Asian Animation Industry: Strategies, Trends and Opportunities

Much of Asia's animation production since the 1960s has been tied to foreign interests attracted by stable and inexpensive labour supplies. For nearly forty years, western studios have established and maintained production facilities, first in Japan, then in South Korea and Taiwan, and now also in the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and China. The economics of the industry made it feasible for Asia to feed the cartoon world, to the extent that today, about 90% of all American television animation is produced in Asia.

The usual procedure is for pre-production (preparing the script, storyboard, and exposure sheets) to be done in the United States or other headquarter countries, after which, the package is sent to Asia for production (drawing cels, colouring by hand, inking, painting, and camera work). The work is sent back to the U.S. or other headquarter country for post-production (film editing, colour timing, and sound). Offshore animation has led to the creating and nurturing of a local industry, as an infrastructure is built up, equipment is put into place, and skills are transferred.

An emerging trend in the Asian animation industry is the increasing focus towards production of local animation content for television as well as production of animated movies. An increasing number of Asian animation studios are giving importance to owning and protecting animation content by investing in intellectual property protection mechanisms.