Little red fox becomes big business

Provided to China Daily

Ali's story uses cute cartoon images to tell stories that everyone can relate to, he explains.

Ali's cup is always full when his mom is at home because Chinese mothers generally take good care of their children. The funny conversation between Ali and his mother about death was inspired by a conversation Xu had when he took a taxi once.

"I once wanted to draw a story that could move people to tears within five minutes, but I spent a whole afternoon drawing nothing. Now it's clear that good stories come from my life," the cartoonist says.

Xu started drawing Ali when he was a middle school student. Back then, cartooning was a way for him to kill time when his teachers bored him in class. Later he drew the cute fox to woo a girl sitting in front of him.

"Before I started my graduate study, Ali was only a cartoon image," Xu recalls. His study of brand visualization at Tsinghua University enabled him to understand the value of a brand, even a cartoon brand.

Xu began to write stories featuring Ali. Meanwhile, the Internet offered a perfect platform for his little red fox to move into the wider world.

Xu and his partners set up Beijing Dream Castle Culture Company in 2009. The cartoonist is in charge of drawing Ali stories and designing cute expressions to put online, while his team runs the company and promotes Ali and its products.

With Ali's rising popularity, the company has made short animated films. Now they are considering producing an Ali film.

Although the animated design has developed fast, Xu still insists on hand drawing. He says that each line and color under his brush shows his emotions. His readers can feel his feelings via the shades of colors, which also guarantee Ali pictures' quality.

"People ask me whether I will create other cartoon images, I think it's a lifelong career to make more stories to keep Ali alive. It's always my dream," the cartoonist says.