3000 Whys of Blue Cat


3000 Whys of Blue Cat is the first large-scale Chinese animated series in mainland China with an emphasis on science. The series is produced by "Beijing Sunchime Happy Culture Company". The show remains one of the longest running children's cartoon series in the world. It is most commonly referred to as "Lan Mao", or "Blue Cat". An English version was made for the first episode titled "The Adventures of the Blue Cat" and was made as a pilot for a series titled Lucky's Adventures. However, due to lack of interest, the series was cancelled. The show uses a combination of 2D animation and CGI.

Background

The series is mostly known for its successful line of companion children's books. As of October 2004, the series has spawned 36 series of children's books spanning 452 volumes in all. Rights for some of the books have been sold to Taiwan. Other intellectual properties rights managers from South Korea and Thailand have shown interests in the books. It was initially marketed to be the Mickey Mouse of the far east, though the artistic style is more similar to Tom and Jerry.

Story

The Blue Cat is blue, because the color signifies dreams. Blue Cat is always curious and explores different parts of the world in any given time era with his imagination.

Characters

Along with the cartoon programs, the franchise has spawned home videos, books, CDs, kids' clothes and shoes, toys, beverage and candy. The planning of a "Blue Cat Theme Park" has also entered the appraisal stage in 2006. Sega have also announced a collaboration with "Sunchime Cartoon Group" and Suzhou based game software developer "XPEC Entertainment" to jointly develop and release video games or other forms of digital entertainment contents based on the Blue Cat on 4 August 2006.