CATDOLL: An in-depth analysis of the domestic animation "counterattack" against Hollywood blockbusters

Against the backdrop of the strong release of the Hollywood blockbuster "The Hobbit", an anomaly appeared in the Chinese film market on the 25th: the number of viewers of the domestic animated film "Boonie Bears: Snow Ridge Bears" was more than double that of "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies". Local analysts believe that the success of "Boonie Bears" stems from the "all-age" positioning of the animated film, which attracted three generations of grandparents and grandchildren to the cinema.

The latest data from the National Film Special Fund Office shows that the top three average attendances per show in the national film market on January 25 were: the domestic animated films previewed "Boonie Bears: Snow Ridge" with 102 people, "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" with 47.8 people, and "20 Again" with 21.3 people.

Boonie Bears: Snow Mountain, which will be released on the 30th, was screened in advance in 100 cities across the country on the 25th. According to Shang Linlin, one of the producers of the film, 65% of the audience on that day were family audiences of three generations.

The Boonie Bears series tells the hilarious battles between the forest protectors, the bear brothers, and Bald Qiang, who destroys the forest, cuts logs, and occupies land to develop experimental fields for entrepreneurship. The second episode, Boonie Bears: Snow Ridge Bear Wind, continues the warmth, humor, thrills, and romantic beauty of the previous episode, while innovating and upgrading it, with the protagonists collectively "traveling back to their childhood".

Shang Linlin said that Boonie Bears: Snow Ridge Bear Wind takes children's age characteristics and adults' entertainment and decompression needs as its core goals, has many commercial elements, and strives to reach audiences of "all ages."

"Chinese animated films have obviously found their own direction of development. Not only are children having fun watching them, but adult audiences can also enjoy some fun things that children cannot understand," said Sun Li, a teacher at Beijing Huajia Di Experimental Primary School, after the preview of Boonie Bears: Snow Ridge.

Song Zhanling, deputy director of the Theoretical Research Department of the China Film Association, believes that the secret to the successful "counterattack" of "Boonie Bears: Snow Ridge" is that it has broken away from the impression that domestic animated films are low-age, and has won the "family fun" of young, middle-aged and elderly people with its excellent production and mature story design based on local conditions.

A few years ago, "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" pioneered the "little hands holding big hands" movie-watching mode - as long as the children like it, there is no need to worry about adults not being brought into the cinema. However, with the development of the industry and the expansion of the market, the box office of animation films for young people has not increased significantly.

Ever since the Hollywood animated film "The Croods" became a hit in China in 2013, Chinese filmmakers have reflected that the strategy of targeting younger audiences is no longer effective in attracting audiences to theaters to watch animated films.

Yin Hong, director of the Film and Television Communication Research Center of Tsinghua University, said that as one of the two leading producers of cartoons in the world, the United States has adopted a "family-friendly" strategy suitable for the whole family to watch, basically taking animals and family relationships as the core content, allowing children and adults to find their own perspectives.

Tong Gang, deputy director of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said that Chinese filmmakers should break the old prejudice that "animated films are children's films", return Chinese animated films to the family-oriented, increase the number of "family-friendly" animated films produced, and change the direction of Chinese animated films from being mainly aimed at children to being aimed at all audiences. "Only by insisting on being suitable for all ages, facing families, and facing all audiences, can Chinese animated films truly win a large market and achieve great development."