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Pleasant Goat boosts China's animation industry

By Song Hongmei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-05-03 19:44

The Chinese cartoon Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf won second place at the Chinese box office only after US Dreamworks' animated feature Kung Fu Panda, despite the economic downturn.

The 6-million-yuan ($879,200) surprise hit made over 90 million yuan within one month, generating wide discussion during an animation festival held in Hanghzou, Zhejiang province last week.

Without complicated plots or hi-tech special effects, the film has attracted a large audience, both young and old, by using only a simple story about the battle of wits between a herd of goats and a couple of wolves.

Poster of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf

Many attributed the success of Pleasant Goat to its fan base, built up during its 500-episode namesake TV series, which has aired on nearly 50 TV stations over the past three years.

However, Liu Yong, operations director of Shanghai Media Group (SMG), one of the producers, said at the 5th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival (CICAF) "the deep-rooted reason for the film's success lies in its workable marketing strategy, while being based on the popular TV series is quite an ostensible reason."

Claimed as "China's first animation film designed for children during China's Lunar New Year", Pleasant Goat debuted on January 16, the first day of winter vacation for schools in China, ten days earlier than scheduled.

" 'How will your child spend his/her winter holiday? Why not take your child to our party (theaters were required to be arranged as a party) to watch the film Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf?' That's the message we sent via our promotional campaign," said Liu.

Before the screening, SMG launched a sweeping promotional campaign, including sending New Year’s cards to kindergarten children and advertising on TV, radio, newspaper, websites and other media throughout the country.

They also teamed up with fast food chains such as KFC to send plush toys made in the images of leading characters of the film, a big change for Chinese animated products that were weak in promotion.

Their efforts paid off. Five-year-old Zhang Yisu said at the CICAF, "Those goats are clever and lovely, (so) I watched the film twice with my parents."

Zhang's mother said it was common to see young couples going into theatres with their children to watch the film during the Spring Festival holiday.

Related readings:  Cartoon and Animation Festival kicks off in Hangzhou  Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf  Hangzhou aims to be national animation center  Animation industry told to innovate

The film nabbed 8 million yuan in its first day and brought in a record-breaking 90 million yuan within a month, far more than the haul of another successful domestic animated film, Storm Rider, in 2008, which made 33 million yuan.

Driven by its financial success, Pleasant Goat will get a sequel. It will be released during the next school winter vacation, according to Liu Yong.

The success of Pleasant Goat has proved that domestic animation has an audience. Whatever the reason for its popularity, it has given confidence to China's animation industry, industry insiders said.

Zhu Yuqi, general manager of a Fujian-based animation company, said at the CICAF that he is working on an animation film script telling the story of Matsu, the indigenous goddess of the sea who protects fishermen and sailors. Although he can't tell whether his script will turn out to be a film like Kung Fu Panda or Pleasant Goat, he is patient enough to edit his script again and again, determined to work out a good one.

Mark Osborne, co-director of Kung Fu Panda, attended the CICAF, where he discussed the determination required to make an animated film, including the laborious process that went into making his own film, from developing the story to learning from his mistakes.

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