“Wow, is this animation from Vietnam? I thought it was produced by some foreign studio!”
reads a comment on the English-dubbed version of the animated film
“Wolfoo”
on YouTube. This sentiment is shared by many Vietnamese and foreign viewers alike, as Vietnam is not typically known for its content creation and animation production. The success of this film has taken everyone by surprise.
Mr. Ta Manh Hoang, CEO of Sconnect Vietnam
Tò he, Vietnamese Clay Figurines, and Wolfoo
“Wolfoo” has achieved milestones that no other Vietnamese animated film has ever reached. In just over 18 months since its release, the Wolfoo channel garnered over 2 billion views. The film’s creator, Mr. Ta Manh Hoang, CEO of Sconnect Vietnam, attributes this success to a well-planned and strategic approach, rather than mere luck.
Mr. Hoang’s journey into the world of animation was inspired by Walt Disney. The founder of Disney was plagued by mischievous mice in his house, which sparked the idea of creating animated films about these playful creatures. Through his creativity, he transformed these once-detested animals into warm and endearing characters that children could relate to.
Mr. Hoang similarly aspired to create a symbolic animated character during his entrepreneurial journey and envisioned building a “Vietnamese Walt Disney.”
Initially, Sconnect did not dive straight into 2D animation but instead started with less ambitious projects and homegrown technologies. After achieving some success in 2014-2015 with content editing and animation products, the CEO of Sconnect began to have bigger dreams and ambitions.
“I realized that if we don’t master a production technology or have full control over the creative process, we won’t be able to build a large business model. That has been my driving force.”
CEO Ta Manh Hoang
Sconnect embarked on researching their first production technology, stop-motion animation using clay. The process involved capturing static shapes of the clay figures and combining them to create movement. However, finding the right type of clay that could offer the desired level of differentiation proved challenging.
“We went to the park and met with tò he artisans, asking them to create characters for stop-motion. Our initial attempts were not successful because stop-motion characters require a certain level of skeletal structure and movement, which the tò he material couldn’t provide,”
Mr. Hoang recalled.
While Sconnect had to abandon the idea of using tò he, they didn’t give up on their search. They decided to start by creating stop-motion characters using traditional methods, and thus, their first clay figure sets were born, leading to initial success in the international market during 2016-2017.
As Sconnect matured in their animation capabilities, they began to expand their horizons. And so, Wolfoo, conceived with the aspiration of a “Vietnamese Disney,” officially came to life.
But why a wolf?
“Wolves have often been portrayed as villains in children’s stories. However, they also possess positive qualities such as courage and leadership… I wanted to transform this perception and use the qualities of wolves to promote positive values and skills for children worldwide,”
shared the CEO of Sconnect, emphasizing that this was a well-calculated move rather than a momentary inspiration.
Wolfoo, conceived with the aspiration of a “Vietnamese Disney”
2 Billion Views and a Tidal Wave of Success
Sconnect faced numerous challenges in creating and developing the Wolfoo character. For over a year and a half after Wolfoo’s debut, the project generated no revenue and required significant investment. The profit equation weighed heavily on the management team and Mr. Hoang, as this was never intended to be just a fun project.
However, persistence paid off. After 18 months, the Wolfoo team, consisting of just 32 members, celebrated reaching 100 million views per month. And then, like catching a strong wind, the “Wolfoo ship” sailed past the 2 billion views per month milestone.
Reflecting on the journey from zero to billions of views, Mr. Hoang contemplatively shared:
“At that point, Sconnect had to make a choice. We created our own intellectual property (IP) and established value propositions for our products. As a result, our business competition was extremely low. We had to make a trade-off by embracing a long-term strategy, focusing on building a brand that resonated with children and establishing our product’s values.”
The challenges didn’t end there. As Wolfoo began to gain recognition and profitability, it faced a significant setback: a battle for copyright on YouTube with the giant “Peppa Pig.” The digital rivalry between the “Vietnamese Disney” and this well-established British animation powerhouse remains unresolved. Still, Wolfoo’s reputation has spread worldwide.
Sconnect started by creating stop-motion characters using traditional methods, and their first clay figure sets achieved initial success in the international market during 2016-2017.
What sets the young Wolfoo apart from well-established international characters? The “keyword” lies in the 12 factors for developing virtues and skills in children, portrayed through the stories, with the most important being the “courage” of the wolf, a value that has been consistent throughout the character’s journey from the very first episodes.
“Courage can be as simple as daring to choose something. Or it can be about having the courage to change a bad habit,”
confessed the 8x CEO.
