CATDOLL: China's animation subsidy policy makes "Boonie Bears" surpass "Detective Conan"

In recent years, domestic cartoons such as "Pleasant Goat" have achieved good market benefits while actively advocating positive energy. In order to perform better in the market, domestic animation needs to continue to work hard. Facing the "attack" of foreign cartoons, domestic cartoons have always focused on brand building, improving product content, moving forward together, trying to get close to the market, actively developing derivative products, advocating positive energy of family, friendship, and care, and striving to stabilize and expand the audience.

At 6pm on February 9, 7-year-old Yiyi turned on the TV and saw Boonie Bears on CCTV General Channel. Yiyi's father was born in the 1980s and his memories of cartoons are still about Calabash Brothers, Journey to the West, and Black Cat Sheriff. "Why are Boonie Bears and Pleasant Goat always on TV?" Yiyi's father asked in confusion, "Are there no better cartoons?"

"Bears and Sheep" are best suited for the market

The younger generation of animators have more realistic and direct judgment criteria for the market. Good themes, good stories, and good production are the basic requirements for high-quality animations.

"It's a misconception that TV stations only broadcast 'Pleasant Goat' and 'Boonie Bears'." Xiang Guo, director of the editorial office of Golden Eagle Cartoon, the first domestic animation satellite channel, told reporters that there are at least 20 popular cartoons on major TV stations. The domestic cartoons broadcast by Golden Eagle TV alone include "Big Head Son and Small Head Dad", "Pig Man", "Mole Manor" and more than a dozen other cartoons. "Boonie Bears" and "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" are just a small part of them. However, after years of cultivation, the "bear" and the "goat" have become the most famous and recognizable.

Xiang Guo also admitted that among all the films, "Pleasant Goat" and "Boonie Bears" are the most suitable for TV stations to broadcast. There is a policy background here - in 2005, the former State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued a policy requiring TV stations to broadcast only domestic cartoons during prime time. "Each episode of cartoons is only a dozen minutes long, and it is broadcast four or five hours a day, which requires a lot of volume." Xiang Guo analyzed that generally, cartoons usually do not exceed 100 episodes and will be discontinued after a period of broadcasting, while "Pleasant Goat" and "Boonie Bears" have a relatively high output and can be broadcast by TV stations for a long time, which left the deepest impression on everyone.

Are these two cartoons the best domestic animations? The answer is a matter of opinion. Xiang Guo has a 5-year-old son. After watching cartoons with her child for several years, she thinks these two films are still the most competitive. "In the past two years, they have corrected the problems that existed in the past, especially the 'Boonie Bears' movie aired this year is very good."

Facing the same problem, Lu Chengfa, a veteran director of Shanghai Animation Film Studio, seemed somewhat helpless. The veteran director, who had produced the ink-and-wash animation “A Journey Through Mountains and Rivers,” reviewed “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf” and “Boonie Bears”: “It’s a bit rough!”

Lu Chengfa said that a good cartoon must first have the right theme. He shot the red cartoon "Xibaipo" himself, but unfortunately the market did not accept it. Lu Chengfa placed his hopes on young students. He cooperated with the Shanghai Visual Institute to produce ink-and-wash Peking Opera animation shorts, combining the two national quintessences, and each episode was invested heavily. The investor is also a star in the animation circle - "Donald Duck" Li Yang.

The younger generation of animators have more realistic and direct criteria for judging the market. "Good themes, good stories, and good production are the basics," said Shang Linlin, the chief producer of the TV animation and film "Boonie Bears" and vice president of Huaqiang Culture and Technology Group. Online comments also show a variety of tendencies. Some people think that the cartoons from childhood are the best with nostalgia, while others refute: "If the classic "Calabash Brothers" and "Black Cat Sheriff" were broadcast on TV today, I guess you can find a lot of problems, such as violence and blood."

In Shang Linlin's view, the market and audience's choice are enough to explain the problem - on the Internet, the Boonie Bears series has always been ranked first in the broadcast rankings; on TV, "Big Bear" and "Little Bear" are the most popular stars; in cinemas, "Boonie Bears: Snow Ridge Bear Wind" has been released for 11 days and the cumulative box office has exceeded 200 million yuan. "It's really good if the market says it's good," she concluded.

Subsidy policies have both merits and demerits

Subsidy policies have greatly promoted the development of domestic animation. Local governments have introduced support policies based on subsidies and rewards, which have promoted the rapid growth of my country's animation production, making it the world's first

Both "Boonie Bears" and "Pleasant Goat" have won the China Culture and Art Government Award Animation Award. This is the highest award for animation in my country and is awarded by the Ministry of Culture. The animation award has been held twice. The winning works in 2014 include "Frog Kingdom", "The Ultimate Adventure", "New Big Head Son and Little Head Father" and "Young Avanti".

"If you look at these films, you will know that domestic animation has made great progress in the past two years." Song Qihui, director of the animation department of the Ministry of Culture, believes that many people's impression of domestic animation is still stuck in the past few years. She admits that the image of domestic animation was indeed not very good at that time.

The industry has always believed that the broadcast subsidy policies issued by various places are the driving force behind "bad movies". In order to get thousands of yuan in subsidies per minute, animation companies of all sizes produce cartoons of varying quality. Local governments are also willing to pay this money in order to "support" the animation industry.

"But we should also see that the subsidy policy has played an important role in promoting the development of domestic animation." Song Qihui said, "In 2004, the former State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued a number of opinions on the development of my country's film and television animation industry to the whole country. Local governments have introduced support policies mainly based on subsidies and rewards based on their actual conditions, which has promoted my country's animation production to become the world's number one in just 10 years."

As the number of domestic animations surges, the quality of domestic animations is also improving. For example, on the Youku Tudou animation channel, the top 10 animations are almost all domestic originals, and only one "Transformers Police Car Poli" is a co-production between my country, France, South Korea and Australia. In addition to "Pleasant Goat" and "Boonie Bears", "Qiaohu" and "Balabala the Fairies" are also very popular among children. Unfortunately, these names are not familiar to the public.

"Many people who criticize domestic animation have never seen the film." Shang Linlin felt aggrieved when talking about the criticism she has received over the years. "'Boonie Bears' has always been about environmental protection and advocates the positive energy of family, friendship and love. Some of the early issues of violent language have long been corrected. The movie, in particular, has received unanimous praise from the audience."

The audience's eyes are sharp. The reporter checked Douban's comments on Boonie Bears: Snow Ridge Bears. Among the 1,726 netizens, 57.5% recommended or strongly recommended this cartoon. A netizen named "Sen Hai Luo Nu" left a message saying that she "accompanied her children to the cinema. Originally, she planned to play with her phone there for an afternoon, but surprisingly, I enjoyed the whole movie."

"The flaws do not outweigh the merits. It is not easy for domestic animation to become a national brand like 'Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf' and 'Boonie Bears'. We need everyone's love and care." Song Qihui is very worried about netizens always comparing domestic animation with foreign animation. "Foreign countries have accumulated many years of experience and technology, which is not something that domestic animation can catch up with in a short time."

Playing games with Conan and Mickey Mouse

Faced with the challenge of foreign animation stars, domestic animation is working hard to develop derivative products, while taking advantage of the local brand's advantages in broadcasting platforms to strive for a stable and expanded audience base.

Today, Song Qihui's worries have become a reality. On the Internet, which people are increasingly dependent on, domestic animation has been forced to compete head-on with foreign animation stars.

On the animation channel of Youku Tudou, Boonie Bears: Spring Match, Detective Conan, and Dora the Adventurer ranked first among domestic, Japanese, and European and American animations. In the "Best and Strongest" column, The Legend of Qin, SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Dora and the Runaway Rabbit all waved to the audience in a funny or cute way. On the animation homepage of Sohu Video, Japanese-style Sailor Moon and Kaito Kid also competed fiercely with domestic-style Justice Red Division and American-style The Simpsons.

Dongdong from Shanghai just turned 2, but he can already tell his mother in a baby voice, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", a childish version of "Mickey Mouse" and "Donald Duck". Dongdong can hold his iPad and watch it attentively for 15 minutes, and even ask for a hug for "Mickey" and "Donald Duck" while watching.

The crisis does not only come from the battle for eyeballs. When Mickey Mouse and Conan entered the lives of children with the help of mobile phones, iPads and computers, foreign animation companies also demonstrated their strong ability to develop derivative products. When Dongdong's father went to the United States last month, he specially bought genuine Mickey and Donald Duck dolls for his son at Disneyland. When the war extended from the Internet to dolls, school bags, water cups and other animation peripheral products, foreign animation really "choked" the "neck" of domestic animation.

The reporter found 5,851 Boonie Bears products on JD.com, 8,798 Pleasant Goat products, and 114,000 Disney-related products, nearly eight times the total of the first two. The best-selling Disney product had nearly 5,000 reviews, while the best-selling Pleasant Goat product had only 1,187 reviews, and the Boonie Bears product had only 179 reviews. From the number of products to the number of purchases, domestic animation lags behind in all aspects.

Animation IP development is the most profitable part of the animation industry chain, and now it is being taken over by foreign animation stars. Chinese animation lags behind foreign counterparts in plot and technology, and the gap in derivative product development is even greater. Between fast and slow, strong and weak, how should Chinese animation respond to the challenge launched by foreign animation on the Internet?

"The derivative products of 'Boonie Bears' cover dozens of categories including clothing, toys, stationery, etc., and even fresh food and home decoration materials that are rarely involved in animation are authorized." Shang Linlin did not avoid the problem while proving the efforts of the company. "In large supermarkets and shopping malls, domestic animation peripheral products may still be relatively weak. First, foreign products have been in operation for a long time and are well-known. Their product prices are also high, and they can pay higher entry fees. Second, domestic animation has not been around for a long time, and there are still deficiencies in product development, sales channels, and brand promotion."

Xiang Guo said that local brands currently have an advantage in broadcasting platforms, and the audience for children's programs is still the mainstream. For example, in 2014, when the overall rate of TV broadcasts declined, the ratings of Golden Eagle Cartoons rose by 30%. They implanted animation IP into children's programs and jointly promoted it with Hunan Satellite TV, with good results. "We are willing to be a promotion platform for domestic animation and grow together with domestic animation." Xiang Guo said.