Landmark debut of 'Frozen II' in China impresses Hollywood

Business insiders said they were impressed by Frozen II's performance in China, where it topped the local box office with a debut weekend of over $53 million.

According to Box Office Mojo and China's consulting firm EntGroup, the Disney new movie earned more in one weekend than "Frozen" grossed during its entire 2014 release in China ($48 million).

In fact, Anna and Elsa's charming sequel netted Disney its highest opening ever for an animated film and earned Frozen II the third highest animated film opening in China ever, giving rise to speculation that it might give China's highest grossing animated films, "Nezha" at $696 million and Disney's "Zootopia" at $236 million, a run for their money.

"Chinese audiences appreciate good animation," Yi Qiao, producer of "Nezha," told Xinhua Monday during an exclusive interview in Beverly Hills. "And now it comes from both China and America."

With viewer ratings of 9 on Maoyan and 7.3 on Douban, Frozen II seems to belie the conventional wisdom that the Chinese are not big fans of musicals.

Since all of Disney's animated movies revolve around popular musical production numbers, all audiences know what they will be getting before they step foot in the theater.

"Audiences may not always know what they are going to see, but they know what they are not going to see," Alan Horn, Co-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Studios told Xinhua earlier. "They rely on us for quality family fare with memorable songs."

The original Frozen's Academy Award-winning theme song, "Let it Go" by composers Robert Lopez and Kristin Anderson-Lopez, is a global megahit that is hugely popular in China as well, Horn said, it even influenced a song crafted for Beijing's Winter Olympics bid.

Frozen II's music was well received about by most viewers, but it remains to be seen if the film will produce a breakout hit of the stature of "Let it Go".

However, a few outspoken Chinese viewers felt that Frozen II focused too much on music and not enough on story, and what story there was reminded some of Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild." A few others lamented the lack of a classic Disney villain to root against.