Chinese Primetime Foreign Toon Ban Spurs Local Production
Since a September ruling by the Chinese government that prohibited foreign-produced cartoons from airing every evening from 5:00 to 8:00 pm, local production has began to grow and more students are joining animation schools to take advantage of the wave of new jobs in the industry, reports ChannelNewsAsia.com.
As a result, Beijing Glorious Animation has started adapting one of China's favorite cartoon series, SANMAO, into an animated series. The comic chronicles the adventures of a young boy growing up in Shanghai during the 1930s.
Because of the new ban, local animation houses will have to create approximately 30,000 hours of cartoons each year. At its current production level, China doesnt produce even 1% of this amount.
Chen Zhihai, animation artist at Beijing Glorious Animation, said, "I think China's animation can be the best. We have 5,000 years of history and what we can represent is rich."
Zhou Fengying, gm at Beijing Glorious Animation, said, "Apart from support from the government, we still need a lot of animation producers to raise our artistic standards. This is key. A good animation will draw an audience who will buy and support."