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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Now China Is Getting Excited About Cartoons |
| 2006-02-22 |
| Jessica Rabbit isn't welcome in China -- and Michael Jordan shouldn't show up with any of his Looney Toons pals. In one of the more bizarre orders from China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, TV shows and films featuring human thesps with animated companions will be banned. "These human live-action, so-called animation pieces will not receive distribution or distribution licenses," read the order, issued Feb. 15. However, films and shows that have already received permits will continue to air. CGI and 2-D characters alongside human actors jeopardize "the broadcast order of homemade animation and mislead their development," according to a report from the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Order comes as the Chinese government attempts to increase local production of Mandarin-language toons and cut the amount of foreign animated programming appearing on Chinese television. However, national and provincial children's channels are struggling to acquire enough content to meet demand or even fill their own programming schedules. "Sarft's notice is a clear indicator that, despite government support, the local animation industry is still struggling," said David Wolf, CEO of Beijing-based consultancy Wolf Group Asia. "Unfortunately, simply clearing more airtime isn't going to make the product any better or more competitive." Chinese regulatory authorities are notoriously skittish regarding broadcast and film themes that include the supernatural or fantasy, including talking animals. "Babe" was banned on the basis that animals can't talk and some viewers would be confused. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #8 And yes, I do know lots of Japanese and American animation is outsourced to Korea. |
| Posted by: Phil 2006-02-22 21:38 |
| #7 LOL Phil. The speed of Yat! |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-22 21:03 |
| #6 check out where the Simpsons are animated....you'll be saying "D'oh!", then get over it... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-22 18:38 |
| #5 I'm always behind the times. Yeah, I know, all this stuff travels across the internet at the speed of light, but once it crosses the border into Louisiana the speed of light drops precipitously. |
| Posted by: Phil 2006-02-22 18:20 |
| #4 Five or ten years ago, anime was sweeping East Asia. Nowadays? Pfft. If the Koreans and Chinese could ever muster an ounce of originality or style, they could blow the current Japanese animation industry into the central Pacific. All the good writers & most of the talented animators went into video games years ago. About the only damn thing coming out of Japan these days is harem anime & bad pretty-boy girlbait. The Japanese outsourced their animation gruntwork to the rest of East Asia ten-fifteen years ago, anyways. If the locals could just figure out how to write & manage a production, they could produce locally. The fact that they mostly haven't is a real shame. Me, I just read manga these days. Nothing too spectacular going on *there*, either, but at least there's a respectable backlog of coolness from prior decades that's new to me, if not to those folks who can read the original Japanese. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2006-02-22 18:15 |
| #3 I get a strong feeling this is aimed at the mountain of Japanese animation currently swamping most of the rest of East Asia (and, for that matter, the US. I don't know about Europe). |
| Posted by: Phil 2006-02-22 17:54 |
| #2 Chinese government attempts to increase local production of Mandarin-language toons and cut the amount of foreign animated programming appearing on Chinese television. How French. And we know how well it has turned out for them too. I know I can't wait till the next government subsidized film comes to our local cineplex. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-22 17:51 |
| #1 Super powers? No Anime then but there are other reason for that too. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O' Doom 2006-02-22 17:48 |