The facetious Peppa Pig and her adorable little brother Georges are among the favorite cartoon characters of toddlers, to see on Disney+ in France. But the popular program has been subject to censorship in China, accused of promoting values that do not conform to those of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Broadcast since 2004, the British animated television series created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker highlights the adventures of Peppa Pig, a mischievous and sometimes bossy little pink sow, who lives with her brother George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig. But the impertinent heroine adored by the youngest (broadcast in France on Netflix and Disney +) who loves to jump in puddles of mud and make the gallery laugh, is not the best friend of the Chinese government. In 2018, the Chinese video platform Douyin removed more than 30,000 episodes of the web star. The hashtag #PeppaPig had even been removed from the site. But how did an innocent little sow in a red dress become persona non grata in the Middle Kingdom?
Peppa Piga symbol of idleness and perversion in China
the People’s Dailyspokesperson for the Communist Party in power, was the first to launch hostilities, denouncing the pernicious effects of excessive commercialization of Peppa Pig, introduced in the mid-2000s in China. “Many schoolchildren seek to differentiate themselves by competing with Peppa Pig watches or accessories“, for the benefit of “counterfeit manufacturers“, he was alarmed. But beyond the derivative products bearing the image of the character, the state media denounce the transformation of Peppa Pig into icon “subversive“of a lazy and antisocial youthunder the terms of People’s Daily. Worse still, the little sow is judged too much”gangsta“which has become the symbol of shehuiren, a part of the youth considered delinquent by the government and who oppose the vision of youth cultivated by the CCP. Another flip side of the coin: fake episodes, imitations, humorous or pornographic parodies are flooding the Chinese internet. popularity”viral“who illustrates”a thirst for novelty and satire likely to harm the morale of society“, denounced the Chinese tabloid GlobalTimes.
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The sow is back in force for the Year of the Pig
First dragged in the mud, the subversive Peppa Pig yet returns stronger than ever in 2019 to celebrate the Year of the Pig in China. For the occasion, the mega-star is everywhere on store shelves, from sweets to stuffed animals, through kits or key rings. A Sino-British film devoted to the Chinese New Year of Peppa Pig also sees the light of day, in which the sow is accompanied by two new friends: “Jiaozi” (dumpling) and “Tang Yuan” (rice dumpling), named in reference to two Chinese culinary specialties eaten during the holidays. The episodes of Peppa Pig accumulated around 60 billion views on the main streaming platforms in China in the same year, Jamie MacEwan, of the British firm Enders, told AFP, against 24.5 billion in May 2017. Formal proof that interest in Peppa continues to grow in the country, despite efforts to silence it.
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Article written in collaboration with 6Médias
