Movie Ice Age: Continental Drift

A scene from I Love the Big Big Wolf

Every summer, fierce competition at the box office grips cinemas around the world. This summer is no exception, and has ushered an unprecedented number of animated films vying to win over moviegoers.

Showing at cinemas across Beijing this summer are eight domestic and six foreign animated movies. More than two-thirds of these are either sequels or big screen adaptations from popular animated TV series.

"It isn't unusual this year to have several animated movies screened during the summer because it coincides with schools' summer vacation in China. Students are the main target audience for movies during the holidays, particularly animated ones," said Kang Bo, a public relations officer for UME Cinema.

Among the most popular animated movies to hit screens this summer are Hollywood's Ice Age: Continental Drift and Dr Seuss-inspired The Lorax, the latter which was released July 27. The immensely popular Ice Age sequel came out in North America on July 13, successfully toppling superhero epic The Amazing Spider-Man at the box office in just three days.

The Lorax is the fourth feature film adapted from a Dr Seuss book, and has a cast boasting the likes of Danny DeVito as the title character and Zac Efron as Ted, an idealistic 12-year-old boy. When The Lorax premiered in North America in spring, it surpassed The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn upon its release, raking in box office takings of $17.4 million. However, only time will tell if both animated movies will prove as popular among Chinese audiences as Western ones.

On the domestic front, the most anticipated animated feature of the season is I Love the Big Big Wolf, the latest installment of the Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf series. The movie is based on the much loved among Chinese children TV series, and is expected to be a hit with its loyal fan base when it's released on August 10. Another domestic animated film slated to premiere that day is 3D epic Save the 365th Day, co-produced by a team of 286 professionals from 12 countries.      

Such animated movies adapted from popular TV cartoon series are a sure sell to their target audience of kids, but broadening their appeal to adults is an ambitious challenge. "Adults who come to watch these domestic animated movies are mostly parents who accompany their children," noted Kang. "But many Hollywood animated features attract adults on their own, which is why they are able to compete at the box office."

Hu Jian, father of a 4-year-old son, conceded the only reason he would pay to see an animated film at the cinema would be to accompany his child.

"Animated movies might be a hit with kids, but for adults they don't hold much appeal because these movies are a little too narrow in their appeal. Some Hollywood animated movies can interest both children and adults. China's animated movies should learn from them," Hu said.

Even moviegoers who view domestic animated films more favorably have criticized the summer "animation saturation" at the cinema. "The production value of animated Chinese films is improving all the time, but it would be better if they were more evenly released throughout the year instead of just being saved until summer," said a female moviegoer, who only gave her surname as Yuan. "There's no reason that other holidays can't be used for premieres of animated movies. During other times of the year, parents take children to the cinema but usually find nothing suitable is available for them to watch."