The Autobots
| The Autobots | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Chinese name | |||
| Traditional Chinese | 汽車人總動員 | ||
| Simplified Chinese | 汽车人总动员 | ||
| |||
Production company | Bluemtv | ||
| Distributed by | G-Point | ||
Release date |
| ||
Running time | 85 minutes | ||
| Country | China | ||
| Language | Chinese/Mandarin | ||
| Budget | CN¥3 million[1] | ||
| Box office | CN¥6 million | ||
The Autobots (simplified Chinese: 汽车人总动员; traditional Chinese: 汽車人總動員; pinyin: Qìchērén Zǒngdòngyuán) is a 2015 Chinese animated motorsports comedy film directed by Zhuo Jianrong. It was released on July 4, 2015. The film received heavy criticism for its plot, animation quality, characters, and being a direct plagiarism and knockoff of Pixar’s Cars 2.
Production
The production company and filmmaker stated that it was an independently produced film, while several critics and people who watched the film accused it of being copied from Disney and Pixar's Cars franchise (with the characters looking like those from Cars). Shen Lu, Katie Hunt, and Anna Hsieh of CNN stated that the Chinese title of the film was similar to the mainland Chinese title of Cars (赛车总动员; Sàichē Zǒngdòngyuán).[2]
Copyright infringement lawsuit
In July 2016, The Walt Disney Company filed a copyright case through the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court and on December 29, 2016, the court ruled in favor of Disney, fining Bluemtv and G-Point $190,000 and ordering them to cease copyright infringement.[3]
Cancelled sequel
A sequel for the film, The Autobots 2, was scheduled for release in summer 2017.[1] However, the sequel was canceled due to The Walt Disney Company winning a copyright case. The latest information about the sequel announcement is from 2016.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b "Chinese 'knock-off' of Disney's 'Cars' set for sequel". GantNews.com. 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
- ^ "Copycat movie? Filmmaker denies knocking off Pixar's 'Cars'" (Archive). CNN. July 7, 2015. Retrieved on July 9, 2015.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (2016-12-30). "Disney Wins 'Cars' Copyright Case in China". Variety. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
External links
- The Autobots at IMDb
