Meet the box-office stars: (L) Master Shifu (red panda) and Po (giant panda); (C) Officer Judy Hopps (rabbit), Nick Wilde (red fox) and Flash (sloth); and (R) Doraemon (cat). (Photo : DreamWorksTV/YouTube, Walt Disney Animation Studios/YouTube, DoraemonTheMovie/YouTube)
What talks like humans, acts like humans, feels like humans and gets to be watched on the big screen by humans?
For the past few years, Hollywood animated films featuring anthropomorphic animals raked in millions of dollars at the Chinese box office. Some even made more money than those non-animated ones featuring humans and superhumans alike.
Writing for Forbes, Rob Cain said that the success of such movies “can be attributed to several factors, ranging from China-tailored production and marketing strategies to shifting audience tastes.”
Chinese moviegoers supported the most famous chipmunks in the world--Alvin, Simon and Theodore--in their most recent film.
As one of the trio said in the movie, “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.”
Po and the Furious Five (Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper and Crane) messed up with them at the box office.
Well, how can three little cute singing chipmunks fare against six kung fu masters?
Fox’s “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip” earned $890,000 on Jan. 29 alone with DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 3” receiving $15.6 million more, reported Variety.
Then there is also this city full of anthropomorphic animals in all shapes and sizes, not to mention, varying personalities and quirkiness.
Walt Disney’s “Zootopia” grossed $10.6 million on its first Saturday and a cool $25 million on its second Saturday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
China Film Insider said that “incredible word of mouth and a 9.4/10 Douban rating” boosted its huge ticket sales.
“Kung Fu Panda 3” and “Zootopia” opened in China on Jan. 29.
“‘Zootopia’” tramples China’s animation record with $60 million weekend,” said Cain in his March 13 article at Forbes.
In its opening weekend in 2014, another DreamWorks production titled “How to Train Your Dragon 2” earned $26.4 million, according to THR.
Even a robotic cat created waves in the box office that same year.
Japan’s “Stand by Me Doraemon” made $38.3 million in four days alone and “toppled” America’s bunch of superheroes in their film, “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” reported Variety.
Japan released “Stand by Me Doraemon” in Aug. 2014 and it hit Chinese theaters in May 2015.
According to Crunchyroll, it grossed 8.38 billion yen in Japan and 10.5 billion yen in the country.
Variety said that despite Japan and China’s “frosty political and diplomatic relations,” Fujiko F. Fujio’s “Doraemon” is popular in the country “through other media.”
Several diplomatic personnel, both Chinese and Japanese, pinned their hopes on “Doraemon” thinking it “will fuel the mood for better Sino-Japanese ties,” reported Nikkei Asian Review.
If that’s the case then former foreign minister Masahiko Komura (Sept. 2007-Sept. 2008) was right after all when he appointed Doraemon as Japan’s anime ambassador.
Komura said that as an anime ambassador, he wished Doraemon to be able to “travel around the world” so that the countries it would visit would “become friends with Japan,” reported The China Post.
Now that might be worthy of a screenplay, starring Doraemon, of course.
