Top > Entertainment > 2006 > August > 2006-08-15

No More Simpsons in China

The entertainment in China will remain Chinese. China`s homegrown animators need to be "protected", as it seems. Also the ruling Communist Party is said to be worried about the effects of foreign culture and entertainment on Chinese children, and, therefore, foreign cartoons such as the Simpsons and Mickey Mouse are to be banned from peak-time TV schedules. State media claimed that this kind of entertainment cartoons will not be screened on TV between 1700 and 2000 from 1 September. Regulators have already announced they intend to ban entertainment programs mixing animation and live characters. This could affect shows such as the BBC`s Teletubbies.

However, foreign cartoons, especially from Japan, are hugely popular with China`s 250 million children and the country`s own animation studios have struggled to compete with the entertainment world giants. The ban has not been formally announced, but newspapers have already criticized the approach.

The Southern Metropolis News said: "This is a worrying, shortsighted policy and will not solve the fundamental problems in China`s cartoon industry". Chinese entertainment animations use traditional stories such as Journey to the West, about the adventures of the Monkey King. They have yet to invent characters to match the appeal of Mickey Mouse or Japanese icons such as Pokemon.