'Peppa Pig' Hits Chinese Theatres Despite Bad Reputation

Peppa Pig
Peppa Pig (photo: Wikimedia Commons)
By Faith MagbanuaAugust 16th, 2018

A few months ago, the hit British animated kids show "Peppa Pig" has gained quite a bad reputation in China; however, despite its notoriety, it will still hit the silver screens in China next year. 

Introduced by state broadcaster CCTV, "Peppa Pig" hit the televisions in 2015 and within the span of two years, the porcine protagonist was a full-fledged Internet sensation across popular video streaming sites like Douyin and Bilibili, thanks in part to Peppa's forceful reaction to friend Susie. Internet users in China quickly dubbed Peppa "Shehuiren", a slang term for gangster. Fans then began posting drawings and tattoos featuring the piglet in "gangster" garb.

However, the popularity of the pig as a subculture icon upset authorities, who became worried that such imagery is a bad influence on young people. Peppa was censored on some websites this year, such as in the live-streaming app Douyin.

In addition to all negative aspects brought by the series, Chinese media wants to "retrieve" the popular pig and introduce her "cleansed" reputation through the production of a new feature film. The co-producers of the film, Alibaba Pictures, one of China's largest e-commerce company, will be teaming up with Entertainment One, "Peppa Pig"'s rights holder and China's film regulator.

The film will present a wholesome, family-loving Peppa Pig, as was originally intended in the British series. The movie, "Little Peppa Pig's New Year", will tell the story about how two Chinese children spend Chinese Lunar New Year with their family. China's domestic film industry often promotes values that align with the ruling Communist Party, such as "positive energy" and the importance of family.

News of the "Peppa Pig" film comes shortly after China released a stamp for the next Chinese Lunar New Year as 2019 will usher in the Year of the Pig. The stamp features three piglets and could be a nod towards plans to lift restrictions on the number of children a family can have.

On the other hand, this isn't the first stamp to possibly foreshadow a policy change in China. In 2016, the year's stamp featured a mother monkey hugging two baby monkeys. Shortly after its release, China eased up on its decades long one-child policy. The year of the pig will also welcome two new Peppa theme parks-given that the cartoon character can successfully shed her gangster persona with the help of the film.

 

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