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Henan's 'Happy Star' TV show a huge hit with kids

By Fang Xiaowei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-22 07:49

A Henan-made TV series has won the hearts of children across the nation and become the province's top original brand.

"Happy Star", the first Chinese science fiction TV series for children, was produced by the Henan Chaofan Film Production Co and began airing on CCTV channels in the second half of 2004.

The TV series became a hit with children and won many awards, including for outstanding literary work, during the 10th national campaign promoting cultural and ideological progress.

Spin-offs of the "Happy Star" brand have also been a success.

The brand now not only includes the TV show, but also books, audio-visual products, and children's toys and even food.

TV production in China has progressed rapidly in recent years. Roughly 10,000 TV dramas hit the screen annually, but few have been produced for children.

Zhong Chengxiang, vice-chairman of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said there is an oversupply of TV shows for adults, but those for children are in serious shortage.

To "promote healthy growth of minors and create happiness for Chinese children", the Henan Chaofan Film Production Co took the lead in the country to create children's television programs and movies.

Its three seasons of the "Happy Star" series have been the broadcast on the CCTV Children's Channel as well as CCTV 1, 3, 8, 12 channels and dozens of local TV stations in prime time.

Henan's 'Happy Star' TV show a huge hit with kids

"Happy Star" had the highest audience rating - 1.9 percent - for CCTV Channel 8 and its official website happystar.com.cn has about 10,000 visits daily.

In 2004, a "Happy Star" series of novels and comic books was published by the Beijing Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, with the sales once exceeding the Harry Potter books to become the No 2 bestselling children's books in the nation.

First published in 2005, "Happy Planet" cartoon books had sales of about 2 million copies over 18 months.

Audio-visual products with the same name produced by the Guangdong Foshan Tianyi Audio Co sold well and were listed as national key audio-visual products in the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10).

Happy Star Child Nutrition Noodles produced by Henan Jiahe Food Co have also been listed as one of children's favorite foods.