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The animation industries in North America and Europe may be healthy, but the numbers presented in this newspaper article from Chinese news agency Xinhua are staggering. Can anybody say Chinese animation boom:

* In 2006, China produced more than 81,000 minutes of animation, more than China’s aggregate output between 1993 and 2003.

* By October 2006, nearly 5,500 animation studios had been founded in China. (I’m skeptical of this number, but even 10% of that would be over 500 studios. That’s a lot.)

* There are 447 universities in China with animation departments, and an additional 1,230 schools with professional training for cartoonists.

* Over 64,000 students majoring in animation have graduated from universities with an additional 466,000 currently studying animation.

China’s neighbor, India, has been experiencing a similar boom of its own. This newspaper article from an article this week in Rediff offers some big numbers of its own:

* There are currently 300 animation companies in India employing approximately 12,000 people. An additional 3,000 freelancers work in the industry.

* At least 150 gaming companies also operate in India, employing 2,500 people. Over 13,000 people are expected to be employing in gaming by 2010.

Just to offer a little perspective on these, the largest animation union in the United States representing most major studios in LA, the Animation Guild Local 839 IATSE, currently has slighty over 2,100 active members, and at its all-time peak (in the mid-1990s), it topped out at 2500 members.

While it’s true that the large majority of animation work being produced in China and India is low-grade TV animation – the type of work that was being outsourced a decade or two ago to South Korea and the Philippines – there is an upside. If Korea is to serve as a model, once the outsourced work dries up, the large pool of trained talent will turn to producing their own original projects. Both the Chinese and Indian animation industries are in their infancies and it’s safe to say that we can expect to see a lot of exciting new work coming out of those countries over the coming years as their industries grow and mature.

(Xinhua article via CG Society)

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Save The Treasures

January 12, 2007 10:00 am

Who’d ever have thought that CHIP AND DALE (1947) would be a more obscure Disney short than DER FEUHRER’S FACE (1943)? Or that THE TRIAL OF DONALD DUCK (1948) would be harder to see than EDUCATION FOR DEATH (1943)? That’s the way it stands now if Disney Home Video has their way.Word is circulating around the Internet that Disney has put a halt to the series of Walt Disney Treasures, the annual set of archival dvds, packaged in a tin container, hosted and produced by Leonard Maltin. The series was close to releasing every short the company ever produced, but has now stopped short of completing the collection of its most important short subject star, Donald Duck. Wartime cartoons, silent rarities, lost Disneyland footage, the complete run of Silly Symphonies – all this and more have been part of the Walt Disney Treasures during the past six years (click here for a complete list).For more information on the situation, or if you want to support the effort to keep these DVDs alive, I refer you to this thread on HomeTheaterForum.com.

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Casper Comics

January 12, 2007 12:01 am

Leslie Cabarga and I are conspiring to get you to be friendly to Casper – his comics that is!I’ve made no secret of my love for the Paramount Harvey Comics of the 1950s and early 60s. These have been virtually ignored by the comics community, and unknown to animation fans. Now that we’ve completed our personal collections (through eBay and Comic-Con at bargain prices), Leslie and I are compiling a large volume of the 100 best stories, restored from printers proofs and original art, by permission of Classic Media and to be published by Dark Horse this summer. These comics were drawn mainly by the Famous Studios animators: Bill Hudson, Tom Johnson, Howard Post, Steve Muffatti and others. Warren Kremer’s classic early stories will be presented as well. I’m also contributing an introductory essay to this 480-page volume and we’ve got big plans for further editions. I’ll be plugging this again in the coming months, but you can place an advance order now, for Harvey Comics Classics Volume 1: Casper The Friendly Ghost at Dark Horse Comics.

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Another Live-Action Show On Cartoon Network

January 11, 2007 10:56 pm

Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” line-up has ordered a pilot for yet another live-action project. This one is based on a series of online shorts called GEMBERLING. There is nothing sadder than reading a news item about Cartoon Network that says, “The as-yet-untitled half-hour project, from John Gemberling and Curtis Gwinn, is tentatively set to be shot this month“ (bold emphasis mine).

Earlier coverage of live-action on Cartoon Network: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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