Mini-budget cartoon "Nu Lai" became a viral hit in China

The cartoon "Nu Lai" aroused noticeable interest among Chinese audiences, despite the minimal budget and weak box office results at the beginning of its release.

By September 2, the film's grosses in China had reached about 60 million yuan (about $8.85 million), and viral posts on social networks contributed to the growth of popularity.

Film producer and director Du Liang explained the interest in the cartoon by the curiosity of young viewers about what can be created with virtually no financial resources.

BEIJING, September 5 - RIA Novosti. The cartoon "Nu Lai", created with a minimal budget, aroused noticeable interest among the Chinese audience and became the subject of discussion on the Internet, as film producer and director Du Liang told RIA Novosti, the attention to the film is due, among other things, to the curiosity of young viewers about what can be created with virtually no financial resources.

The animated film Niu Lai was released in China in early August. The cartoon appeared practically without advertising, without a trailer or promotional campaign. In the first ten days of release, Niu Lai collected just over 7.7 thousand yuan (about 1.1 thousand dollars), showing the worst box office result among animated films in China since the beginning of the year. Soon after the film's release, footage from the film began to circulate on Chinese social networks and mocking reviews were published about the extremely weak graphics and strange plot. Criticism has paradoxically turned into powerful advertising.

As Chinese media reported, by August 26, the film's box office in China had surpassed 50 million yuan (about $7.3 million), and by September 2 it had reached about 60 million yuan (about $8.85 million). The creators did not disclose the exact budget of the cartoon, but Chinese media estimated production costs at several tens of thousands of yuan (around three thousand dollars).

“In China, young people have been watching very high-quality films with big budgets since childhood, and they have never seen this style, so everyone is interested in what can be done with a very small budget, everyone wants to check it out for themselves,” said Du Liang, responding to a request to comment on the “Nu Lai” phenomenon.

According to him, social networks also played a role, where posts discussing the cartoon went viral. Answering the question about how such a cartoon was allowed to be released in China, Du Liang noted that in the PRC every person has the right to create a film product and apply for distribution.

“Every person in China has the right to make a film, if you go through a certain process and get documents, you can release your film, it’s not a problem,” he added.