Drawing on Creative Enterprise

　　China’s animation teams gear up to bring high-quality films to the domestic market

　　A cartoon movie series made by a Chinese animation group is set to release the highly anticipated third installment of its five-part story on October 1. Compared to the original， which was released three years ago and drew in only one tenth of its initial investment in box office sales， this sequel has created quite a buzz in the weeks leading up to its release date.

　　Kuiba is now a series that has been heralded by many as a milestone in China’s animation movie-making history thanks to its sophisticated story-telling style and success in the world market.

　　Gaining popularity

　　The movie tells a story of a monkey boy， Manji， who fights his inner demons to become a hero. The first two installments were released in 2011 and 2013， respectively.

　　Wang Chuan， director of the movie， founded Vasoon Animation， the company producing Kuiba， in 1992 with his wife Wu Hanqing. Both graduated from the prestigious Peking University with majors in Chinese literature. Wang said there is one thing that connects literature and animation so well—they are both narrative arts， centered on telling stories.

　　“Normally， in China， people regard animation as a medium aimed primarily at kids，” said Wang. “But that doesn’t explain why the Kung Fu Panda series attracted so many adults to the cinema and became such a big success.”

　　Wang and his team spent more than five years writing the story of Manji to make it sophisticated and comprehensible enough for a general audience. Having worked in the animation industry for about 20 years， none of the five core members of Vasoon Animation have ever received academic training in animation. The technology director Kuang Yuqi and financier Zhang Jianwei studied economics， which enabled Kuang to design a mathematical formula for setting a story’s conflict. Art consultant Wu Guanying has a degree in book design.

　　The writers have built a completely new world called Vast， much like the fantastical alternate universes created in The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. For Wang， compared with live-action TV shows and movies， characters in animation can have vague national identities and therefore ring true with a wider resonance.

　　Vasoon’s efforts have touched the hearts of both viewers and critics alike. The film not only carries inspiring themes， such as courage， perseverance， and self-discovery， but also explores the relationship between father and son and comments on various social issues.

　　“There was a sad assumption amongst audiences before that domestic animation was not worth the ticket price，” said Wang. “That’s one of the reasons that this series failed in the domestic market in 2011.”

　　After the underwhelming first edition， the Vasoon team buckled down and started on the second installment， which adopted more modern 3D technologies.

　　“Films are demanding a greater number of visual special effects， especially after Kung Fu Panda and Avatar，” said Wang. “Without dazzling effects， movies lack visual impact and allure.”

　　However， one thing that sets Wang and his team apart is the hand-sketched style of animation used in the Kuiba series. Images generated by a computer have much less feeling than those drawn by hand and highly digitized animation technology doesn’t create the same beauty as randomness.

　　“Now Disney is working on increasing the hand-drawn quality of animation while relying on CG technology. In this regard， Vasoon is at the same starting line as Hollywood，” said Wang.

　　Vasoon’s efforts haven’t been made in vain. Even though box office sales from the original movie were only 350，000 yuan (about $57，000) in China， far less than the initial investment of 3.5 million ($570，500)， the group sold the copyright overseas and enjoyed a 3 million euro ($3.8 million) return from the European market alone.

　　Encouraged by its overseas sales， the Vasoon team revised the script based on viewers’ feedback， added new characters and rewrote some of the battle scenes.

　　The second film received considerable buzz. Opening day box office receipts from June 1， 2013， totaled 3.5 million yuan ($564，520)， or the entire production cost of the first movie.

　　Efforts yield results

　　While the Vasoon team was still working to concoct a sufficiently compelling story， other animation groups were also fighting to gain position in the world of film.

　　In 2006， a Shenzhen-based computer graphics company called Institute of Digital Media Technology Limited (IDMT) released the 3D animated feature Thru the M？bius Strip， which was billed as the “most expensive animation from a Chinese company，” to show the world that China could also produce hi-tech cartoons.

　　However， the producers soon found themselves in financial disaster： the movie cost almost 130 million yuan ($21.2 million) to make but only grossed about 3 million yuan (about $490，000) at the box office. It was a new direction that Chinese animators had tried to explore， but failed.

　　That same year， the Central Government stepped in to offer support to this fledgling industry. A government circular called for providing technological innovation funds to technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises， while supporting them through preferential income and value-added tax policies. The Ministry of Culture assumed oversight of the animated film and comic book sectors in late 2009.

　　Local governments reacted to the Central Government’s 2006 and 2009 decisions by encouraging animation companies to set up shop with subsidized office leases， tax breaks and outright payments for finished products.

　　Between 2006 and 2010， the industry’s financial value grew an average of 30 percent annually， according to the Ministry of Culture. By 2010， the combined animated film and comic book industries were worth more than 47 billion yuan ($7.7 billion).

　　Total television cartoon output rose to about 3，700 hours from 1，300 hours over that period， according to statistics from the ministry， while the number of animated films produced increased from 12 to 46. In 2010 alone， producers churned out nearly 2，200 hours of animated films combined. As of late 2010， more than 40 government-supported animation industry “bases” were operating nationwide.

　　Wang said that such growth would have been impossible without government subsidies.

　　A developing industry

　　Despite all this support， the market for domestic animation is still not promising. In 2008， DreamWorks Animation’s original Kung Fu Panda was the first animated feature to gross more than 100 million yuan ($16.3 million) in China. The film that made a global cinematic hero of China’s national mascot was a wake-up call to the domestic animation industry.

　　The domestically produced Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf， which was inspired by the hugely successful animated TV series， emerged as a dark horse and made 127 million yuan ($20.7 million) during the 2010 Chinese Lunar New Year holiday season.

　　In 2011， The Legend of Rabbit， the first 3D animation movie made in China， was released. Though it showed a marked improvement in the quality of animation and special effects， the market didn’t respond well. The movie drew in only 20 million yuan ($3.3 million) in China but cost around 150 million ($24.5 million) to make.

　　Wang Lei， CEO of Shanghai-based Mister Cartoon Pictures， said that the sector is struggling in part due to a lack of professional staffers. Original productions are particularly hard to make， because “there’s a shortage of people who can tell stories.”

　　Thus， Wang said， the animation industry has found itself in an awkward position. Speculators， not long-term investment sources， are chasing government-subsidized businesses and producing low-quality films. And because the output quality is poor， the industry has a hard time attracting investors and professionals.

　　Compared to those firms， Vasoon is lucky： It has gathered talented animators with a strong passion for the industry. The founders， Wang Chuan and Wu Hanqing， even sold their house to invest in the group’s movies.

　　“These people are passionate intellectuals who want to prove that， while Japan has had the upper hand in the industry for a long time， its China’s turn now，” said Stefanie Zhang， Vasoon’s overseas distribution manager， who joined the group in 2010 after leaving a job programming the Taiwan International Animation Festival.

　　For Wang Chuan， the warm domestic response to Kuiba now is a cheerful sign. “We hope Vasoon and the Kuiba series can help pave the way for the younger generations in the domestic animation industry，” he said.

　　By Yuan Yuan