Voice actors and cartoon figures from Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. The latest film in the cartoon franchise has topped the box office in Shanghai over the four days from Friday. Photo: CFP

By Yao Fangqin

The third animated movie based on the popular TV cartoon series Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, produced by Shanghai Media Group (SMG), topped box office receipts in the city for the first four days of the school winter holiday.

Moon Castle: The Space Adventure was released on Friday, coinciding with the first day of the winter holiday for primary, junior and senior-high school students in the city.

"This is the biggest achievement you can expect from a domestically-made cartoon movie," said Wu Hehu, a manager of movie distributor Shanghai United Circuit. "So far, box office takings have reached 8.11 million yuan ($1.23 million) in Shanghai." He also expected the national figure for the four-day period to be over 50 million yuan ($7.60 million).

The first and second movie version of the series saw total national takings of 90 million yuan ($13.67 million) and 120 million yuan ($18.23 million).

"The takings by Hollywood blockbusters, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Tron: Legacy, which were also released on the Chinese mainland in January, are far from satisfying, with neither reaching 200 million yuan ($30.39 million) nationwide," he added.