Top event in Hangzhou draws cartoon and animation veterans, fans

The 17th China International Cartoon & Animation Festival, the only such State-level event, recently wrapped up in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province.

More than 4,000 industry insiders and traders -- from 335 companies and organizations across 56 countries and regions --attended the six-day festival in person or virtually, generating a bounty of deals with an accumulated value of 480 million yuan ($74.4 million).

As one of its top draws, the festival's exhibitions -- both held in its iconic venue located near Baima Lake and an online platform -- attracted over 13 million visits, garnering more than 330 million "clicks" on related topics on several of the country's most popular social media platforms, such as Sina Weibo and Douyin.

The festival has also gathered some of the top and most influential animators to host master classes, with topics ranging from New China's earliest animated hits to this year's new blockbusters.

Wong Ka Hong, also known as Amp Wong, released several rarely-shown clips about his directorial animated feature White Snake 2: The Tribulation of the Green Snake, which raked in around 600 million yuan to soar as the second highest-grossing animated film this year.

From the footage, audiences were able to see Green Snake, the protagonist serpent spirit who shifts her shape into that of a beautiful woman, had most of her martial arts skills performed by an actress, whose moves and stunts were recorded to provide the imaginative foundation for the animation work.

Su Da, director of Shanghai Animation Film Studio and industry veteran, revealed one of the studio's upcoming highlight projects is inspired by the conflicting tale of the Monkey King and Princess Iron Fan, the protagonist and a significant supporting character in the 16th-century novel Journey to the West. The film will be produced in 3D.

Su also shared that her new directorial effort Dear Tutu: Operation T-Rex drew inspiration from traditional Chinese values such as filial piety and respect for the elderly.