Peppa Pig enlivens celebrations in the US

LOS ANGELES — “Oink! Oink!” is how an animated character of the porcine persuasion introduced Chinese New Year of the Pig to US moviegoers this week.

Ringing in the traditional Lunar New Year was Peppa the Pig, a popular British cartoon character that has taken China by storm and breached US shores as well.

The character’s first feature film, Peppa the Pig Celebrates Chinese

New Year, coproduced by Canada’s Entertainment One and China’s Alibaba Pictures, opened in theaters around the globe on Feb 5, the first day of the Chinese New Year, to well-filled theaters.

The live action-animation film will be distributed by US company STX Entertainment in select theaters in 32 cities across the United States.

“We’ve seen many Chinese families and some American families too,” said one cinema ticket collector of an AMC theater in Monterey Park, one of the majority Asian-American cities in Los Angeles County.

“We love Peppa!” chorused a swarm of 4-year-old girls, whose slightly beleaguered parents had brought them to the theater for the film’s premier in the US.

The animated Peppa vignettes intercut with the live-action story — in which Peppa, her family and friends visit the fair and celebrate Chinese New Year — are amusing and clear favorites with the young moviegoers, causing eruptions of laughter whenever Peppa or George snorted like … well, pigs.

“Peppa and George love to help their mom and always do their homework. But I don’t!” confessed one pint-size Chinese-American boy with a mischievous giggle.

Underneath the veneer of lightheartedness, the movie also shares valuable life lessons about the powerful bond of family, friendship, acceptance, values and the importance of maintaining key traditions that are the backbone of any culture. The film captures the feel of a Chinese family reunited for the holidays and is saved from being over-saccharine by the subtle machinations of two gently-sparring grandmothers, each vying for center stage in the family’s affections.

“Chinese New Year’s traditions are different and fascinating,” said one US father, Robert from Pasadena. “But the feelings are the same,” added his wife, Susan. “It’s all about family, like our own holidays.”

What’s also worth mentioning is the sensationally successful film trailer released online in China in mid-January, which went viral virtually overnight, with over 1 billion views.

“It’s an honor for us to team up with STX to release the film in the United States, attracting American moviegoers and overseas Chinese audience to celebrate the Spring Festival in theaters,” Zhang Wei, president of Alibaba Pictures, said in a recent news briefing in Los Angeles.

“We hope to carry forward some traditions of Chinese culture through this film,” she added.