CATDOLL: Domestic animation cannot just make money from the box office, it also needs to cultivate the derivative market

Oscar-winning animation "Big Hero 6" is released, and the robot "Baymax" derivatives are sold out——

Last Saturday, the Oscar-winning "Big Hero 6" was released in mainland China, and the box office was close to 100 million yuan in two days. Also popular were the derivatives of the robot "Baymax" in the film. The genuine "Baymax" plush dolls, figurines, and T-shirts sold online attracted fans to rush to buy them, and they were even sold out at one point.

In contrast, although the box office of many domestic animated films has increased year by year, the derivatives that are recognized by the industry as the "most profitable" have not yet made any breakthroughs. Some animated films do not even have the awareness of developing derivatives. The animation derivatives market, which has huge "money prospects", is still deserted in China.

Popularity is so high that the cute "Dabai" derivatives are sold out

The most popular robot in Big Hero 6 is Baymax. This round, fat robot that looks like a white inflatable doll always gives a big hug to the protagonist Hiro when he is in a bad mood. Many netizens call it a "healing pet" comparable to Doraemon. Many viewers who have watched the film will say "I really want to take Baymax home." Qin Li, the publicity manager of Xinjiekou International Cinema, told reporters that many viewers asked if the Baymax inflatable dolls displayed in the cinema were for sale.

The sales of "Baymax" derivatives are indeed very hot. On the official derivative sales platform of Mtime.com, the price of a "Big Hero 6 Combat Set" is 300 yuan, and the "Travel Set" is 100 yuan, including a storage bag, "Baymax" hat, etc. A "Baymax" plush doll costs 50 yuan. Although the prices are not cheap, the sales of these derivatives are still hot. On Taobao, the sales of "Baymax" T-shirts and dolls are also quite gratifying. A Taobao seller in Dongguan told reporters that more than 2,000 "Baymax" plush toys in his online store were sold in one day.

The hot sales of Baymax derivatives are seen as an inevitable result by some animation practitioners. According to the information provided by the Big Hero 6 production team, the character design of Baymax took more than 1,200 days. During the design process, Baymax had multiple expressions and a cute little mouth, but as the animation production continued, the designers removed Baymax's mouth and let it express emotions through blinking, closing eyes and body movements. Industry insiders analyzed that this design not only fits Baymax's image of being cute, harmless, warm and caring, but also has a higher degree of recognition due to its simplicity, which is suitable for online dissemination and is an ideal prototype for animation derivatives.

The Hollywood animation derivatives market has been promoting derivatives through various marketing methods before the movies have become popular. For example, Disney has always emphasized the forward-looking planning of animation film derivatives, and planned derivatives simultaneously when preparing for the movies. Before "Big Hero 6" was released in China, the film company built a 12-meter-high "Baymax" in Shanghai for promotion. With these preliminary preparations, Hollywood blockbuster animations such as "Minions" and "Kung Fu Panda" no longer rely solely on box office revenue to make money, and their derivative revenue can even reach 70% of the total revenue.

As the most profitable part of the animation industry, the domestic animation industry has long recognized the importance of derivatives, but in actual operation, not many film producers are willing to spend money to design high-level derivatives. The cheap derivatives launched with the release of the film are mostly for promotional purposes, and there are very few products that are actually sold on the market. The domestic animation "Rabbit Hero 2" released during the Spring Festival has a good reputation, but the animation derivatives have not been developed at all, which is equivalent to completely giving up the market outside the screen.

"At present, except for animated films such as "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" and "Boonie Bears" which have a large variety of derivative products, most domestic cartoons are still at the stage of making the characters realistic and telling the stories clearly. As for whether these characters are suitable for the design of derivative products, the designers have not thought that far." Zou Bo, director of the Nanjing Animation Industry Association, told reporters.

Due to the lack of early planning and design, many domestic cartoons often wait until just before the release to find gift companies to order some product samples. These "last-minute" products are mostly used for ticket promotion or premiere publicity, and very few are sold on the market. In addition, these derivative products are low-cost and not well-made, so it is difficult to arouse the audience's interest in buying.

The market needs to be nurtured, and domestic animation cannot just focus on making money at the box office

Many cinemas in Nanjing have set up areas to sell derivative products, but unless they are Hollywood blockbusters such as Minions and Transformers, most derivative products cannot be sold. The domestic animation "Boonie Bears 2" released during the winter vacation also launched dolls of Bear II and White Bear before its release. The design and quality are good, but these products are not for sale, but only for cinema activities.

The reason why domestic animation derivatives cannot be sold is partly due to the fact that domestic audiences lack the concept of derivative consumption. The film producers also lack the awareness of cultivating the market and are too lazy to spend effort on developing animation derivatives.

"Domestic animation production companies know that derivatives are more profitable, but the problem is that it takes long-term investment to cultivate the market, but everyone is still just thinking about making money from the box office." Sun Huaizhong, vice president of Tencent Video, who has been involved in the production of movie derivatives in recent years, said in an interview with reporters that the cultural industry needs long-term cultivation, and a company also needs years of development and accumulation to create its own brand and derivatives. If they only think about making money from the box office, the domestic animation derivative market will still be dominated by Hollywood.