Home-made animation films not first choice for Chinese
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E-mail Xinhua, October 12, 2013
Although production and release of Chinese animation films has increased in recent years, domestic cartoons still have a long way to go before it can gain a larger share of market.
Eleven-year-old Wang Zijun can list animations that he likes. Only a few of them are Chinese made.
"Among the Chinese films, I only love 'Happy Heros' and 'Kuiba II', as the two are really funny and logical," said Wang.
Wang's mother Gao Yuan used to watch the Chinese cartoon series "Xiyangyang and Huitailang" or "Pleasant Goat and Grey Wolf" with her son.
"They were easy to understand for the kids and there was not much film choice for the children then," said Gao, "Now my son finds them too preachy and childish."
Gao recalled that when she was young, she enjoyed domestic animations like "Monkey King" whose charters are played by paper cutouts.
"Chinese animations now pay too much attention to educating kids and ignore artistic expression, while western animations usually tell a meaningful story full of imagination."
In April, "The Croods" took in 392 million yuan (64.1 million U.S. dollars) in 41 days, while "Kuiba II", which followed "The Croods" only took 30 million yuan, although it received good reviews from audiences, according to the figures provided by the China Film News, an industry weekly.
An annual report on the animation industry revealed that, in 2012, domestic animation films took in about 3 billion yuan, 17.7 percent of the total box office, and only 400 million yuan of that comes from Chinese animations. Moreover, in the first half of this year, Chinese animation films only made up 3.7 percent of the total box office.
Qin Jie, 26, works in a law firm and likes to watch western animation movies with her friends, as "western cartoon films have better effects."
"Unlike Chinese animations which are made for kids and usually have happy endings, the western ones can go deeper into my heart and touch me more," said Qin.
According to a survey by the China Youth Daily over 56 percent of respondents cared about the Chinese animation industry, while almost 65 percent were dissatisfied by home-grown cartoons.
The survey also showed that 50 percent people think Chinese animations are boring and only 25 percent people actually enjoy them.
Liu Dayu, professor at the Communication University of China, said that many Chinese animation are too shallow, failing to reflect reality and cause resonance.
Yin Hong, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, said that most Chinese animations are aimed at children and put too much emphasis on moral education rather than the joy of growth.
"Due to childish, superficial plots and content, only a few adults are willing to watch animations in cinema, while hollywood animations are produced for the whole family, suitable for both the young and old," said Yin.
He pointed out that the present disordered policy result in vicious competition and dispersed resources. He suggested that big movie makers invest in domestic animations to expand the cartoon market. Endi
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