Animation Output Up 100% in 1998, But Foreign Product Dominates

Figures released by the China Cartoon Society (CCS) reveal a total of 6,000  minutes of animation will be produced in China this year, doubling the output  achieved in 1997. The growth is being spurred by television stations, including  China Central Television (CCTV), Shanghai TV (STV), Oriental TV (OTV) and  Beijing TV (BTV).    

CCTV and STV's Shanghai Art Film Studio have made the largest investments and lead output.  They are both working on plans to adapt famous stories which will come to the market on the 50th anniversary of foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1999. CCTV will produce the fifty-two-episode "Monkey King" while the Shanghai Art Film Studio is producing an 80 minute feature version of "Lotus Lantern" in which it has invested of RMB 12 million. 

The trend towards larger scale projects is welcomed by the CCS. According to CCS Secretary General Zhang Songlin, animated cartoons of 26, 52 or even 104  episodes are now frequently emerging, in line with international trends.  In the past two years, about 40 large scale cartoon series have been finished or are in the process of production. 

The employment of 2D computer animation techniques has also expanded rapidly.  The CCS estimates about one third of cartoon series have now adopted the  technology, shifting the CCS's activities towards improvement of hardware and  software.   

The number of professional animators is also on the increase.  There are six  schools offering animation majors, including five institutes and one  professional high school.  In addition, there are a number of long-term and  short-term cartoon training courses.  All have resulted in professional talent  entering the market.  There are currently about 6,000 professionals in the  national industry, but there is still a serious shortage of senior cartoon  creators. 

Sales of associated products and merchandise has also been on the increase with  CCS reporting strong sales of pictorials, tapes and disks of domestic cartoons.   The VCD "Glorious Childhood", for instance, which contains a hundred cartoon  karaoke songs, broke records as the highest selling product of its type and  received first prize in this year's national excellent audio and video art  works. 

However, the quality problem still exists and there is still an obvious gap  between foreign and domestic cartoons which results in the domination of foreign animation inside China and makes Chinese exports to international  markets even more difficult.  

The Japanese cartoon "Basket Players" is the most recent series to take Shanghai by storm, while "Mulan" produced by Disney will be on the market soon.  Summing up the challenges facing Chinese animation, Zhang said that future will be  determined by quality.   

"The audience is fair," he said, "and the market cruel.  Quality will determine the social and economic effects of our work. The current production of Chinese  cartoons is supported by state funds and has no direct relationship with the  profitability of the manufacturers. With the reform of the economic system,  sooner or later the production of animation will adopt the market economy.   Quality will determine the success and failure of the cartoon industry".