Chinese animation director Wang Yunfei [China.org.cn]

Inside the ITSCARTOON Animation Studio, a converted former kindergarten in suburbial Beijing, about one hundred animators are still busy working on the final polishings for a summer family animation blockbuster-to-be, entitled "Yuguo & Lala."

Director Wang Yunfei, also the General Manager of ITSCARTOON Animation, is waiting to see the final cut, surrounded by several toys and mini-figures he collected himself..

ITSCARTOON Animation has produced many popular cartoons such as "The Adventures of Feng Hua Fairy," "Steel Team" and "Happy Stuff" which have been sold to various TV stations including China Central TV (CCTV).

Wang showed our China.org.cn reporter some snippets of "Yuguo & Lala", a story about the adventures of a girl named Hugo and Lala, a little liger, set in an alternate animal-ruled world without humans. From what we’ve seen so far, the film has been skillfully made, bearing the strong influences of Japanese master Miyazaki Hayao and US top animator Pixar Animation Studios.

Wang, who once made his name creating Internet Flash Animations, said he only considers what specific type of cartoon can best represent his ideas; so when he decided to follow the "3D" track, he was not just blindly following a current trend.

"I respect the art of film-making. I don't want to make an average or a bad movie and Chinese kids deserve to see something great and classic," Wang explained why the "Yuguo & Lala" project (formerly known as "Peculiar Kin") started as early as in 2005, but was discarded and later on revived again several times between 2005 and 2009.

In 2010, he finally came up with a solid storyline and decided to materialize it. Yuan Mei, one of his partners, agreed but did ask him to put up his car and house as security to avoid a repeat of his previous backing out.

However, Wang Yunfei was confident this time - he wrote and directed the film himself. With the support of his wife and the inspiration his newborn child gave him, he and his team finally completed the film several weeks ago. Wang also said he felt grateful to those who helped and funded both him and the company, one example of which is Beijing's Cultural and Creative Industry Development Special Fund. This particular Fund came into being last year when the Chinese government announced they would lend their support to China's cultural projects.

But Wang said that the current Chinese animation industry is still ten years behind Hollywood – at least. He also noticed how several good Chinese cartoons, such as "Kuiba," didn’t make their expected market targets last year and he admitted being a little worried for his own work. However, Wang said he felt ready to explore the market potential now.

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