Chinese animated film offers holiday treat for children

A scene from Axel 2: Adventures of the Spacekids. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Chinese animated film, Axel 2: Adventures of the Spacekids, will have an English-subtitled version, which will be screened abroad, the director Li Lian said at a recent event to promote the upcoming feature in Beijing.

The sequel to the first Axel movie, Kunta (2013), will open across the Chinese mainland on Oct 1, the only family audience-targeted animated feature for the weeklong National Day holiday.

The film, set on a remote planet, follows three alien heroes looking for the last seed of a magical tree.

The director of the animated franchise and the founder of the Hangzhou-based firm Versatile Media Co Ltd, says the film's English version has already been sold to Italy, Russia, and two countries in Middle East.

Speaking about his work, he says: "When I began to make computer generated animated films in 1993, I felt that domestic animators had a long way to go to catch up with Hollywood. But now I feel glad to see that the gap is shrinking."

The movie had limited screenings over Sept 16 and 17, and raked in 4 million yuan ($604,000) at the box office.

The film, which is the first 3-D sci-fi animated film in China, has a lot of special effects.

A scene from Axel 2: Adventures of the Spacekids. [Photo provided to China Daily]