Story of "bear brothers" manifest evolution of Chinese animation

People attend a press screening of the movie "Guardian Code" in London, Britain, on April 26, 2023. The English-dubbed movie "Guardian Code" is an installment of "Boonie Bears," which is an animated movie series widely recognized by children in China. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- "YOLO" "Article 20" "Pegasus 2," these are the big names that caught the most attention in China's domestic film market during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday. However, apart from these eye-catching titles, young audiences were also greeted by two old friends: the bear brothers from the "Boonie Bears" animation series.

During this year's Spring Festival holiday, the lastest "Boonie Bears" film--"Boonie Bears: Time Twist" ('Time Twist' for short) met the audience on the big screen. As of Friday, the film's total box office reached 1.84 billion yuan (about 259 million U.S. dollars), which surpassed the 1.495-billion-yuan box office record set by the series' previous installment, and making it the highest-grossing "Boonie Bear" film ever.

In total, the "Boonie Bears" films have so far generated a box office of more than 7 billion yuan. This is an unparalleled commercial success in the field of Chinese animation.

The success of the series can be attributed to many factors: improvement in animation quality, more mature and complex story, and involvement of popular cultural elements. Suffice to say, the development of "Boonie Bears" is the epitome of the Chinese animation evolution.

In 2014, "Boonie Bears, to the Rescue!" the first full-length film of the series, hit cinemas and pocketed a total box office of 247 million yuan. Back then, the series was still considered by many to be an animation intended for young children.

As the fanbase of the series grew, the creators of "Boonie Bears" actively explored ways to further develop the series in order to cater to a wider audience.

One of these efforts is the improvement of visual quality. Compared to earlier installments, "Boonie Bears" films in recent years contain more detailed models, smoother movement, and more high-quality visual spectacles.

This year, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of "Boonie Bears" films, more than 500 characters from the previous films appeared in "Time Twist," said Shang Linlin, producer of the films.

All these characters were remodeled in accordance with present day's animation quality, said Shang, adding that "Time Twist" consisted of more than 1,300 scenes containing special effects, two times as many as the previous film.

In the meantime, different from the straightforward "good against bad" story in the past, the films aim to present audiences stories with more twist and turns, richer in connotation, and more closely associated with popular topics that capture people's attention.

For instance, the plot of "Time Twist" involves fashionable sci-fi story elements like alternate universe and time travel. In last year's "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code," the story revolved around technological breakthroughs such as robots and artificial intelligence.

Also, the film also evoked thinking over some issues that grown-ups can resonate with. In the film, a protagonist faced the life decision of whether to live a life that is successful in the eyes of others or to pursue one's own dreams.

"Many young viewers who had been fans of the series since a decade ago are now going to college or pursuing their own career," said Shang. "Therefore, we feel the plot can somehow reflect their current state-of-mind and the environment they are in, and can produce emotional resonance."

The aforementioned traits of newer "Boonie Bears" films are also apparent in some other works of Chinese animation. In 2015, "Monkey King: Hero is Back" amazed the audience with its superb quality and its realistic, slightly-grim story, and contributed greatly in breaking the public perception of "animation is for kids."

In the years that followed, animated blockbusters like "Ne Zha" and "Chang An" continued the trend and offered audiences refreshing experience. Meanwhile, other long-lasting animation series originally intended for younger audience, such as "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf," are also embracing complex storylines and profound connotations in a bid to expand its audience from children to teenagers and young adults.

Today, Chinese animation is gaining acceptance from audiences abroad as well. In 2023, the English-dubbed version of "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code" hit the theaters in the United Kingdom and Ireland and won applause.

"I think it's fun, action-packed and pacy, and it's got a really good storyline to it," said Emma Evans, brand licensing manager of the Media Pioneers, the company in charge of the film's distribution.

From the perspective of Wang Lei, director of Communication University of China's School of Animation and Digital Arts, Chinese animation and its industrialized development is maintaining good momentum.

In terms of introducing Chinese animations worldwide, Wang noted that further development of animations as intellectual property products requires long-term operation and continuous innovation.

That way, the animations and their brands can continue to thrive, and become cultural icons that can influence generations of viewers, said Wang.