The U-shaped line is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its territorial claims over vast expanses of the resource-rich South China Sea, including areas claimed by other countries.

Vietnam pulled the movie from cinemas last week, while the Philippines' foreign minister has called for the scene showing the map to be cut and the film boycotted.

Malaysia's Film Censorship Board said last week that it has given the green light for the movie to be screened in cinemas without the scene depicting the map.

"Universal has decided not to make the censor cut required by the Malaysian censor board and as such will not be able to release the film in Malaysia," a spokeswoman for the film's distributor, United International Pictures, told Reuters on Sunday.

Malaysia's Film Censorship Board did not have an immediate comment.

The film was set to be released in Malaysian cinemas on November 7.

Abominable, about a Chinese girl who discovers a yeti living on her roof, was jointly produced by Shanghai-based Pearl Studio and DreamWorks Animation. Comcast owns DreamWorks and its parent company Universal Pictures.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $US3.4 trillion ($A5 trillion) worth of goods are transported annually, under its unilaterally declared "nine-dash-line". The line overlaps territorial claims made by Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan.

Last week, Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the country needs to boost its naval capabilities to prepare for possible conflict in the South China Sea even as it pursues non-militarisation of the waterway.

Australian Associated Press