Primitive cartoon about a calf unexpectedly became a hit in China

The 86-minute cartoon Niu Lai was released in Chinese cinemas in early August. Its creators are a mother and son from the northern Chinese city of Dalian. The main character of the film is a young calf who overcomes trials and eventually becomes a brave warrior, ready to take responsibility and not afraid of death, reports the Financial Times.

Visually, Niu Lai sharply differs from modern studio animation: it features very simple animation, primitive sound effects, and the action is accompanied by unpretentious piano music. This almost amateur quality ultimately became the cartoon's main feature.

At first, however, nothing foretold its success. In its first week of release, Niu Lai earned less than a thousand dollars, and it seemed its story should have ended there.

But the opposite happened.

Social media users began discussing the unusually low quality of the cartoon — mostly with irony. This only fueled curiosity: people went to cinemas to see for themselves if everything was really that bad.

As a result, Niu Lai's box office grew to 29 million yuan — about 4.3 million dollars. According to Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan, the cartoon even entered the daily top ten highest-grossing films in the country — following Hollywood blockbusters like "The Odyssey" and "Spider-Man: A New Day."

"It's good precisely because it's bad"

The Financial Times compares the phenomenon of Niu Lai to the American film The Room (2003). Critics savaged it, but over time the film gained cult status: viewers began to enjoy its unsuccessful dialogues, acting, and directing.

Something similar is now happening with the Chinese cartoon, whose technical imperfections are particularly striking against the backdrop of modern animation with expensive computer graphics and the rapid development of artificial intelligence. What under other circumstances would simply look like a flaw, some viewers perceived as a return to something simple and direct.

Audiences, it seems, perceive technical flaws as part of the entertainment. During a screening in Shanghai, attended by an FT correspondent, laughter was heard frequently in the hall.

However, the phenomenon of Niu Lai apparently isn't just about jokes at the expense of bad animation. Beyond the ironic popularity of the cartoon, a broader phenomenon can be observed.

Associate Professor of Cinema at Hong Kong Baptist University, Kenny Ng, believes that Niu Lai's popularity contains an element of protest against contemporary cinematic mainstream. According to him, the cartoon's phenomenon makes his students reflect on the current state of cinema.

There is also another motive — supporting domestic cinema.

"We Chinese should support it. Even if it's really bad — so what? How bad can it really be?" — the publication quotes an employee of one of the cinemas in Shanghai.

Павялічыць

Meanwhile, the cartoon has begun to live its own life on the internet. Many jokes and memes have appeared around it, and users have started re-creating individual scenes with the help of artificial intelligence. For instance, an AI-created remake of one of the key episodes, where the main character jumps across a river, went viral.

Niu Lai's fame has already spread beyond the country. In Chinese social networks, for example, its screening in Los Angeles was announced.

• 2
• 0
• 4
• 2
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 1