How a cartoon Yeti sparked an international diplomatic row over a map

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 · Updated 22 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The 2019 animated film Abominable was a box office success, but its journey to the screen was marked by a decade of development and a sudden, intense controversy. A single scene featuring a disputed map led to outright bans across Southeast Asia, overshadowing the film's visual achievements.

Development of the film began in 2010 under the original title Everest. The project underwent significant leadership changes, with director Jill Culton departing in 2016 before returning to the helm in 2018. The final production was a collaboration between DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio, marking their second partnership following 2016's Kung Fu Panda 3. Upon its September 2019 release, the film earned over $190 million worldwide against a $75 million budget, receiving generally positive critical reception for its animation and the magical, nature-based powers of its titular Yeti.

Despite its commercial performance, the film became the center of a geopolitical firestorm in Southeast Asia. A brief scene displayed a map featuring the nine-dash line, a demarcation used by China to assert territorial claims over the South China Sea. This inclusion triggered immediate backlash in nations involved in overlapping maritime disputes. Vietnam banned the film on October 14, 2019, ten days after its local release. Both Malaysia and the Philippines followed suit after Universal Pictures refused to comply with demands to excise the controversial image from the film's regional prints.

Beyond the controversy, the film follows Yi, a teenager in Shanghai who discovers a young Yeti on her apartment rooftop. The narrative explores themes of grief and family, as Yi uses her violin to connect with her late father's memory while helping the creature return to the Himalayas. Critics noted similarities to other animated works like How to Train Your Dragon, yet many praised the film's authentic portrayal of its Chinese setting. The franchise later expanded into a television series, Abominable and the Invisible City, which aired on Peacock and Hulu between October 2022 and March 2023, continuing the characters' adventures with magical creatures.

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