Peacock Is Streaming The Prequel To The Highest-Grossing Animated Movie Ever

"Ne Zha 2," or "Ne Zha: The Demon Boy Havoc in the Sea," is making waves at the box office, breaking records and making history every week. Like its predecessor, it took five years to make this movie, and over 100 animation companies around the world and thousands of artists contributed to it. That's an epic production worthy of its epic story, and audiences are responding in kind, showing up to movie theaters in droves to see it. This has catapulted "Ne Zha 2" to the very top of the list of highest-grossing animated films ever made, despite only releasing outside of China a couple of weeks ago.

Loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel "Investiture of the Gods," the film tells the mythical story of Nezha, a popular character in Chinese mythology who becomes a deity. These films follow the rise of Ne Zha, a rebellious prankster of a boy born from a heavenly pearl, who is destined to bring destruction to the world and grows up feared and hated. The movie has action as epic and large-scale as any big-budget fantasy movie, and as many poop and booger jokes as a kids' feature. It's basically like if "Shrek" took place in Middle-earth.

It's a great time for Chinese animation. As audiences worldwide are embracing international titles, animation not just from Japan, but also Korea and China are finding bigger audiences worldwide than ever, with shows like the nail-biting "Link Click" proving very successful.

This is to say, you should watch "Ne Zha 2" in theaters if you can, with the IMAX format in particular making the movie even better (a rare thing in animation, as it doesn't always jibe with that format). Before you do that, however, you should definitely check out the first "Ne Zha," which is now streaming on Peacock and also remains a rather spectacular animated feature.

Like the sequel, the original "Ne Zha" finds inspiration in one of the biggest Chinese mythology tales, "Investiture of the Gods," which tells the story of the young hero. The other story that involves Nezha (as the original deity is known as) is "Journey to the West," the novel that inspired "Dragon Ball," and sees Nezha as a god that becomes a rival of Sun Wukong, the monkey king, in martial arts skills before becoming rebellious allies.

Whether you are at all familiar with these characters or you simply want to know what the fuss is about with the highest-grossing animated film ever, the 2019 "Ne Zha" movie is still a grand time. Its not-so-cute hero who constantly defies the authority of the heavens is likable, complex, and funny as hell. The film's roots in Chinese philosophy and Eastern religions, as well as ink paintings for the animation, give it a unique look and feel at a time when it seems we're finally breaking away from the total domination of uniform American studio-made animated features. This movie has an impressive level of spectacle, with its dynamic action and vibrant colors, that simply isn't found anywhere else and makes for an awe-inspiring watch. You should run to Peacock to watch it and then run to your nearest theater to watch "Ne Zha 2" as it continues to make history.