Click the image for details Text by Wang Jun, He Ye A Brief History of Peppa Pig: No success comes by chance, not even for a pink pig named Peppa.
Guide:
- A Brief History of Peppa Pig
- The Top 10 Most Profitable IPs in the World
- Quotes from the Creators
The First Five Years 1988: Entering the Industry Mark Baker gained fame with his graduation work from animation school, "The Hill Farm." (Europe has a strong tradition of artistic animation, and student works are of high quality.) 1999: The Initial Idea While teaching at the UK's National Film and Television School, Mark Baker and Neville Astley met Phil Davies. They decided to create an animated series with animal characters, with the main character being female. They eventually chose a pig that looked a bit silly. The initial idea for Peppa Pig was born. (In the late 1990s, the British television industry underwent changes. Channel 4, the golden platform for new programs, announced the closure of its animation department, narrowing the broadcast channels.) 2000: The First Sketch Then they drew Peppa jumping, Peppa walking... The initial idea was to create an anthropomorphic character like Mickey Mouse. The team noticed that some preschool education programs did not pay attention to children's perspectives and family interaction. The trio decided to make a show that treated children and adults "equally." (European preschool animation is the most unique soil; famous preschool animations like In the Night Garden and Teletubbies were born here.) 2001: Seeking Investment, Roadshow They produced the animated series The Big Knights, which was already close to the style of Peppa Pig. Astley and Baker decided to make the protagonist female. Previously, there were few children's animations with female protagonists telling stories about daily life. They showed Davies some sketches of Peppa and successfully persuaded him to join. Later, the plot often drew from Davies' real life. For example, to buy candy, Davies and his sister once sold old toys on the street, a scene that was written into Peppa Pig. Davies looked for investment everywhere and began roadshows. To raise funds, the trio also took on part-time jobs. Davies even worked at a supermarket. 2002-2003: The Trailer Was Born The team produced a Halloween special, focusing more on visuals than plot. Davies signed contracts with Channel 5, the children's channel Nic Jr, and a sales company. They did not trust big platforms like the BBC, believing that the BBC would not give Peppa a good time slot. In earlier contacts with the BBC, the negative attitude of the other party annoyed the creators. Animation production requires substantial investment; even in Europe, a small-budget production costs £5,000 per minute of footage. Although Davies had signed several contracts, with the sales company covering 50% of the costs and Channel 5 covering 12%, the trio still needed £375,000 to start the project. In this situation, to save costs, most teams outsourced some work to Asian companies, but the three creators decided to do it themselves, betting everything. "We know when to spend money and when to save money." They used their savings and borrowed from family and friends to raise the funds. The trio endured an extremely difficult two years. (Small studios have a low success rate in animation; inner passion is often the only motivation to persevere.) 2004: TV Premiere On May 31, 2004, after five years of hard work, Peppa Pig finally premiered on Channel 5. It was nominated for the British Academy Children's Award. Sales reached £1 million. (At that time, television was still the most suitable broadcast platform for preschool animation.) The Second Five Years 2005: Starting the Award-Winning Streak Won the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France and the British Academy Children's Award. 2006: British Animation Award for Best Preschool Animation 2009: Sales Exceeded £10 Million The Third Five Years 2010: International Superstar "Peppa" Peppa Pig aired in 180 countries or regions and was translated into more than 40 languages. An episode about "spiders are not scary" was banned in Australia because it might lead children to come into contact with poisonous spiders. 2011: The First Theme Park The UK's Peppa Pig World opened. Paultons Family Theme Park in Hampshire spent £6 million to create the world's first Peppa Pig theme park within its grounds. Won the British Academy Children's Award. 2012: British Academy Children's Award 2013: Registered Chinese trademarks in nearly all categories. (They had strong awareness of copyright protection.) 2014: Best-Selling Merchandise Peppa 700 licensing deals were signed, with the UK contributing 90. Peppa Pig toys and books have been on the children's Christmas bestseller list for several consecutive years, with a value of £66 million. Only 5% of the revenue came from broadcast licensing. Peppa Pig began a long battle against trademark infringement. Peppa Pig appeared on British royal stamps. The Fourth Five Years 2015: Officially Landed in China In June, Peppa Pig aired on CCTV. In October, it landed on iQiyi, Youku, and Tudou. Later, Tencent and Mango TV also introduced the copyright. Douban score reached 9.2. 2016: Sales Exceeded 1 Billion In June, it aired for a second round on CCTV Children's Channel. In 2016, it brought the company retail sales of $1.1 billion (approximately RMB 6.92 billion) globally. 2017: Social Media and Secondary Creation Created a "Pop Culture Phenomenon" In the first half of the year, licensing and merchandise sales revenue in China increased by over 700% year-on-year. In July, the influential blogger "休闲璐" with over 3 million followers created the topic "猪猪女孩" (Piggy Girl). In October, during the broadcast of Season 5, marketing accounts repeatedly hyped up plots like pig snorts and jumping in mud puddles. In November, videos about Peppa Pig on Bilibili's "鬼畜" (meme) section exploded, with multiple videos of Peppa Pig in various dialects exceeding one million views. At the end of the year, a short video of drawing Peppa Pig on one's back sparked Peppa Pig's popularity on short video platforms like Kuaishou and Douyin. A Kuaishou MC user used the phrase "Peppa Pig tattooed on, applause for the social person" in a rap-like performance, which was widely shared by internet users, achieving viral spread. The influence had already transcended the preschool audience and parents of the original content. At the end of the year, "Peppa Pig" had over 800 licensed derivatives and copyright authorizations, with global retail sales reaching $1.2 billion (approximately RMB 7 billion), and countless pirated products. 2018: Breaking the Dimensional Wall In the fourth week, it surpassed Naruto and One Piece, with a Baidu search index of 138,851, which was 3.7 times that of Naruto and 1.2 times that of One Piece during the same period. On April 18, the Weibo account "文物医院" posted a photo of a porcelain cup with the caption "珐琅彩山水佩奇游春马蹄杯" (Enamel Landscape Peppa Spring Outing Horse Hoof Cup), combining a popular anime character with traditional Chinese art, breaking the dimensional wall. On April 26, People's Daily commented: No matter how social Peppa Pig is, it cannot destroy children's childhood or cross the line of rules and bottom lines. The term "Peppa Pig" was briefly banned. In April, over 20 million users searched for the keyword "Peppa Pig" on Tmall, with nearly 30 million searches per month. In October, the world's first indoor Peppa Pig theme park opened in Shanghai. Peppa Pig climbed to the 88th floor of Jin Mao Tower, "overlooking" the whole of Shanghai from a height of 340.1 meters. In November, "Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year," co-produced by Alibaba Pictures and Entertainment One (eOne), the parent company of Peppa Pig, announced its release date for the first day of the Chinese New Year. In 2018, Peppa Pig theme parks were built in Italy and Germany. In 2018, the weekly average search index for Peppa Pig reached 146,809, which was 8.9 times that of SpongeBob and 27.6 times that of Teletubbies. It was expected that the new season of Peppa Pig, with a total of 117 episodes, would be released in 2019. 2019: What is Peppa? As of January 14, the data from the three major platforms were as follows: On iQiyi's children's channel, the number one program in the popularity index was "Peppa Pig Complete Collection," with a broadcast index of 5.754 million (note: iQiyi stopped displaying front-end view counts in September 2018; the "broadcast index" mentioned here does not equal actual views). On Youku's children's channel, the program with the highest views was "Peppa Pig Season 1," with 7.19 billion views. On Tencent Video's children's channel, the program with the highest views was "Peppa Pig Complete Collection," with 31.94 billion views. On January 17, the short film "What is Peppa?" went viral on WeChat Moments. Within one day, this 6-minute short film received 30 million views, with a screen influence index of 66.5. At the same time, eOne, the company that owns Peppa Pig, rose by more than 6.56%, Alibaba Pictures (01060.HK), the main producer of the short film, rose by 1.59%, and Happiness Blue Ocean (300528), a co-producer, rose by 2.41%. In Queen Elizabeth's garden, a mud puddle resembling Peppa's home was built. On February 4, the highly anticipated Peppa Pig movie "Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year" was released, grossing 106 million yuan in 14 days. Its format of live-action singing and dancing plus partial animation led to a decline in both reputation and box office. In 2020, retail sales are expected to reach $2 billion. Thus, Peppa, born on paper in 1999 and first appearing on the animation stage in 2004, is now exactly 20 years old. Anime IPs, especially children's super IPs suitable for all ages, have a slow incubation period but a particularly long lifespan. Let's look at the most profitable IPs in the world in 2018; they are all familiar old friends. Top 10 Most Profitable IPs in the World 10. Dragon Ball IP value: $21.5 billion. Founded in 1984. A manga created by Akira Toriyama, adapted into TV animation, theatrical films, Hollywood movies, and many merchandise and game software. It holds the Guinness World Record for the manga most adapted into games. The manga is owned by Bird Studio and Shueisha, and the animation by Toei Animation. 9. Marvel Cinematic Universe IP value: $23.4 billion. Founded in 2008. This IP is well known; it is a series of American superhero films based on characters from Marvel Comics. Owned by Marvel. 8. Spider-Man IP value: $23.4 billion. Founded in 1962. A character from comics, later adapted into a film series. Notably, $11.3 billion of the IP revenue comes from merchandise sales, followed by films. The films are owned by Sony, and the comics by Marvel. 7. Batman IP value: $24.9 billion. Founded in 1939. A character from comics, also adapted into a film series by Marvel (note: actually DC). Like Spider-Man, a large portion of IP revenue comes from merchandise sales, reaching $19.8 billion. Owned by Marvel (note: actually DC). 6. Wizarding World / Harry Potter IP value: $26.4 billion. Founded in 1997. Originated from novels, later adapted into a film series. The films are owned by Warner Bros., and the books by J.K. Rowling. IP revenue from films, books, and merchandise is roughly equal, totaling about $23.5 billion. 5. Mario IP value: $27.1 billion. Founded in 1981. Originated from a video game character. He is a multifaceted character; the dozens of games where he plays the protagonist have generated huge commercial profits of up to $33 billion for Nintendo. Owned by Nintendo. 4. Mickey Mouse & Friends IP value: $35.7 billion. Founded in 1928. Originated from animation. The representative character of Disney. Mickey Mouse's copyright will expire in 2023, entering the public domain. Most of the IP revenue comes from merchandise sales, up to $35.2 billion. Owned by Disney. 3. Star Wars IP value: $43.7 billion. Founded in 1977. Originated from films. The Star Wars film series has many fans. Most of its revenue comes from merchandise sales, reaching $20.4 billion, followed by box office. Owned by Disney. 2. Hello Kitty IP value: $50.3 billion. Founded in 1974. Originated from animation. After three generations of designers, it became the most commercially valuable cat in history, even issuing pure gold coins. IP revenue of $50.2 billion comes from merchandise sales. Owned by Sanrio. 1. Pokémon Also known as Pocket Monsters, Pokémon, or Pokémon. IP value: $59.1 billion, ranking first. Founded in 1996. Originated from video games. Later adapted into animation. The largest portion of IP revenue is $50 billion from merchandise sales. Owned by The Pokémon Company. Appendix: Quotes from the Creators of Peppa Pig: Neville Astley "I don't know why it became so popular. Is Peppa really that popular? Popular with whom? Do children like it or do parents like it?" "When we created the characters, we didn't follow the recommendations of child psychologists or market research; we based them on our own lives." "Daddy Pig is the funniest character. We didn't want the children's characters to be too dramatic, but the adult characters are different, like Daddy Pig. Sometimes we add humorous elements to Mummy Pig, but Daddy Pig is funnier. Maybe because we are all men." "We can find a balance in Daddy Pig's different traits. He is not a complete fool or clown; he has many commendable qualities." "Nothing makes children happier than laughing at adults. When I was a child, I watched animated characters like Mr Pastry or the Chuckle Brothers. The common trait of these characters is that adults behave like children. Children love watching that." "We wanted to make a series that satisfies both boys and girls. That was a challenge, but it was fun. That's why we later made Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom, not Holly's Little Kingdom." "The creative process is agonizing, but filling in each character and their relationships is a joy. When we did the second season, we gradually understood which settings worked and where new angles or backgrounds were needed." Phil Davies "I am quite sure that children are not sensitive to whether the protagonist is male or female, but strangely, before Peppa aired, the broadcast platform was worried that a female protagonist would have an impact." "I think Peppa is attractive to the audience. Her appearance is simple and bright. You've never seen a pig like that before. Our dialogue is quite simple, which requires great effort. Because to make it understandable for preschool children, we must use simple words, but without seeming stupid or boring." "You must have noticed that Peppa doesn't live in a typical neighborhood; they live on a hill. This seems ridiculous because every time the family goes out, they have to go down a very steep hill. It's funny." "Actually, in my childhood, I had little contact with my father; he was too busy with work. When I took my children to the playground, I found I was the only father there. Of course, I think it's better now. Daddy Pig is a character who can accompany children to school." "We like to make fun of men; it's a form of self-deprecation." "Every character in Peppa Pig is prone to mistakes. Take Peppa, for example; she is not cute all the time. She sometimes likes to give orders and is a bit bossy. Daddy Pig is clumsy at housework and has a poor sense of direction, but as a serious engineer, he is well-educated and has a lot of knowledge." "Children don't like to laugh at the protagonist, so Daddy Pig became the comic relief." "When we finished the first 52 episodes, we all relaxed a bit. The process of making Peppa was fun, and we decided to make a new series. We exchanged some new ideas, and then Mark and Neville started drawing." Mark Baker "The world Peppa grows up in is the world we encounter daily. Our stories are also drawn from life. We once considered setting the story in a magical world, but the story itself is about daily life. Using 'magic' as an element is exciting, but the 'magical world' setting can easily go astray." "Daddy Pig is an attractive character because children love to laugh at their parents." "It's great to be able to create an animated world that people find believable. We discussed whether every character in Peppa Pig has a sense of life, and found that many characters retain a childlike heart." "I was worried that after writing a story, I might not have inspiration to continue. But interestingly, the more I write, the more I want to write. I think the whole production process guides me to generate more ideas." New Distribution will hold the 2019 (5th) FMCG + Internet Conference during the Chengdu Spring Sugar and Wine Fair from March 16 to March 18. This conference will focus on the topic of "Breaking the Deadlock" and conduct in-depth discussions with many brand owners, supply chain service providers, distributors, retailers, and others. Compared to previous conferences, this summit will be fully upgraded. In addition to the original topics such as channel innovation, city distribution logistics, and distributor transformation, it will also add multiple parallel forums on new marketing cases, IP + FMCG empowerment, community group buying, and innovative retail. Through three days of ten high-density, high-quality expert sharing and exchanges, we believe that every brand owner and distributor can learn the latest business models, expert opinions, and practical methods, find new tools and methods for breaking the deadlock in 2019, and return to the track of rapid growth. Review of Previous Conferences -END-