A screenshot of the 27-second video for the new Haier Brothers cartoon posted on the official Sina Weibo account for Haier Brothers. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

"When thunder crashes, it will rain, leiou; when it rains, you have to hold an umbrella, leiou; when it's cold, you have to put on a heavy jacket, leiou."

From the lyrics, can you tell what song it is?

It's the theme song for the 1995 hit cartoon Haier Brothers, which may still be familiar to many Chinese in the post-1980 and post-1990 generations. Hearing the song, many can't help but imagine the iconic Haier Brothers, two little boys wearing only shorts.

Twenty-three years after Haier Brothers first premiered, Zhou Yunjie, CEO of the Haier Group, recently said during an interview that the new Haier Brothers cartoon is expected to air this summer.

However, a 27-second video of the new cartoon, released several days earlier, has made waves on the social media. The new images of the Haier Brothers are a far cry from those in the memories of devoted fans.

Many netizens responded in the comment section of the video, saying they really looked forward to the new cartoon. But more people ranted about the alteration of the images and some even questioned why the original Haier Brothers were not kept.

"The video online is not yet an official trailer," said a staff member for the cartoon's production when he responded to the complaints.

He said that the new cartoon is also targeted at a young demographic and the images were also developed in accordance with this marketing purpose. But for the time being, they would not make the new images public.

Meanwhile, the news has sparked a wave of nostalgia among many people. Some said that the Haier Brothers theme song was their "childhood favorite" on Sina Weibo, China's answer to Twitter. In the video's comment section, a Weibo user's comment that "those who grew up watching Haier Brothers, please give me a tight hug" attracted hundreds of likes.

Haier Brothers, a 212-episode animation, is a corporate promotional cartoon produced in 1995 by Haier Group, a multinational consumer electronics and home appliances company based in East China’s Qingdao city, Shandong province.

Haier Brothers, a pair of robots created by the Wizard, travel around the world with their friends to explore the stories of nature and overcome all kinds of difficulties on their journey.

The new Haier Brothers cartoon will continue to "popularize science and wisdom" and the core value of the Haier Brothers has always been "imparting knowledge in a fun way," according to the staff member for the production.

"The new cartoon looks to create a total science fiction environment for children based on the intellectual property of the Haier Brothers, which will help promote the healthy development of a domestic children's culture," added the staff member.

It's reported there will be 54 episodes in the new Haier Brothers and one-third of the animation has already been completed.