The first domestic-made 3D animation movie, Boonie Bears: To the Rescue will hit the big screen on Friday. Billed as the most eye-catching animation movie ever made in China, it promises to establish a new benchmark for domestic cartoons by combining exciting plots and special effects.

The Boonie Bears cartoon series has long been popular among Chinese children. In order to create it for the big screen, every motion and facial expression of the characters was first performed by real actors, and the 3D animation copied from their actions. The performers were all professional stage play actors. Although common in the West, this is the first Chinese animation movie to copy such a production technique.

Chinese cartoons are sometimes criticized for having weak plots, so the production team put special effort into creating an exciting story, laced with funny punch lines. Boonie Bears: To the Rescue promises to herald a new age for Chinese animation movies, and is likely to be a hit with both children and grown-ups.