"I owe Miyazaki a movie ticket, and I finally paid it back!"
"What kind of life do you want to live" immediately set off a wave of movie-watching after its release in the mainland, not only creating a new single-day box office high for the Qingming Festival with 171 million yuan, but also exceeding 500 million yuan at the box office in the first week, surpassing the film's local box office in Japan (9.26 billion yen, about 441 million yuan), becoming its largest box office in the world.
However, such a strong "What kind of life do you want to live" is likely to not even be in the top five in the 2024 mainland annual animated film box office list. Because for mainland audiences, this year is likely to usher in a rare year for animated films.
There are three main production areas of animated films that can be eaten in Chinese theaters: the United States, Japan, and China. The characteristics of these three origins are also very distinct.
American animated films focus on family carnival and advanced CG technology, Japanese animated films focus on author IP and often win with feelings, and Chinese animated films are based on local culture and widely use the secret recipe of "Oriental mythology + Chinese aesthetics".
Before 2015, the United States had an overall advantage, and the serialized works of Hollywood animation labels such as Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Illumination Entertainment, Sony Animation, and Blue Sky Studios always made a lot of money in the mainland. Japan and China can only make a difference if there are theatrical versions of well-known IPs.
In 2015, China's "Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage" was born, and Japan's "Doraemon: Walk with Me" detonated feelings. Animated films also took the opportunity to open up the age group of the audience and successfully broke the circle from the family carnival. The ceiling of the box office is also rising again and again.
In the past few years, the three major animation producing areas have continued to accumulate strength, the influence of IP has become more and more great, and the popularity of animation labels has also become higher and higher. Finally, the three major production areas will work together in 2024, and the Huashan Sword of animated films is here!
United States: Shame comes after courage
Since 2020, due to the impact of the pandemic and streaming, American animated films have become extremely turbulent. Disney and Pixar, the industry leaders for many years, have suffered Waterloo one after another, not only often failing to recover their costs at the box office, but also collapsing their reputation.
In addition, several other major animation labels can't bring surprises, so that North America is often attacked by foreign animations such as "Demon Slayer Blade Theatrical Infinite Train Chapter" and "Spell Return 0".
2023 can be regarded as a year in which American animation labels lose face - the only two blockbuster animations, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" borrowed the IP of Japanese games, and "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" borrowed the IP of Marvel Comics. The animation labels' own works have almost all been wiped out at the box office and word of mouth.
So, it can be said that it is shameful and courageous, or it can be said that it is the moment when you have to use a life-saving straw. American animation labels have restarted their trump card IPs in 2024.
The first to appear is Kung Fu Panda 4, which we have already seen. The series has strong Chinese elements, and has been doing well at the box office in the mainland, making it the most well-known IP of DreamWorks Animation. Although the mainland box office of the film just exceeded 300 million, it stopped the decline of American animated films at the box office in the mainland.
Next, Pixar will bring "Mind Squad 2", Illumination Entertainment will bring "Despicable Me 4", and Disney will bring "The Lion King Prequel: Mufasa" and "Moanata 2".
The predecessor of "Despicable Me 4", "Despicable Me 3", won 1.037 billion box office in the mainland, and the selling point of the film is the super popular character - Minions. The predecessor of "The Lion King: Mufasa", "The Lion King", once won 833 million box office in the mainland, and its fake and realistic CG technology is breathtaking.
Although the box office results of "Mind Squad" are average, its Douban score is as high as 8.8. Pixar obviously hopes to earn back word of mouth first by continuing the work.
One of the exciting non-sequels of American animation this year is Paramount Animation's Transformers One. At a time when the live-action version is weak at the box office, perhaps the animated version can open up a new situation for this IP.
The other is DreamWorks Animation's adaptation of Pete Brown's best-selling book of the same name, Wilderness Robots. The film is written and directed by Chris Sanders (masterpieces "Star Baby" and "How to Train Your Dragon"), which tells the story of the robot's survival journey on an uninhabited island.
After the first trailer of the film was announced, it was well received, and many netizens said: "I was moved to cry when I watched the trailer."
Japan: The old and the new
Analyzing the development process of Japanese animated films at the box office in China, one will come to a conclusion: "The children who watched Japanese comics have grown up".
Although there is no shortage of world-renowned directors such as Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Oshii, and Isao Takahata in Japan, it has always been the theatrical version of decades-old IPs such as "Detective Conan", "Doraemon", "Dragon Ball" and "One Piece" that can get a considerable box office in the mainland in the past few years.
In recent years, a new generation of animated film directors represented by Makoto Shinkai and Mamoru Hosoda have opened up the mainland market with youth themes and love themes. With the success of "The Journey of Suzuya", "Slam Dunk", and the re-release of "Castle in the Sky", the Chinese market has become more and more interested in Japanese animated films, and the speed and number of introductions of both theatrical and animated films have increased significantly.
As a result, newcomers, new IPs and old IPs for the elderly have gathered in 2024. Chinese audiences can see not only the theatrical version of "Digimon 02: The First Summon" of the 20-year-level IP, but also the theatrical version of the 10-year-old IP "Volleyball Boy!!!Garbage Dump Showdown", and the theatrical version of the IP "Spy Playing House Codename: White", which was born in the past 5 years.
And the traditional New Year's theatrical version, such as "Doraemon: Nobita's Earth Symphony" and "Detective Conan: The Million Dollar Pentagon" will naturally not be absent.
Among them, it is worth paying attention to the "Spy Playing Home Codename: White", which is aimed at the May 1st file. The original manga serialization of this work began in 2019, and the first season of the anime was broadcast in 2022, and it has only been updated for two seasons so far, which can be described as a very new IP.
Although it is new, it is one of the few hits out of the circle in recent years. The story is based on a family disguised as a spy, a killer, and a mind-reading superpower, and blends elements of spy warfare, family, comedy, and other genres. That's where the popular internet meme "Elegance" comes from.
If the film can gain a firm foothold in the fiercely competitive May 1st file and even stand out, it shows that the new IP of Japanese animation can play just as well as the old IP.
The classic re-release also has more and bigger surprises in 2024. "Howl's Moving Castle", which has been scheduled for April 30, has accumulated more than 500,000 people who want to watch it on Maoyan.
Although most Chinese know Miyazaki through "Spirited Away", "Howl's Moving Castle" is his most popular work in China. For ordinary audiences, the love color and fantasy color of the work are simple and easy to understand, and the amount is enough, so that the threshold is not as high as "What kind of life do you want to live".
Another big surprise for the re-screening is the 4K digitally restored version of "Ghost in the Shell". This masterpiece of director Mamoru Oshii may have to suffer from the scale deletion on the screen, but its epoch-making sci-fi core and explosive visual performance are very "energetic" even at the moment.
China: Waiting for the king to bomb
Chinese animation is deeply influenced by overseas animation predecessors, so it is divided into two parallel veins: family theater version and adult-oriented animated film.
Among the domestic animated films that have been released in 2024, the cumulative box office of "Bear Infested: Reversing Time and Space" has reached 1.984 billion, once again setting a new high in the series.
After years of creative exploration and brand accumulation, the "Bear Infested" series has become a benchmark for domestic animation in terms of family carnival attributes, constantly breaking through the possibilities of characters and scenes, even if it is one every year, you can find fresh highlights in each one.
"The Great Protector" director Bu Sifan's new work "Heavy Rain" is a little disappointing, only receiving 17.28 million box office, and the Douban score is only 6.3 points, which is far from the average score of nearly 8 points in his previous works.
However, this will not make us lose our expectations for this year's domestic animated films. Because the lineup of domestic animated films this year is very luxurious, it is very likely that there will be a box office of 1 billion or 2 billion again.
At present, the domestic animated films that have been finalized include "Xiaoqian" on April 30 and "White Snake: Floating Life" on August 10.
"Xiao Qian" is the first work of the new label Light Animation. When it comes to light and animated films, the first label that comes to mind is generally the House of Color Bars. As a subsidiary of Guangguang Media, Color Bar House focuses on investment, and has launched more than a dozen excellent works in recent years, such as "Big Fish and Begonia", "Nezha's Demon Boy Descends to the World", "Jiang Ziya" and "Deep Sea".
Light Animation is a new company founded in April 2023 to develop its own animation projects. "Xiao Qian" is the first shot of its layout of the "Chinese mythological universe". The film is adapted from "Nie Xiaoqian" of "Strange Tales from Liao Zhai", starting from Xiucai Ningsheng's accidental rescue of the female ghost Xiaoqian in Lanruo Temple, telling the story of the two who know and love each other in the process of dying in the world.
"White Snake: Floating Life" comes from the label light-chasing animation that successfully broke the circle for the second time with "Thirty Thousand Miles of Chang'an" last year, and the first time the light-chasing animation broke the circle was "White Snake: Origin" in 2019.
It is precisely with the 468 million box office of "White Snake: Origin" that the industry no longer regards light-chasing animation as just a "very technical" company. Light-chasing animation began to be recognized by the public, and gradually became a box office appeal in the form of a label.
Although "White Snake: Floating Life" is the third part of the series, the story inherits the end of the first "White Snake: Origin", which tells the story of Xiaobai and Xiaoqing finding Ah Xuan's reincarnation Xu Xianhou.
If "Xiao Qian" and "White Snake: Floating Life" are not enough to threaten "What kind of life do you want to live", then we can still wait for the "king bomb" of domestic movies - "Nezha's Demon Boy in the Sea".
Although the film has not yet been finalized and no trailer has been released, news from various channels has revealed that it will meet the audience in 2024.
The sequel is still written and directed by Dumpling, telling the story of after the catastrophe, Taiyi Zhenren plans to use the seven-colored Baolian to reshape the body of the two in order to keep the souls of Nezha and Ao Bing. The process of reshaping the body is full of difficulties, where will the fate of Nezha and Ao Bing go?
In addition to "Nezha's Demon Boy Descends", which is at the top of the domestic animation box office, the sequel to "Lion Boy", which is at the top of the word-of-mouth, is also coming. In June last year, Beijing's wonderful annual press conference exposed the trailer of "Lion Boy 2", and the ending showed that it will be released in 2024.
"Lion Boy" only achieved a box office of 249 million in China, but it has achieved enthusiastic responses overseas, especially in Japan, and has been recommended by many senior cartoonists and animation directors, which has made an overseas reputation for domestic animated films.
can see the "strongest VS best" of domestic animated films, isn't it the Chinese New Year?
[Text/Full Hoard]