日志
Peppa Pig is trending again on Chinese social media
热度 18 ||
Peppa pig is trending again on Chinese social media
and this time it is not because of her gangster style
or temporary ban on Tik Tok
but because of a promo video
for the upcoming “Peppa pig celebrates Chinese New Year” movie
and this promo video has gone absolutely viral!
It was launched online on January 17
and over the past 48 hours on Weibo alone
it has already received more than 980 million views
This probably makes it already one of the biggest trending topics of this year
and it's only January
A little bit about the background
I assume you all know who Peppa Pig is
It is a cartoon that is actually meant for preschoolers
and it was first aired in 2004 outside of China
It was produced by the British animation studio Ashleigh Baker Davies
together with the Canadian entertainment one
And it focuses on the life of Peppa Pig, a four year old preschooler
together with her family and her friends
and all the adventures they have together
it first aired in China in 2015 which is quite a delay
but this is not uncommon if you look at “Sesame Street” for example
it was meant to air in China in 1981 and it wasn’t until 1996
before it finally officially was aired on Chinese television
this has to do with the strict control that you see on Chinese television
on what can and what cannot be aired
and China State Administration for radio, film and television controls this
and especially for children programs
they have quite strict requirements
they have to have some cultural values or some educational benefit for children
but obviously Peppa Pig made the cut
and I think what nobody would have expected is that
Peppa pig did not just become a hit among Chinese preschoolers
but also among Chinese young adults
who now since 2016 are wearing Peppa Pig t-shirts or Peppa Pig watches
and she's even become some sort of cultural icon
for certain Chinese youth subcultures
using this great popularity of Peppa Pig in China today
the Chinese “Alibaba Pictures” cooperated together with the Canadian “entertainment one”
to produce the very first Chinese Peppa Pig movie
it will come to the cinemas in February at the beginning of the Chinese New Year
which is also the year of the pig, which is of course great timing
so now about this promo video that everybody is talking about
what is very noteworthy about it is that
you would expect a promo video to be a trailer or to be actually about the movie
but this is a short movie by itself
it is not a cartoon, it is not targeted at preschoolers but more so at their parents
and instead of directly promoting the Peppa Pig movie itself
it more so promotes the idea of Peppa Pig belonging to a Chinese social cultural context
there are no English subtitles unfortunately
so let me just talk you through what this short film is about
so what you first see is a grandfather somewhere in a remote village
who is trying to reach his son and his family
he wants to know what to get his grandson for Chinese New Year
when they have this big reunion
and the only thing he hears before the connection drops is Peppa
he goes on a quest in his village to find out what Peppa is
he asks his friends he asks around in the supermarket, looks it up in a dictionary
he's completely clueless just like everyone else
until he knocks on the door of one of the fellow villagers who used to be a nanny
and she knows what Peppa is
without the internet, she tries to explain it to him in other ways
she compares it to a fire blower, so using an old traditional metal fire lower
what this grandpa does is he starts working on this very unique gift for his grandson
that is supposed to be the head of Peppa
then we see that the grandfather is trying to get in touch with his son again
but on this very bad connection all he can understand is that
his son and his family won't be coming home to his village for Chinese New Year
after that, he's very sad, he walks all alone by the side of the road
when his son suddenly pops up in his car
and says “dad, this has been a misunderstanding
I want to celebrate Chinese New Year together
but I want to ask you to come to our home instead.”
and then we shift to the scene where we see the whole family reunited
and grandfather can finally present his grandson with this gift of Peppa
and we see the fireworks in the background
and everybody's amazed and of course
the whole family goes to the cinema together
to see this Peppa Pig Chinese New Year's movie
and in the last scene you see that one of the fellow villagers
who just got a new phone calls up his friend
and says I now know what Peppa is
and then the grandfather says I've already found Peppa
the last scene shows this villager standing with all his sheep
and in the background you hear the tune of the Peppa Pig cartoon
so this short promo video was directed by Zhang dapeng
and he is also the director of the actual Peppa Pig movie
on Weibo today, he shared some background information on how this video was made
surprisingly, it only took them two days to film
it was filmed in Hubei Province in huai Lai county in a small village
and very noteworthy, the actors that are in this video are actually not professional actors
they are all original villagers who are wearing their own clothes
it's their own homes that we see
and it does sticks very close to the reality of how people in these villages live
why this video has become such a success is also because of this
it touches upon various issues that currently have a major impact on Chinese society
it mixes this idea of Peppa Pig
with the warm feeling of Chinese families reuniting during Chinese New Year
for many people it is the only time of the year that they can see each other
but aside from that you also see that, for example
it touches upon the issue of China’s rapid digitalization
China of course has a society that is now rapidly digitalizing
but it is leaving the elderly population behind
who maybe do not have these smartphones
or who are not really catching up with all these new technological developments
and it also means that they are kind of cut out from society
and then, of course we see China's urbanization coming up here
affecting villages that are becoming more and more empty
where the elderly are being left behind
the younger generations have gone into the cities to work
which also of course creates a greater gap
between grandparents and their children but also their grandchildren.
you see that also in this video
there is some loneliness and some sadness
and I think this is also one of the reasons why many social media users
said that they have to cry a little bit when seeing this movie
so, all in all,
I think that we could say that
this short movie goes much deeper than Peppa Pig alone
and basically draws in Peppa Pig in this Chinese context
making the little pig more Chinese than ever
I think this year, we’ll really see the height of the popularity of Peppa Pig in China
and what better year for Peppa to shine like a star than in the year of the pig
this year in the year of the pig, I will definitely upload more videos keeping you up-to-date
with what’s trending on Chinese social media, what's going on in Chinese popular culture
so please subscribe to this channel and I will keep you updated more frequently
see you next time
全部作者的其他最新日志
发表评论 评论 (18 个评论)
- 回复 andrefan
- me you all know who Peppa Pig is
It is a cartoon that is actually meant for preschoolers
and it was first aired in 2004 outside of China
It was produced by the British animation studio Ashleigh Baker Davies
together with the Canadian entertainment one
And it focuses on the life of Peppa Pig, a four year old preschoole
- 回复 andrefan
- adventures they have together
it first aired in China in 2015 which is quite a delay
but this is not uncommon if
{赞助会员发邮件必回复！}