Animators urged to do more for Chinese box office

Upcoming titles－Kunta: The Floating Planet (top) and Lighting Dindin.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Sun Duck, an action comedy about an alliance of armed ducks fighting an evil force, has been jointly produced by China, Russia and the United States.

The film, which cost 130 million yuan, is set for release on the Chinese mainland in July.

Minuscule: Mandibles from Far Away, a Sino-French production, is another example. The film, expected to be released in 2018, revolves on insects' endeavors and is the 200-million-yuan sequel to Minuscule: Valley of Lost Ants, a 2014 hit.

Another Sino-French production, Olympia, which narrates a porcelain figurine's "adventures", is expected to be out in January 2018.

Historical figures from 18th-century France and ancient China were chosen to create the characters by a Chinese team of animators, Maia Tubiana, the film's French executive producer, says.

Domestic films, accounting for 80 percent of all new titles to be released in the next two years, are getting some attention as well.

They include: The Ladybug, Lighting Dindin, Treasure of Yu the Great, Seer Movie VI, T-Guardians and Kunta: The Floating Planet.

While trade analysts are hoping that Chinese animation films make more money, they question the promotion of sequels to controversial films.

The Autorobots, for example, which has been involved in a plagiarism row since its release last summer, is likely to have a sequel by 2017.