Peppa Pig, a popular British cartoon character, became the unofficial mascot of the Year of the Pig and is now sealing her comeback in China.
In 2015, the Chinese-language version of Peppa Pig was first aired on state broadcaster CCTV. The cartoon became an overnight sensation, particularly to younger viewers, with over 60 billion views on TV and streaming websites. However, the character becomes one of the targets of censorship machinery in China, it was removed on a popular video-sharing site and deemed as a "bad influence."
One of the problems is that Peppa Pig was reportedly a symbol of slacker culture by disaffected millennials, with some went far to get a tattoo of the cartoon. Peppa books also fell foul of a separate crackdown after publishers were ordered to diminish the number of foreign children's books to reduce Western influences.
But still, Peppa Pig holds the heart of the majority of Chinese youngsters, the South China Morning Post reported. In Shanghai, a Peppa Pig theme park opened last year, while another one is set to open in Beijing.
The cartoon also made her big screen debut this year with Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year, set for release on Tuesday, February 5. The film is said to be a positive sign of the character's rehabilitation. The movie is a joint venture between Alibaba Pictures and the British media group Entertainment One.
The trailer of the film further cemented the cartoon's status as a pop culture phenomenon with more than 835 million views in the first week after being posted online. It follows the story of a man living in a remote village who's searching for a Peppa-themed gift for his grandson living in the city. The five-minute clip became a viral sensation in China, highlighting the importance of harmony, love, family, and reunion.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong garrison of the People's Liberation Army celebrates Lunar New Year by releasing a viral video wherein over 100 soldiers in a formation that's similar to the distinctive features of Peppa Pig. In addition, Norinco - a Chinese weapons manufacturer - also posted a photo of tanks in a formation that mimicked the Peppa's face, who also had a Chinese name Pei Qi - which means "matched together" or "in harmony".
Peppa Pig is not the only fictitious pig enjoying the spotlight, some users of Douban - a popular cultural discussion forum - are also sharing pictures of pigs in the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, an allegorical novella regarding the Soviet Union.
