Chinese animated film offers holiday treat for children

The Chinese animated film "Axel 2: Adventures of the Spacekids" will have an English-subtitled version, which will be screened abroad, director Li Lian said at a recent event to promote the upcoming feature in Beijing.

The Chinese animated film "Axel 2: Adventures of the Spacekids" opens across the Chinese mainland on Oct 1st, which is the only family audience-targeted animation for the weeklong National Day holiday. [Photo: Xin hua]

The sequel to the first Axel movie will open across the Chinese mainland on Oct 1, the only family audience-targeted animated feature for the weeklong National Day holiday.

The film, set on a remote planet, follows three alien heroes looking for the last seed of a magical tree.

The director of the animated franchise and the founder of the Hangzhou-based firm Versatile Media says the film's English version has already been sold to Italy, Russia, and two countries in the Middle East.

Speaking about his work, he says when he began to make computer generated animated films in 1993, he felt that domestic animators had a long way to catch up with Hollywood. But now he feels glad to see that the gap is shrinking.

The film, which is the first 3-D sci-fi animated film in China, had limited screenings over Sept 16 and 17, and raked in 4 million yuan ($600,000) at the box office.