New Boonie Bears movie out this Spring Festival

Boonie Bears, one of China's most successful animation franchises, is seeking to expand in overseas markets.

Its fifth feature-length installment, Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink, will be released in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and some other countries after Spring Festival.

The 90-minute comedy adventure movie is set to hit Chinese mainland theaters on the first day of the Chinese New Year, which will fall on Feb 16 this year.

Besides, American actress Beth Behrs, known to Chinese fans for the hit sitcom series 2 Broke Girls, will "play" a foreign biology enthusiast and voice her role in the movie's English version.

Chinese animators have used software to analyze her facial and body characteristics, creating an animated character who looks like her, according to the film's producers.

"I've heard about the Boonie Bears from my friends in China and how big the TV series is here. I have been really excited to play a role that cares about the environment," says Behrs, during a tour to promote the upcoming film in Beijing last week.

The original TV series on which the film is based is about two bears and a lumberjack.

The 32-year-old actress reveals the role is that of a brave woman who aims to stop a garbage dump into a river, and it echoes her own support to environmental protection.

The TV series, Boonie Bears, has been running on the country's largest broadcaster China Central Television since 2012. It has become one of the highest-rated children's shows in the country and has been developed into a popular franchise comprising the nine-season series, five movies and three stage shows.

Box-office statistics show the previous four movies have totally grossed 1.4 billion yuan ($221.5 million), and some parts of the TV series have been exported to more than 50 countries and regions, such as the United States, Turkey, South Korea, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, according to the news portal Sina.

Despite the franchise's popularity, it was once criticized by some Chinese viewers for showing violence and the use of dirty words by the main characters.

But the new movie seems to be attempting to shake off such criticism, with a shift from its previous focus on conflicts between the talking bears and their longtime human rival Vick, to one of reconciliation between the two sides.

Unfolding with an unexpected visit by Vick's father, who appears on the big screen for the first time, the new story is about how the father wants to compensate for his poor parenting earlier. But despite his best intentions, a series of misunderstandings ruin his relationship with Vick, who and the two bears then embark on a new adventure after they are actually shrunk by a machine.

Ding Liang, who has co-directed the movie with Lin Huida, says they hope the new movie would not only make the audience laugh, but also raise environmental awareness among parents.

In addition, Ding says, most Chinese fathers usually leave the parenting job to mothers. "We also want them to understand the significance of a father's role in a child's growing up."