Economy
Twist in the tale for cartoon studios
By Duan Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-17 07:01
 |
Large Medium Small |
The most successful Chinese-made cartoon of recent times is Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf (Xi Yang Yang Hui Tai Lang), which has appeared on more than 70 domestic channels since its debut in 2005.
"We believe we succeeded because we tell the story differently," said Shao Haowen, a spokesman for Creative Power Entertaining, which makes the show. "We want to tell funny stories, not make old-fashioned educational cartoons. The stories reflect the world through kids' eyes."
|
 One of the artists' workshops at the Global Digital Creations' base in Shenzhen. Wages in the industry are still low and many leave the job for better salaries with game design companies. [Qi Jieshuang / for China Daily] |
Cai at the Yijing Animation Base agreed and said too many producers still rely on China's wealth of historic storylines for inspiration.
"But audiences want something modern, relevant and interesting," he said. "No one wants to learn about history when they go to the (movie) theater to watch a cartoon."
|
||||
Other major challenges to making money from cartoons are the limited distribution channels and rampant copyright infringement, according to Wang Lifeng, president of Xing-Xing Digital.
To prove his point about the latter, Shao admitted that the success of the money-spinning Pleasant Goat television show, which has so far spawned two movies, has been tinged by the fact that "80 percent of products on sale that use the cartoon's trademark image do not have our brand licensing approval".
Although Creative Power Entertaining is turning a profit, smaller companies that want to make quality cartoons need to be looking at long-term profits.
Liu Bei, a cartoon director at Tinkkid, a small Beijing studio that makes shows for the Kaku children's channel, said his company is resigned to sacrificing short-term gains through distribution and merchandise, and is instead focused on telling good stories.
"It's like we're putting up a great building and leaving the selling to our partners," he said, continuing his construction analogy to explain how he felt animation companies using outsourced work are "experienced bricklayers who haven't learned how to build a house yet".
"We all have our learning curves," he added.
Drawing comparisons
That learning curve is not only for companies but also the artists they employ. However, experts say animation training in China is expanding way too fast to ensure quality, while the standard of wages is low.
More than 440 universities offer majors in animation for more than 400,000 students, yet officials with the Ministry of Education said few are able to find work after graduation.
On the section of the ministry's website about the national college entrance exam, animation is listed as one of 10 "high risk majors" that have the highest unemployment rate and lowest salaries.
As well as production, Global Digital Creations also offers 10-month training courses at centers in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Shanghai.
"Many of our students are college graduates with animation majors who are not competent to start working at studios yet," said company manager Cao. "Many need classes in other subjects, so they are not able to start working immediately after graduation.
"Only a few will start working for us after they've completed the course. The others will go to work for different animation companies."
Cartoonist Yuan Qi, who studied in Germany as "most colleges in China don't have good animation tutors", said most people leave the industry after a few years to earn better salaries in advertising or as video game developers.
The average annual income for the animation sector is 70,000 yuan, which is expected to rise to 90,000 yuan by 2012, said Cai Lin, a media analyst with China Investment Consulting's industry research center. He declined to elaborate on how this figure is devised.
"Most people I know only earn about 30,000 to 40,000 yuan a year," said Yuan, who dismissed the research center's estimate. "There are animators in some cities whose monthly income is just 2,000 yuan. This job is as cheap as selling cabbages in the street."
Huang Yangbo, a 26-year-old animation director in Shenzhen, said his first job in Changsha, Hunan province, was for 800 yuan a month and followed a six-month unpaid internship.
"I feel like I'm lost," he said, admitting that he fears for the industry as long as the emphasis is on making profits. "The culture here in Shenzhen is all about business. I don't know about other places. Maybe Beijing or Shanghai is better."
Making just 3,000 yuan a month in Shenzhen, a city with a relatively expensive cost of living, Yuan said the only thing that is keeping her going is her passion for animation.
"I love it too much to quit now," she said.
