You may already be familiar with Luo Baobei. She’s the cartoon girl featured on the “Civilized Chaoyang” posters, exhorting us to “Develop and Enjoy Together”. And she is now to become the star of an animated series, produced jointly by her Chinese creators and a British studio.
The project was launched on Saturday, August 27 with an event at Art Base One, introducing the writers and artists of Cardiff-based Cloth Cat Animation to Beijing children. The children were entertained with stories and songs, and had a lesson in drawing cartoons from artist Tom Lucas. They also learned about the history of animation, and got to make their very own zoetrope.
The show’s head writer, Dave Ingham, is highly experienced, having worked on much-loved shows like Charlie and Lola and Octonauts.
“As soon as I saw a picture of Luo Baobei I was smitten,” he told us. “I’m sure the show will become loved by kids the world over.”
The team are producing 52 11-minute programs, each of which will focus on an aspect of Chinese culture. The series is expected to premiere next year. Alex Chien, the Executive Producer for Magic Mall, Luo Baobei’s creators, said:
“We are confident that this cooperation will yield the kind of meaningful cultural exchange and quality content that has been missing for this key audience for so long.”
Photos: Courtesy of Cloth Cat Animation and Andrew Killeen
