Tibetan Cartoon to be Screened in Tibetan Language, Mandarin in NW China

A Tibetan culture-based cartoon series will be screened on television next month in both Mandarin and the Tibetan language, a cartoon center in northwest China's Qinghai province said Dec.16.

The five-series cartoon, called "Seeking smart elves," is scheduled to be shown on local Qinghai TV around Spring Festival in late January, and DVDs of it will also be made available on the Chinese market at the same time, said Zhang Jingyuan, director with the provincial ethnic language cartoon development center and also the executive producer of the cartoon.

The center was also negotiating with media companies regarding the cartoon being shown online, said Zhang.

The story, targeting young audiences below 17 years old, is about journey of Chongchong and Jiajia, who set out to find the "smart spirit" so they can better help others. Chongchong, a caterpillar fungus, and Jiajia, a Tibetan mastiff, come across five elves -- the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, the Lancang River, Qinghai Lake and Kunlun Mountains, along their journey, and eventually find they have become smart elves through their experiences.

Costing more than 1 million yuan (157,000 U.S. dollars), the center spent about eight months to complete the works, said Zhang, adding that the cartoon's paraphernalia, such are toys and clothes, would soon go on sale.

"Successful cartoons help promote the cultural image of a region, and we will further explore our unique cultural resources to build the cartoon brand of Qinghai," said Zhang

He also said the center would adapt the Epic of King Gesar into a cartoon. The story is the world's longest orally narrated epic poem that relates the heroic deeds of legendary lord of Gesar.

Source: Xinhua