations—like water, hair, and clothing—are particularly challenging, especially with photorealism, and require multiple teams working simultaneously. With AI, these tasks can be handled more efficiently with less CPU demand. A relatively small team can now produce results that appear as though they were created by a much larger team with significantly more time.

While 3D animation tools are theoretically open-source—since all 3D languages share the same coding framework—what sets productions like Ne Zha 2 apart is their unique ink-style rendering system. Each team adapts the underlying technology to their own needs, tailoring tools to fit their workflow.

17:39

Aladin: Timing is crucial to a film’s success, and Ne Zha 2 premiered on the first day of Chinese New Year. Is this considered a coveted time slot for film releases?

Li: The Chinese New Year period is one of the biggest—and possibly the most coveted—time slots for film release in China. This is because most people take seven to eight days off to spend time with family. With the winter weather limiting outdoor activities, going to the theaters becomes a major family event. Movie distributors also take advantage of this by organizing promotions and events on the launch day to draw in large crowds and boost the box office.

Aladin: For me, after spending three or four days with family, it’s just too much. You’re exhausted from answering those awkward questions about your life choices, and you just need to get out of the house and go see a movie.

Hayley Zhao: Parents also put on the hat of matchmakers during this time, arranging blind dates for their children. Many choose to go to the theater for these occasions. I’ve seen people complain online that they watched Ne Zha 2 three times this holiday because their parents kept setting up these dates.

The word-of-mouth effect also helped boost the box office. People are more likely to see the film if their best friend recommends it, rather than relying on anonymous reviews online.

22:35

Grant: Nezha is iconic—it’s like China’s Astro Boy. You’ve created a phenomenon. From now on, whenever you see that face and character style, you’ll know exactly what it represents and the level of quality attached to it. This kind of attachment is what’s given Disney its lasting legacy. When we watch Disney movies, we know what we’ll likely get. To achieve that kind of recognition, you need to create an iconic character—and Ne Zha is that character. We haven’t seen something like this since the Monkey King. Nezha is becoming China’s Mickey Mouse.

Aladin: Ne Zha 2 is expected to make only 1 percent of its box office earnings overseas, while Hollywood movies typically earn about 60 percent internationally. As a creative, what would you do to bring Ne Zha to a larger global audience?

Li: I think Ne Zha 2 is still considered more of a Chinese movie than an international one. One reason is that it’s based on traditional Chinese folklore, which includes many unfamiliar names for Western audiences. Additionally, there’s limited access to screens in overseas markets, and even people who want to see it don’t have the means to do so.

Grant: The West has already established a synchronized system of advertising, licensing, and distribution that ensures people see their movies. When China releases a movie, they often have to “pay to play” because they aren’t the main distributor. For example, Ne Zha 2 would need to partner with another company, but these companies have already established the infrastructure, and they require payment to distribute the film. As a result, they profit more than the original creators. That’s why you see such large discrepancies in box office numbers, but it has little to do with the quality of the film. Take Marvel, for instance—they make billions off movies that don’t necessarily have high artistic value. It’s the accessibility of the film that makes the most difference.

I think there is a way to solve the current distribution problem. Streaming platforms like Amazon are struggling to attract viewers, and Ne Zha 2 could be the perfect film to fill that gap. It has sophisticated fighting and action scenes that will appeal to adults, but it’s also tender enough for families and children. If any film could break some serious numbers internationally, it would be this one.

Zhao: Whenever we talk about movies going overseas, we automatically think of America and Europe. Ne Zha , however, is a concept that could strongly resonate in Southeast Asian countries, like Vietnam and Malaysia, where the character is already known in local cultures. There is certainly potential to explore these markets, but it will take time. So far, no Chinese film has reached this level of popularity and quality needed for distributors to fully tap into the global market.

The Middle Earth Podcast is your source of insight into China’s culture industry, where you can hear from people creating and producing content in the world’s second-biggest cultural market. Hosted by Aladin Farré, and presented by The World of Chinese magazine.