K-Pop Demon Hunters, the newest animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, was released by Netflix in June – and was an instant success. The film topped Netflix’s global charts with more than 33 million views in just two weeks, hitting the top ten in 93 countries. Not only that, but the music from the film has also dominated the global music charts, and the song ‘Golden’ will likely be nominated for the 2026 Oscars.

So what happened to Disney, which has dominated the animation film industry for decades? Is the giant losing the plot?

If we look at the latest films produced by Disney, such as Elio and Moana 2, it is noticeable that they were not as successful as Sony’s K-Pop Demon Hunters or even the Spider-Verse trilogy.

Elio was also released in June, but it amassed only $21m at the US box office on its opening weekend, and $10m globally – the worst ever box office opening for a Pixar film. As for Moana 2, even though it was a significant success, the songs were criticised for not measuring up to the ones in the first film, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

It seems that Disney doesn’t put in as much effort as it used to. Disney and Pixar have lost out on the Best Animated Picture Oscar three years in a row (2023–25), to the likes of Studio Ghibli and the independent Dream Well Studio (maker of the wonderful 2025 winner, Flow). It shows that whatever strategy Disney has, it doesn’t seem to be working.

Even though Disney CEO Bob Iger claimed that the company doesn’t prioritise sequels over originals, its 2025 releases are dominated by sequels, including Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and a live action version of the 2002 animated smash hit Lilo & Stitch. Disney seems to be playing safe – but it doesn’t guarantee bringing in more revenue or fans.

Take the 2020 live action version of Mulan, for example. Even though it is considered a remake, it is significantly different from the original 1998 classic – it is not a musical and follows a different story. It also had its fair share of cultural problems, such as Disney not hiring a Chinese costume designer, which disappointed many people.

On the other hand, Sony Pictures Animation wasn’t highly rated until 2018 – the year that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was released, and turned out to be a whopping success. Since then, Sony has focused on creating original stories with a variety of cultural backgrounds and animation styles, such as the Chinese-inspired Wish Dragon (2021) and the Cuban immigration story Vivo (also 2021). Lin-Manuel Miranda not only wrote the songs for the latter, he also voiced the main character.

Another roaring success was The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), a science fiction comedy about an American family and the rise of robotics. It appealed to both children and their parents, which largely contributed to its glory. Notably, all of Sony’s recent films have their own unique art style against the uniform aesthetic of Disney.

They played around with combining 2D and 3D animations, which turned out to be a sound strategy. Now a newer generation of children also have great films that belong to them — not just millennials and Gen X.

Let the massive success of K-Pop Demon Hunters be a lesson for other production companies that are playing too safe. Nowadays, content needs to cater to new generations of viewers who crave their own stories, not sequels that didn’t leave a mark on their upbringing.

Nostalgia can be a very important element if you want your film to succeed, but when Generation Alpha grows up, I doubt that they will be saying “Remember seeing Moana 2 at the cinema? I need to rewatch it!”