The fourth installment of the Transformers movie series is a mega hit in China, taking in more than a billion yuan at the box office in its first week. And while toy and other merchandise makers are cashing in on the movie, Chinese movies do not inspire similar sales.
Five of the six screens at this cinema near People’s Square are showing the Transformers film. And many viewers say that the Hollywood blockbuster is much better than most domestic movies.
The movie’s special effects are particularly impressive good. And it also combines many global elements, such as Chinese martial arts, into the movie.
Cui Dong is a long-time fan of the Transformers, and plans to see the movie soon. Now in his 40s, Cui says he first saw the Transformers in a TV cartoon more than twenty years ago, and became hooked on the shape-changing robots. In the 1980s, the toys were so expensive that an average Chinese worker would need to spend almost a month’s salary to buy one.
"When I was in middle school, one of my classmates borrowed another’s transformer toy, but broke its leg, and he had to pay 50 yuan. That was so unbelievable as it was almost like you have to pay several thousand yuan now," Cui said.
Cui still collects transformers and other toys linked to movies such as Spiderman. But he is unable to name a Chinese cartoon that has inspired interesting toys.
Many Hollywood cartoons inspire all sorts of products, from T-shirts and dolls to musicals. But Chinese cartoons rarely inspire anything more than some basic stuffed toys. One animation developer says that local cartoons often lack innovation from the beginning.
"Some cartoons themselves have no good quality in areas such as color or resolution. If they are still like that, they will lose many viewers," Xu Ke, founder of Shanghai Hippo Animation Design, said.
Another expert says that developing derivatives is a complicated process that needs input from a number of different industries.
China’s animation industry is still under development, so filmmakers must concentrate on making better movies before focusing on licensed products.