Quality Not Quantity

Bearing in mind the U.S. animation industry's output value of US $200 billion, and that Japanese animation products occupy about 65 percent of the world market, however, China's sizable animation output alone is no reason to feel complacent, Dean of the Animation School of Beijing Film Academy Sun Lijun recently pointed out.

What's more, tapping the huge Chinese animation market relies on quality as well as quantity. As Cai Daming, director of the Service Center of Shenzhen National Animation Industry Base, commented, "Japan consistently produces high-caliber animation products, but there's nothing that strikes one as a potential classic among China's locally produced animation films and TV series, which add up to 220,000 minutes a year."

Many of the guests at the 7th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, held in May 2011 in Hangzhou, said that, among the multitudinous animations screened, such decades-old classics as Monkey King, Black Cat Detective and Gourd Brothers apart, The Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf appears to be the only recent work that shows any flair. Japan's Conan, Chibi Maruko-chan and Doraemon are, in contrast, all top-notch works that keep children spellbound for years. Japanese animations such as One Piece and Naruto are also huge favorites with adults.

Industry insiders have criticized The Dreams of Jinsha, China's first Oscar-nominated animated feature, and most expensive in terms of production costs, for its slapdash storyline. As one disappointed viewer remarked on the Internet, "The script's absence of rigorous, logical planning has resulted in a vague, inchoate plot. The whole movie gives me the impression of an ill-fitting garment produced by a second-rate tailor."

Kevin Geiger, a 3D animation production supervisor who has been with Disney for 12 years, expressed surprise at the undue emphasis certain Chinese authorities place on the number of animation institutions in China and on the total minutes of local animation output. He gave the impression that nobody at Disney or Pixar would ever stop to consider how many minutes of features they had produced, and that quality was their prime concern.

Absence of originality is the acknowledged Achilles' heel of domestic animations. As many so-called original works are little more than parodies of Japanese, Korean or American animations, few have a dedicated following. Of the 20 most popular animations among Chinese children, 19 are from overseas, Monkey King being the sole local favorite, according to the 2009 China Culture Industry Development Report. Among the most loved cartoon works on the Chinese market, Japanese and South Korean productions account for 60 percent, and those from Europe and the U.S. for 29 percent, while original animations produced in China's mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan occupy only an 11 percent share. As the report points out, "The absence of striking, original images in Chinese animations seriously impedes the development of China's animation industry."

China is synonymous throughout the world with its bountiful and splendid traditional culture, which should be obvious, not to mention valuable, sources of inspiration. Yet Chinese animators have failed to retrofit the country's classic folk tales and literary works, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, A Dream of Red Mansions and Hua Mulan, into works that appeal to present-day audiences. Disney, meanwhile, produced its blockbuster based on the legend of Mulan, and DreamWorks framed China's national symbol and one of the most prized facets of its culture in the 2008 global hit Kung Fu Panda. China's animators thus sat by while Hollywood exploited the huge potential of their country's cultural treasures.

"In the 1950s and 1960s, Chinese ink painting animations like Magic Pen Ma Liang, Little Tadpole Looking for Mom, and Monkey King amazed the world," Kevin Geiger said. It seems to him Chinese animation producers should know that the world expects them to produce cartoons celebrating characteristics of traditional Chinese culture rather than aping foreign successes.

Integrating Resources

China may be the world's largest animation producer, but compared to animation powerhouses like the U.S. and Japan, it still has a long way to go. "China now has one of the world's largest animation outputs, but 'big' doesn't necessarily mean 'strong'," Sun Lijun pointed out.

China now has more than 10,000 animation enterprises that produce tens of thousands of animation and related products. Of this cohort, however, only 24 enterprises report an annual output value of more than RMB 30 million, and only 13 are in the RMB 100 million rank.

"As 90 percent of China's animation enterprises are small and scattered, they don't enjoy the benefits of integrated resources that provide research and development opportunities and the chance to create more competitive products," was the comment of Li Yang, vice president of China ACG Group Co., Ltd, on the status quo of China's animation industry. Given their current incapacity to produce original works, competing with Hollywood in the short term is a tall order for domestic animation enterprises.

Problems such as absence of a clear profit model and a flawed value chain as regards product copyright also vex China's animation industry, as the 2011 China Animation and Comic Industry Development Report points out.

"China should introduce the concept of 'bigger' animation to make the industry more competitive," said Song Qihui, head of the Animation Section of the Marketing Department of China's Ministry of Culture. To her, animation is a compound industry that needs an integrated industrial chain, from creation to the final retail product, covering the traditional industries of publishing, garments and toys, as well as creation and design, and also game development and operation. If an animated feature is well marketed, derivative products can contribute to 70 percent of the entire profits. At present the income of most of China's animation enterprises come from TV stations and local government subsidies.

China did attempt to combine animation industry resources a few years ago. The establishment of the Shanghai Animation Derivative Industry Park, first of its kind in China, represents one such foray. As of the end of September 2011, 177 enterprises had set up operations in the park.

Individual enterprises have also tried to extend their value chain. In September 2009, Alpha Animation debuted on the SME board, so becoming the first animation company in the A-share market. With the money raised it branched out into animation-based toy products. This burgeoning and innovative producer of animations and toys is bound to promote development of animation features and TV series and their derivative products.

As the central government clearly proposed in its decisions to deepen reforms to China's cultural system, China should hasten development of its emerging creative cultural industry, which encompasses the animation and game sectors. China's animation industry is now contemplating a golden growth opportunity, but must first make the transitional leap from production volume leader to premium crowd pleaser.