Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf was another story. By contrast, its box office income had exceeded US $4.4 million three days after its debut. This record almost matches that of Hollywood blockbusters, such as famous animations Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. “It is a miracle,” admits Chen Yingjie, who is an experienced cartoon producer and distributor used to seeing foreign animations dominate the domestic market.
In fact it was relatively low-risk. The animated characters in the movie have been very popular among TV audiences, the movie being adapted from the TV series of the same name produced by Guangdong-based Creative Power Entertaining (CPE) Company. The TV production has aired on nearly 50 stations nationwide since its debut in 2005, and audience share once reached 17.3 percent. “The cartoon series attracted a huge audience, especially children, which told us expectations for solid profit-making with the movie were well founded,” says Chen Yingjie.
Its box office earnings broke records in fact. However, both the investors and the producers anticipate far higher profits from the movie’s derivative products. The box office revenue of Disney’s The Lion King, shot in 2004, amounted to US $700 million, but the profits from its derivatives are an astounding US $2 billion and counting.
A comic book of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf is one such derivative; more than 1 million copies of it sold within three months of publication. So far, the comic book has generated revenues of US $5.8 million, and the goats and wolves toys over US $1.4 million. Distributors of the movie’s audiovisual products are sitting on a volume of orders worth tens of thousands of US dollars. Where to go from here? Liang Shanyi, director of the Licensing Department of the CPE, explains. “We are also working on exploring more distribution channels for gift items and impulse buys, and recently we signed some agreements regarding the rights to promote new products. I expect the revenue on the movie’s derivatives will be close to US $100 million for 2009,” he enthuses.
“International Way” of Telling Stories
“Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf may not score high on artistic achievement. Some critics deem its storyline rough and childish. However, the market response proves that the seemingly hopeless efforts of the wolves and the perpetual triumph of the goats has not only enchanted children, but also attracted large numbers of young adults,” says Yang Xueping, manager of the Publicity Department of the CPE. According to a survey launched by the CPE, 20 to 30 percent of the movie’s box office revenue came from the “urban whitecollar set.”
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