SHANGHAI (Kyodo) -- The Chinese animated movie "Ne Zha 2," a fantasy adventure story based on Chinese mythology, has achieved unprecedented box office success, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all-time worldwide earlier this week, according to local media.

On Tuesday, "Ne Zha 2" surpassed the 2024 U.S. animation film "Inside Out 2" to set the global record.

Released on Jan. 29, the film quickly shattered domestic records as the highest-grossing movie of all time as well as setting a record as the most successful film in a single market, with total box office revenues exceeding 12.5 billion yuan ($1.72 billion) as of Thursday.

A sequel to the 2019 blockbuster, "Ne Zha 2" draws inspiration from the 16th-century Chinese novel "Journey to the West." It follows the titular character Ne Zha, a mischievous boy born with demonic powers, as he challenges heavenly authority and defies fate.

The film's success has sparked national pride in China, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun calling it last week a "new bridge for cultural exchanges between China and the world."

At a Shanghai movie theater, a 20-year-old university student who came to watch the hit anime for the second time said she was "moved by Ne Zha cooperating with his friends to fight together and attracted by 3-D images," adding she would come for the third time.

The film has already been screened overseas in countries such as the United States and Australia, with plans for release in Japan.

Director Yang Yu, born in 1980 and better known by his pseudonym "Jiaozi" meaning dumpling, is a pharmacy student-turned-filmmaker. He attributes his passion for anime to childhood influences from Japan such as "Dragon Ball" and "Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac," according to local media.