Vietnamese cartoon market remains untapped A scene from a historical locally-made cartoon.Photo courtersy of NVCC Each year Vietnam produces about 10 - 15 cartoons, which come in paper cutting, 2D and 3D technology, and feature a wide variety of genres, including fairy tales, fables and history. However, local kids seem to watch less of locally-made cartoons these days. Vietnam Cartoon Studio has been in a crisis as many of its famous and enthusiastic artists left. But recently, such writers as Pham Song Dong, and Tran Khanh Duyen have become increasingly known as the winners of the “Canh Dieu” (Kite) or “Bong Sen” (Lotus) Awards. The studio has also recently become quite professional when its website www.hoathinh.org.vn  is one of the few film studios’ sites which are  regularly updated. According to the website, in 2012, the company produced 15 films, including “Bo Vang” (Golden cow), “Doi canh” (The wings), “Truyen thuyet Hoa Huong Duong” (The Sunflower Legend),  “Cang to, Cang nho” (The Bigger, the Smaller), “Cai vo chuoi” (The banana peel), “Co và Chon” (The Crane and the Fox), “Bu Nhin Rom” (The Straw Scarecrow), and “Hao Khi Thang Long” (The Thang Long Heroism). Currently, the company is implementing 12 movies, such as “Duoi Than Lan” (The Lizard's tail), “Ngay Dang Nho Cua Bi” (Bi's Memorable Day), “Dieu Ky Dieu Cua Trien De” (The miracle of the dyke borders), “Ngay Dang Quang” (The Coronation day), and “Cau be Co Lau” (The Reed Boy). Vietnamese cartoons are usually only about 10-30 minutes in length, the longest one “Hao Khi Thang Long” (The Thang Long Heroism) is only 60 minutes. Therefore, only on festive occasions or competitions are the Vietnamese cartoons screened. Children nowadays no longer eagerly await such programs as “Bong Hoa Nho” (Small Flowers) like before, because now there are a multitude of entertainment options. In fact, the majority of cartoons shown on national television networks are not produced in Vietnam, but come from abroad, mainly Japan, France, China, US like the Cartoon Network, Disney, and Disney Junior. TV channels such as HTV3 and “Sao TV” (Stars TV), which is managed by Vietnam, also broadcast quite a lot of cartoons. However, most cartoons shown on these channels are foreign-made and are attractive to children such as Doraemon, Barbie, Conan – The Famous Detective, and Superman. In reality, Vietnamese children love both locally and foreign-made cartoons, but with only a few local cartoons shown on national television, they can’t remember any characters from those cartoons. The reasons may be that Vietnamese cartoons don’t have breakthroughs, are poor in content and quality or don’t receive funds or investment from the State. The majority of children thus tend to remember Tom and Jerry, Donald the Duck, Doraemon, and Pikachu, rather than locally-produced films like “Con Bo Vang” (The gold bull), “Bu Nhin Rom” (The Straw scarecrow) or “Cau be Co Lau” (The Reed Boy). Most filmmakers don’t want to invest in cartoons because making cartoons isn’t easy but takes time and skills. Making films or TV series focusing on romance or action brings more profits than cartoons, as they argue. Besides, lack of co-operation between film producers, distribution companies and TV stations mean that local cartoons rarely reach audiences. Therefore, local children still have to wait a long time for those responsible to pay more attention to the local untapped animation market. TUOITRENEWS