Animation industry looks to its future

In the five-story building that houses Wang Film Production (宏廣動畫), a young 20-something animation artist surnamed Lin works away at an image of a small dinosaur, tracing it from one sheet to another. She is one of some 270 animation artists currently employed at Wang Film, one of Taiwan's biggest animation film studios. It is people like her who have made Taiwan one of the power houses of the animation industry.

Wang Film is behind many major animation productions such as Mulan, The Lion King, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch and The Little Mermaid. But as an OEM contractor to Disney, its name is not listed among the credits.

Wang Film, set up 22 years ago by James Wang (王中元), has developed into the largest animation production company in the world, producing a mixture of original and OEM work. Up to 70 percent of Disney animation is done by Wang Film, whose other clients include MGM, Warner Brothers, Lucas Film and Hanna Barbara. The company produces 250 TV animation series every year.

Many employees of Wang Film see the company as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) of the animation field. Like TSMC, Wang Film has been quietly earning foreign exchange for Taiwan over the last two decades -- but as yet, it doesn't have its own brand.

A senior animation artist surnamed Ho recalls:

"I remember back in the 1980s, the animators' union in the US had a dispute with their employers. The dispute became a stalemate and lasted a long time. It was at this time that US firms decided to shift production to Taiwan. At that time we had 800 animation artists, and we were all excited and exhausted. Every night we stayed up late working. Mr. Wang would order late-night snacks for everyone -- there was food for so many people it took a truck to deliver. It was an unforgettable time."

It was a time when animation artists commanded high salaries, and, with all the overtime, they were able to take home NT$100,000 a month. These days, take-home pay is around NT$30,000 to NT$40,000 a month.

Although there is still plenty of work for Taiwan's animation artists, local firms working as an OEM manufacturer for the big US studios, see themselves as cut off from the big money.

To take the animation film The Lion King as an example, it is all too easy to see the unequal cut given to the manufacturer, as opposed to the copyright owner. The international box office for The Lion King was US$760 million, and the video revenue was US$780 million. Related merchandise rights were worth US$6 billion. In other words, The Lion King made Disney around US$7.5 billion, from which Wang Film, who did most of the production, was paid only US$67 million, just 0.9 percent of Disney's revenues from the film.

Reflecting on this situation, James Wang said, "We've been carrying the sedan chair for others a long time now. It's time we set up our own brand." He said this during a meeting last year with premier Yu Shi-kun, who is behind an initiative to strengthen the animation industry in Taiwan.

Setting up their own brands has become a priority for many animation manufacturers in Taiwan. But this is not an easy task, for R&D is both capital and labor-intensive.

Hong Ying Universe (宏鷹世界) is another major animation manufacturer in Taiwan. Since 1990, the company decided to shift its production to China, retaining only its R&D and some management staff in Taiwan. "Manufacturing is, after all, a very stable revenue, and our staff are very experienced. With such a stable income we have the chance to develop our own brand," said Tammy Hsieh (謝台美), general manager of Hong Ying Universe.