Children love the home-made cartoon series, The Bear is Coming, but some parents have complained about the foul language used in the series, saying it will have a bad influence on children. The controversy exposes the problems with the cartoon series, although it is one of the best to come out of China, says an article on haiwainet.cn. Excerpts:

Some cartoon serials made in China have used foul language and, in some cases, even violent and bloody scenes. Chinese cartoons contain many adult elements, such as conspiracies and swear words. Moreover, some animations without even a reasonable storyline are shown on TV just to make up the quota.

In contrast, cartoon series produced in the West are tailor-made for children and thus never use foul language and ensure that unnecessary gory scenes do not creep into the production.

The production of animated cartoons in China increased from about 3,000 minutes in 2004 to 220,000 in 2012, accounting for about one-third of the world's total thanks to the government's supportive policies. The problem is that government policies aimed at promoting the animation industry will also encourage some unscrupulous people to produce cartoons just to make profits without any regard for quality or children's healthy development.

China has implemented many measures to boost the cultural industry. But it should also have laid equal emphasis on profit and social benefits. Companies and production houses providing products for children should act more responsibly. Besides, relevant departments must rethink how to improve incentives for them and, at the same time, facilitate a healthier development of China's cultural industry.

(China Daily 08/16/2013 page9)