How One Taizhou Entrepreneur Built a ¥10 Billion RMB Spring Festival Animation Empire

• IP Development: Continuous annual release of Boonie Bears films to maintain brand relevance.
• Theme Park Integration: Using film characters to theme attractions across 40+ locations.
• Asset-Light Expansion: Cooperative investment models where partners provide capital and Fantawild provides tech/management.
• Tech Export: Selling high-tech theater systems to over 40 countries.

For 12 years straight, the same two bears have dominated China’s most lucrative movie window.

And honestly, it’s a masterclass in IP strategy.

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The Spring Festival Phenomenon That Keeps Printing Money

“Boonie Bears: Every Year with Bears” (Xiong Chumo·Niannian You Xiong 熊出没·年年有熊) just hit theaters and the numbers are already wild.

Just two days after its February 18 release, the film pulled in ¥300 million RMB ($41.4 million USD) in box office revenue.

But here’s where it gets interesting.

According to Maoyan Entertainment (Maoyan Yule 猫眼娱乐) professional predictions, this film alone is expected to cross ¥1.2 billion RMB ($165.6 million USD) before it leaves theaters.

That’s not a fluke—it’s a pattern.

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12 Years of Consecutive Lunar New Year Releases: A Strategy That Works

The “Boonie Bears” franchise is owned by Fantawild Holdings (Huaqiang Fangte 华强方特), the animation and theme park giant controlled by Liang Guangwei (梁光伟), a 63-year-old entrepreneur from Taizhou, Zhejiang.

Here’s what makes this strategy so brutal:

Since 2014, Fantawild has released one film every single year on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Not sometimes. Not when they felt like it. Every. Single. Year.

Let’s look at the box office track record:

• 2014 – “Boonie Bears: To the Rescue” (Duobao Xiong Bing 夺宝熊兵): ¥247 million RMB ($34.1 million USD)
• 2025 – “Boonie Bears: Time Twist” (Chongqi Weilai 重启未来): ¥821 million RMB ($113.3 million USD)
• Previous 11 films combined: ¥8.54 billion RMB ($1.18 billion USD)
• With the new film included: Total approaching ¥10 billion RMB ($1.38 billion USD) during the Spring Festival window alone

For context: that’s a billion-plus dollar franchise built almost entirely around a single movie release window each year.

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Why “Boonie Bears” Owns the Spring Festival (And Your Family’s Movie Night)

There’s a reason this franchise keeps winning.

Animated films are genuinely scarce during the Spring Festival.

According to Lai Li (赖力), an analyst at Maoyan Entertainment (Maoyan Yule 猫眼娱乐):

“In the Spring Festival window, animated films are a scarce resource. ‘Boonie Bears,’ which focuses on parent-child harmony and carries comedic attributes, naturally commands significant market space.”

Translation: there’s basically no competition, and families need something to watch together.

The data backs this up. The franchise consistently hits a “multi-person viewing” ratio (group/family ticket sales) that exceeds 20%—far above the market average.

At cinemas like Feiyang Cinema (Feiyang Yingcheng 飞扬影城), reporters observed that most audiences were three-generation family groups.

That’s grandparents, parents, and kids. All buying tickets to watch bears.

For cinema operators, this meant stability. On New Year’s Day alone, “Boonie Bears: Every Year with Bears” held an 11.1% screening rate, ranking fourth behind live-action blockbusters.

For parents? It’s a no-brainer purchasing decision.

Zero cognitive cost. Zero decision risk.

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The Man Behind the Empire: Liang Guangwei’s Journey From Student to Billionaire

Before there were bears, there was Liang.

Born in Taizhou, Zhejiang, Liang Guangwei graduated from the Computer Science department of Shenzhen University (Shenzhen Daxue 深圳大学).

He joined Huaqiang Group and climbed the ranks to become Chairman—eventually leading the company’s transformation into an entertainment behemoth.

Today, his net worth sits at ¥19.5 billion RMB ($2.69 billion USD), earning him a spot on the 2025 Hurun Global Rich List.

But here’s the thing: he operates almost entirely behind the scenes.

Liang doesn’t hold a frontline position at Fantawild. Instead, he’s built a professional management team to run daily operations.

At the end of 2025, a new management lineup was announced:

• Dun Zhongjie (顿忠杰) became the employee representative director
• Rong Zhigang (戎志刚) was promoted to President
• Liu Daoqiang (刘道强) remains Chairman but resigned from President role

Both Dun and Rong are Fantawild veterans who previously served as General Manager of Fantawild Films.

“Every Year with Bears” is their first major battle under the new structure.

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Why “Boonie Bears” Matters More Than You’d Think

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the franchise’s performance directly impacts Fantawild’s entire financial health.

When the 2024 installment underperformed early in 2025, Fantawild’s cultural content revenue for the first half of the year dropped 60.1% year-on-year.

Net profit? It plummeted by 79.5%.

That’s how important these bears are to the company’s bottom line.

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The Real Play: How Movies Drive the Theme Park Empire

Here’s where the strategy gets sophisticated.

The film series isn’t just a standalone money-maker. It’s a traffic driver for Liang’s massive theme park operation.

As of late September, Liang had built and operated more than 40 theme parks across China, including brands like:

• Fantawild Adventure
• Dream Kingdom
• Oriental Heritage

These parks operate in cities including Wuhu, Xiamen, and Zhengzhou.

In the first half of 2025, Fantawild achieved ¥2.68 billion RMB ($369.8 million USD) in revenue, with theme parks contributing nearly 90%.

Here’s the flywheel:

Movie comes out → Kids see bears on screen → Kids beg parents to visit Boonie Bears theme park → Parents visit park → Park revenue grows → Company uses revenue to make next movie → Repeat.

The parks literally recreate scenes from the films. The Ningbo Fantawild Boonie Bears Park, for example, pulled over 600,000 visitors in its first year by recreating “Future Tech City” and “Forest Secret Realm” straight from the movies.

But Liang’s even smarter than that. Beyond building parks himself, his team uses cooperative and licensing investment models:

• Partner with investors to build parks while Fantawild provides specialized equipment and management
• Or simply provide equipment and services without investing direct capital
• Let partners handle the operational risk while Fantawild captures the licensing and equipment revenue

In early 2026, the company signed a deal with Longgang City in Zhejiang to develop a new creative project—same playbook, different location.

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The Weakness: What Happens When You Only Have One Hit?

Here’s the million-dollar question: can Liang Guangwei create another “Boonie Bears”?

The honest answer is: not yet.

Fantawild has launched several new projects, including the national-style fantasy IP “Dragon and Xiao Xiao” (Long yu Xiao Xiao 龙与萧逍), but none have achieved “breakout” success outside of niche children’s circles.

One franchise carrying an entire company is a dangerous position to be in.

But here’s why Liang might pull it off anyway:

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The Technical Firepower Most People Don’t Know About

While everyone’s focused on “Boonie Bears,” Fantawild is quietly building serious technical capabilities.

The company holds over 2,000 intellectual property rights and has independently developed:

• VR track systems
• Panoramic dynamic theaters
• AI-generated theatrical films (they showcased a two-hour film generated entirely by AI in August)

Their special effects film systems are exported to over 40 countries, including the U.S. and Canada.

This isn’t just a animation company. This is a technology and entertainment infrastructure play.

According to TEA (Themed Entertainment Association) data, from 2024 to 2025, Fantawild’s theme park attendance ranked second globally, trailing only Disney (Disini 迪士尼).

With that kind of audience base and technical foundation, the company has created what venture capitalists would call “fertile soil” for future hits.

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What This Means for Investors and Founders

The “Boonie Bears” story is a masterclass in several things:

• IP consistency wins. Releasing the same franchise every year at the same time creates predictability and habit.
• Synergy across products matters. Movies drive parks. Parks drive merchandise. Merchandise drives brand awareness. Everything feeds everything else.
• Operational leverage is underrated. Once you build the infrastructure, replicating it across new cities becomes much cheaper.
• Niche dominance beats broad mediocrity. Fantawild owns 90% of the Spring Festival animated film space because there’s barely any competition.
• Technical depth provides optionality. Even if “Boonie Bears” eventually fades, Fantawild’s tech stack gives them options most animation companies don’t have.

The next big question: can they replicate this with IP number two?

For now, two bears have conquered the Spring Festival for 12 straight years and are approaching ¥10 billion RMB ($1.38 billion USD) in box office revenue—and that’s just the movie side of the business.

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References

• 21st Century Business Herald (21 Shiji Jingji Baodao 21世纪经济报道)
• Official Website – Fantawild Holdings Inc.
• Maoyan Entertainment (Maoyan Yule 猫眼娱乐)