Still of the film [Photo/Mtime]

"With lovely design and sentimental themes familiar to fans of modern Disney or Pixar, this touching project has a lot of appeal for animation-lovers of all ages," said film critic Jason Sondhi.

Zhang together with his son Zhang Shaofu, CEO of the studio, opened Taiko Studios in 2017 in Wuhan city, Central China's Hubei province.

Zhang Shaofu has studied animation since he was a child. He established the studio in his hometown because "Wuhan is developing very fast. There are many animation-related industries thriving there, it can recruit excellent animation talent, and the cost of starting a business is also relatively low.”

The studio comprises two teams from Los Angeles and China, and the two teams collaborate via the internet.