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Getting animated about Chinese entertainment
By Pan Zheng |
May 1, 2009, Friday
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THE 5th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival in Hangzhou should be a chance for China to celebrate its success in this extremely popular form of entertainment. But, as Pan Zheng discovers, the industry lacks color and more.
The 5th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, which ends on Sunday, in the Hangzhou World Leisure Expo Garden is a banquet for the eyes especially. The festival itself is a great success, attracting more than 700,000 visitors to enjoy the latest in animation and cosplay shows.
However, underneath the glamor, the real purpose of promoting original Chinese cartoons and animation is struggling - it seems the domestic animation industry has a long way to go.
At the end of March, when visiting one of the Chinese major cartoon and animation companies in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Premier Wen Jiabao said: "My grandson likes to watch cartoons, but only some foreign cartoons, especially 'Ultraman' (a Japanese cartoon series). I hope that he will watch more Chinese cartoons - we need to attract our Chinese children with our own cartoons."
Wen's plea was meaningful. China has already become the world's biggest importer of cartoons and related products. Of the animated works screened in China last year, 80 percent came from Japan and 10 percent from Europe and America, according to industry insiders. Less than 10 percent were original Chinese animated works. Over 80 percent of the profits went abroad. Among the most popular animated works, 60 percent were from Japan, 29 percent from Europe and America. Only 11 percent came from China. It's not a positive statistic for the domestic cartoon industry.
The statistics may be changing though because the government is well aware of this situation and has taken measures to correct the imbalance. The strictest measure came from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. From September 1, 2007, all Chinese television stations are forbidden to screen foreign cartoons or trailers from 5pm to 8pm. And from May 1, 2008, the ban has been lengthened, from 5pm to 9pm.
However, it is easy to see from the statistics the policy is not immediately working well in promoting the genuine Chinese cartoon industry. In Hangzhou, the cartoon and animation festival provides a good opportunity to look over the Chinese cartoon industry, to find out what's going on and what's going wrong.
From what can be seen at the festival, one obvious problem is the lack of creativity in design and characters.
Stepping into Hall A, which displays the domestic works, the first one to catch a visitor's eye is a cartoon called "Jackie Chan's Fantasia." This is meant to illustrate the spirit of Jackie Chan and Chinese culture, and in the introduction there is written: "A 100-percent original Chinese cartoon." The idea is good, but ironically, when children pass by, many of them shout: "Look, mum, it's 'Saint'!" ("Saint Seiya" is a very popular Japanese cartoon). In fact the Jackie Chan cartoon looks very similar to the Saint Seiya design - gold armor, helmets and action.
"The problem is, the stories and images which can be seen in cartoon A can also be found in cartoon B. Our cartoonists continuously follow tradition, and lack new elements and thoughts. That's the key reason why we have so few excellent works," said Hu Yueming, the director of the Culture Market Development Center under the Ministry of Culture talking about the Chinese cartoon industry.
"Jackie Chan's Fantasia" is not the only one. In Hall A which is supposed to display original Chinese works, we see a lot of familiar images - this girl looks like Sakura Momoko (a famous Japanese cartoon character); that guy looks like the sword fighter in "Final Fantasy" (a Japanese film and video game). After seeing images like these, the "100-percent original Chinese cartoon" begins to sound like a joke.
As well as the imagery, the lack of original scripts is an obstacle limiting the development of Chinese cartoons. "In our cartoon industry, we have many good artists, but very few good scriptwriters," the general manager of a cartoon company in Qingdao complained, who only identified himself as Yuan. "Chinese cartoon scriptwriters always tend to make a cartoon very educational, full of knowledge and moral principles. To be educational is a good idea, but the problem is that our scriptwriters always neglect the other side of the coin - the fun."
"A cartoon should be interesting and attractive, not like a text book. When children go home and turn on the TV, they want to relax, rather than having a lesson again," said Hu, Culture Market Development Center director.
In point of fact, the Chinese cartoon "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" has really done a very good job - every chapter tells a comparatively unique story, not confusing even for those who start watching it halfway through. And all the stories are full of fun and jokes, making audience laugh from beginning to the end. Funny stories merge with lovely and fresh images, making it a legendary success in the Chinese cartoon industry.
Despite the global economic crisis, China's cartoon output reached a new peak in 2008 - 186 cartoons have been made adding up to over 100,000 minutes screen time. But how many of them can our children name? How many of them will be popular with our children? After a few years, how many of them will stay in people's minds? These questions remain unanswered.
The festival is midway through with just two days left. But Chinese cartoons are just at the beginning. One festival cannot rescue an industry.
The 5th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, which ends on Sunday, in the Hangzhou World Leisure Expo Garden is a banquet for the eyes especially. The festival itself is a great success, attracting more than 700,000 visitors to enjoy the latest in animation and cosplay shows.
However, underneath the glamor, the real purpose of promoting original Chinese cartoons and animation is struggling - it seems the domestic animation industry has a long way to go.
At the end of March, when visiting one of the Chinese major cartoon and animation companies in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Premier Wen Jiabao said: "My grandson likes to watch cartoons, but only some foreign cartoons, especially 'Ultraman' (a Japanese cartoon series). I hope that he will watch more Chinese cartoons - we need to attract our Chinese children with our own cartoons."
Wen's plea was meaningful. China has already become the world's biggest importer of cartoons and related products. Of the animated works screened in China last year, 80 percent came from Japan and 10 percent from Europe and America, according to industry insiders. Less than 10 percent were original Chinese animated works. Over 80 percent of the profits went abroad. Among the most popular animated works, 60 percent were from Japan, 29 percent from Europe and America. Only 11 percent came from China. It's not a positive statistic for the domestic cartoon industry.
The statistics may be changing though because the government is well aware of this situation and has taken measures to correct the imbalance. The strictest measure came from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. From September 1, 2007, all Chinese television stations are forbidden to screen foreign cartoons or trailers from 5pm to 8pm. And from May 1, 2008, the ban has been lengthened, from 5pm to 9pm.
However, it is easy to see from the statistics the policy is not immediately working well in promoting the genuine Chinese cartoon industry. In Hangzhou, the cartoon and animation festival provides a good opportunity to look over the Chinese cartoon industry, to find out what's going on and what's going wrong.
From what can be seen at the festival, one obvious problem is the lack of creativity in design and characters.
Stepping into Hall A, which displays the domestic works, the first one to catch a visitor's eye is a cartoon called "Jackie Chan's Fantasia." This is meant to illustrate the spirit of Jackie Chan and Chinese culture, and in the introduction there is written: "A 100-percent original Chinese cartoon." The idea is good, but ironically, when children pass by, many of them shout: "Look, mum, it's 'Saint'!" ("Saint Seiya" is a very popular Japanese cartoon). In fact the Jackie Chan cartoon looks very similar to the Saint Seiya design - gold armor, helmets and action.
"The problem is, the stories and images which can be seen in cartoon A can also be found in cartoon B. Our cartoonists continuously follow tradition, and lack new elements and thoughts. That's the key reason why we have so few excellent works," said Hu Yueming, the director of the Culture Market Development Center under the Ministry of Culture talking about the Chinese cartoon industry.
"Jackie Chan's Fantasia" is not the only one. In Hall A which is supposed to display original Chinese works, we see a lot of familiar images - this girl looks like Sakura Momoko (a famous Japanese cartoon character); that guy looks like the sword fighter in "Final Fantasy" (a Japanese film and video game). After seeing images like these, the "100-percent original Chinese cartoon" begins to sound like a joke.
As well as the imagery, the lack of original scripts is an obstacle limiting the development of Chinese cartoons. "In our cartoon industry, we have many good artists, but very few good scriptwriters," the general manager of a cartoon company in Qingdao complained, who only identified himself as Yuan. "Chinese cartoon scriptwriters always tend to make a cartoon very educational, full of knowledge and moral principles. To be educational is a good idea, but the problem is that our scriptwriters always neglect the other side of the coin - the fun."
"A cartoon should be interesting and attractive, not like a text book. When children go home and turn on the TV, they want to relax, rather than having a lesson again," said Hu, Culture Market Development Center director.
In point of fact, the Chinese cartoon "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" has really done a very good job - every chapter tells a comparatively unique story, not confusing even for those who start watching it halfway through. And all the stories are full of fun and jokes, making audience laugh from beginning to the end. Funny stories merge with lovely and fresh images, making it a legendary success in the Chinese cartoon industry.
Despite the global economic crisis, China's cartoon output reached a new peak in 2008 - 186 cartoons have been made adding up to over 100,000 minutes screen time. But how many of them can our children name? How many of them will be popular with our children? After a few years, how many of them will stay in people's minds? These questions remain unanswered.
The festival is midway through with just two days left. But Chinese cartoons are just at the beginning. One festival cannot rescue an industry.
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