Chinese cartoon blamed for children's injuries

NANJING - A Chinese court on Wednesday decided the producer of a popular animation was partly to blame for injuries to two children when another child imitated an episode of the TV series.

The two brothers, Ran Ran, 7, and Hao Hao, 4, from Donghai County in east China's Jiangsu Province, were badly burnt on April 6, when they were tied to a tree and set alight by their friend Shun Shun, 10, who confessed he was imitating a scene from the cartoon "Xi Yangyang & Hui Tailang (Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf)".

Hao Hao received 80 percent burns. Ran Ran was less seriously injured with burns to 40 percent of his body.

Shun Shun's legal guardians and the cartoon producer -- Guangzhou's Creative Power Entertaining Co., Ltd. -- are jointly responsible for the two brothers' injuries, according to the verdict of the court.

The cartoon is aimed at children, so producers are obliged to scrutinize violence carefully, said the court, adding that inappropriate scenes should be edited out and warnings given.

The cartoon has previously shown several scenes of violence, generating negative effects and resulting in serious consequences, the court said.

According to the ruling, Shun Shun's guardians will pay 60 percent of the injured brothers' compensation and the cartoon producer will shoulder 15 percent.