On the horse of high expectations

An industry whose foundations were laid in the shadows of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs looks for a return of the good old days

Once upon a time, at the end of the best fairy tales, they all lived happily ever after. And then along came the animation film franchise, in which case if you wanted to know what happened in the end you would just have to wait for the sequel.

So will the Chinese animation film industry, like many of the heroes and heroines it has produced over the years, at times standing tall, at times brought low, championing good and enduring the bad, stand tall once again?