A Labubu theme park? How Pop Mart is learning from Disney to build on the toy’s success

Pop Mart is learning from Disney’s ability to operate IP over the long term and aims to capitalise on Labubu’s popularity, an executive says

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An employee stands next to Labubu toys at Pop Mart’s booth at the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, in September 2025. Pop Mart is planning to invest in “developing content, theme parks, store displays” for Labubu. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:15pm, 30 Sep 2025

China’s Pop Mart is borrowing from Disney’s playbook to turn toothy monster Labubu’s blockbuster sales into long-term success, according to the company’s executive director and co-chief operating officer, Si De.

Pop Mart has already done what many thought impossible – making Labubu the first Chinese product to win a global audience for its emotional and creative appeal rather than because it represents value for money.

Now, it aims to capitalise on the art toy’s success.

“We have learned from Disney for a long time. In fact, Disney’s great value lies in its ability to operate IP [intellectual property] over the long term, even up to 100 years,” Si says, pointing to the example of Mickey Mouse, created as a cartoon nearly a century ago.

Even as analysts question Pop Mart’s reliance on Labubu and the company’s fate as the toy’s popularity inevitably cools, the firm itself still sees plenty of potential to develop content, entertainment, theme parks and more merchandise around the character – as Disney does with its most popular IP.

Si did not give a timeline or estimate on those investment plans. He says Pop Mart’s focus in the near term was not to find the “next big hit” but to invest in “better products, finding better collaborations, developing content, theme parks, store displays” for Labubu. The eventual goal is to have five to 10 IPs with similar long-term potential to Labubu.

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