Animation festival draws British experts to China

With China's animation industry booming, a recent cartoon festival in Hangzhou drew renowned British artists to the country, where they sought partners and offered advice in the fledgling market.

Animated movies earned 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) at China's box office last year, which was around 15 percent of the national total. Animated movies from overseas scooped 4.6 billion yuan of that total.

The numbers were released in a report at the China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, which ran from Wednesday to Monday.

"Being honest and open with your international clients is the key," Sean Feeney, senior vice-president of animation at Prime Focus World London, said at a crowded forum during the festival.

Feeney stressed the importance of planning and urged Chinese animators not to rush into projects.

"It's not making mistakes that is the failure, it's managing the mistakes," explained Feeney.

Alice Webb, director of the BBC's children's programming, talked at a festival forum about the media's role in shaping positive childhoods, and urged players not to narrow their ambitions for children's media.

"Children are sophisticated and varied, and what we offer them must be exactly the same," said Webb, referencing the BBC's Go Jetters as a model example of a show that is both educational and entertaining.

"When you get it right, imaginations are engaged and education is soaked up, almost as if an afterthought."

Chinese companies and animation studios were eager to showcase their work to counterpart from around 80 countries and regions at the festival.

"We hope to make the event an opportunity for cooperation that brings foreign animations to China, and Chinese animations to a global audience," said Qi Xiaohu, director of the festival organizing committee.

Jon Rennie, managing director of Cloth Cat Animation, said his company was pitching a Chinese animation TV series to international buyers.

Rennie has recently collaborated with Hangzhou's MagicMall Animation Production Co on the animated series Luo Bao Bei.

The character was originally created by MagicMall in 2008 and tells the story of a young Chinese girl navigating through childhood with her family, friends and pets and learning valuable life lessons along the way.

"Beautiful images in stories will keep people interested for five minutes. But the core of the story, the characters the audience love and care for, will keep them in their seats for an hour and a half," Rennie said.

"I think Luo Bao Bei can help bring China to an international audience. She has not only the opportunity to talk to children her own age, but also to tell families about China."

Rennie's Cardiff-based animation production company, which is known for its work on Disney's 2012 movieTales of Friendship with Winnie the Pooh, was brought in to give the animated series a facelift that helps make it accessible in Western markets.

"We were able to absorb a lot of things from China and find common themes," Rennie explained. "It's a true fusion of the two cultures."

The first five episodes are complete and more are on the way. The series will be aired first in China later this year.

Contact the writers at zachary_d@chinadaily.com.cn and xingyi@chinadaily.com.cn