Cartoon industry to get funding

This entry won first prize in the elementary school category at the the national cartoon competition, drawn by eight-year-old Chen Tzu-hsiu. PHOTO COURTESY OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION OFFICE

On the pastureland of Chulu Ranch in Taitung County, a herd of milk cows graze under the summer sun while children dance with joy on the other side of the pen.

That merry scene is the first prize winner in the elementary school category at the national cartoon competition, which attracted 2,000 contestants from all walks of life.

Presenting the awards to 46 of the 77 winners, Director-General of the Government Information Office Arthur Iap (葉國興) said that it is the government's goal to boost the local cartoon industry, including the creation and production of digital animation pictures and comic strips.

"In a bid to develop the cartoon industry, the government has included the development of the industry in the six-year national development project and set aside NT$140 million next year to fund new projects of digital animation pictures and NT$6 million to fund ne comic strip projects," Iap said.

Statistics show that the worldwide value of animation pictures, including those for TV programs and motion pictures, was US$26.8 billion last year. The figure is estimated to grow by 10 percent year-on-year and reach US$29 billion this year.

Disney and other multinational companies create original cartoon characters and plots and maintain local production houses which take on the labor-intensive illustration work of the production.

The real cash cow of the animation industry, however, is not in original equipment manufacturer (OEM) design work, but in creating original characters that can generate royalty fees and products based on character images.

For eight-year-old Chen Tzu-hsiu (陳姿秀), who won the first prize in the elementary school category, that day's outing with her parents to the ranch was one of the most memorable days of her life.

"It was a fun trip and I remember it very well," the second grader said.

Dolleys Chen (陳志華), one of the nine-person panel judges of the first review session and a professional cartoonist, said that he has seen more animation works done by computers than by hands in this competition.