The Middle Kingdom

India's animation industry is growing, but India isn't the only large country with a rocketing animation sector.

"Monster Hunt," the highest grossing film of all time in the Chinese box office, is considered a testament to the improving quality of Chinese visual effects. (Photo : Movie Poster)

The disparity in the visual effects quality of Chinese and Hollywood films is decreasing, according to both film industry analysts and Chinese box-office receipts.

In particular, three special-effects films released this year were deemed to be box-office hits, namely, "Monster Hunt," "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" and "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe." All three films have won over the Chinese market, generally outperforming their Hollywood counterparts. ...

China, of course, has more than just a robust domestic movie industry going for it. THe Middle Kingdom has a large and growing consumer market, which Hollywood knows it can't ignore.

And Hollywood isn't. Disney has a presence with film production and amusement parks; DreamWorks Animation has a jointly-owned cartoon studio and other entertainment pieces in place. Kung Fu Panda 3 will be released next year as a domestic Chinese production because of all the Chinese animators and tech directors who worked on it.

Jeffrey Katzenberg ain't stupid.