A premiere for the upcoming Chinese cartoon animation movie, "The Magic Aster" is held in Shanghai on Friday, June 19, 2009. [yule.sohu.com.cn]

A premiere for the upcoming Chinese cartoon animation movie, "The Magic Aster" in Shanghai on Friday marked the be beginning of this summer's round of box office battles for animation movies from home and abroad.

A poster of 'The Magic Aster'

The ceremony brought in a star-studded line-up from the voicing credits including Taiwan supermodel-actress Lin Chiling, Hong Kong actor-singer Leon Lai, as well as pop stars Kenji Wu and Valen Hsu. Most of the voice actors were able to make the ceremony, but NBA star Yao Ming, who also lent his voice to the animation, was only able to send his good wishes over the big screen.

Closely following "The Magic Aster", the Doraemon series "Nobita and the Green Giant Legend", which reportedly topped box office rankings on its opening day in Japan, will hit screens across China starting June 9.

A still of "McDull 4"

And the loveable, animated pig 'McDull' will meet China's audiences on July 24. "McDull 4" is voiced by mainland comedians Huang Bo and Song Dandan, as well as Sandra Ng and Anthony Wong from Hong Kong. The previous series "My Life as McDull'", "McDull, Prince de la Bun" and "McDull, The Alumni" were all well received.

Also, the real-life "Transformers" is back after its sweeping success in 2007. Twenty-three-year-old Hollywood hot star Megan Fox is now busy promoting the sequel "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" worldwide. Although the China dates are not yet confirmed, people believe this much-anticipated sequel will make a splash this season.

Two 3-D animated feature films, "Fly Me to the Moon" and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" are getting attention. "Fly Me to the Moon" is drawing more and more children and parents to adventure into space, according to a report on South.com.

Poster of "Transformers 2"

While the third installment of "Ice Age", 20th Century Fox's animated fantasy franchise will be released in China next month.

That's not all! "Astro Boy", the young robot with incredible powers, is set to make a 3D film debut! With the joint efforts from China, USA and Japan, this big budget animated film will have a global release on October 23.

(CRI June 20, 2009)