If you want to nominate the most popular dragon in recent years, it must be the "Milk Dragon".
An intuitive comparison is that if Lina Belle is the top female star in the doll industry, Nipple Dragon is the top male star.
10 In the emoji library of 10 people, there are about 2 emojis with milk dragons.
, this alien dragon with a yellow body, a height of 1.8 meters, a weight of 2 tons, and a big belly, has captured the favor of young people with its cute, cute, funny, gluttonous, occasionally loud, and positive settings. .
When it comes to the origin and popularity of the IP "Milk Dragon", we have to start with the animation series "Milk Dragon and Xiaoqi".
In 2020, the domestic original animation "Milk Dragon and Xiao Qi" began to be updated on the short video platform. The protagonists are a human little boy Xiao Qi and a small yellow dinosaur called Milk Dragon.
The two characters have complementary personalities. Xiao Qi is a smart and talented young boy, while Milk Dragon is cute and cute and a foodie.
The story tells that an accident occurred on the planet where the milk dragon is located. It was forced to come to the earth, where it met the human boy Xiao Qi, and formed a partnership with one person and one dragon to explore the world. At the beginning of the
animation update, the storyline was relatively simple, more like a melodrama, mainly consisting of daily life scenes and less dialogue.
As attention soared, the producers added many space scenes, and the overall world view of the animation became more and more full. Xiaoqi invented a time and space machine, and took the milk dragon to travel through the martial arts space, desert island space, and game space. Therefore, every time The style of the collection is all mysterious and unpredictable, including science fiction, martial arts, games, adventure, and all popular elements.
As the plot develops, the producer has also added some new characters, such as the blue Tyrannosaurus with wings, which looks young but is set up as a villain. He always wants to challenge and assassinate the Tyrannosaurus every time.
At the same time, "Milk Dragon" is also linked to many mobile games, allowing other animated characters to join in, expanding the Milk Dragon universe step by step. Although the plot of the entire animated series of
is simple, the scenes are changeable. The main theme is Milk Dragon and Xiaoqi going to the sky and the sea to adventure around. One is responsible for causing trouble, and the other is responsible for covering up. There are dramatic conflicts in each episode, which not only entertains the public, but also has a sense of enlightenment. Watch Completely comfortable.
Moreover, the production team often designs plots based on Internet hot spots, and does not miss a single hot topic. It often allows the milk dragon to perform hot dances, which further enhances the visibility.
was initially positioned as a subtitles oriented website, but the creative plot and cute image of the milk dragon made it impossible for adults to stop browsing. The most common words in the comment area were, "Is this normal for me as a college student?"
replied Then, "It's normal. I'm 38 and have two kids."
Even in the comment area after each video update, there are countless fans urging for a sequel and asking when the same doll will be released. The level of fanaticism is evident. In the past 4 years since
was updated, the Douyin account of "Milk Dragon" has accumulated more than 20 million fans, the animation series has 190 million likes, and 1.6 billion views on station B. It can be said that it has achieved popularity among all age groups.
The producer also launched two animated series, "Milk Dragon Funny Battle" and "Milk Dragon Funny Carnival", with a total of 75 episodes, which are broadcast on multiple platforms.
also launched 9 sets of emoticon packs on WeChat, including "Worker", "Dating" and "Rebellion", which are practical and interesting. The yellow milk dragon emoticon pack is particularly popular among young people.
Even the Milk Dragon movie is also in development, which can be seen as the super long tail effect of this original animation.
can more intuitively feel the popularity of this image is its commercial value. Various IP co-branding can be said to be in full bloom.
is involved in mobile games, film and television, automobiles, catering, toys, and beauty. The cooperative brands include Emma Electric Vehicle, Shanghai Aunty, Lemon Republic, Wang Xiaolu, Meituan, Didi Qingjue, etc.
's huge social influence and commercial value even led to it being named the annual honorary creator by the "China Short Video Conference" organized by CCTV.
So, why is this milk dragon so popular?
An obvious phenomenon in the past few years is that domestic original IPs are in a spurt of development, and various online and offline activities are in full swing. bilibili world 2023 is even so popular that it is difficult to get a ticket.
A large part of the reason is that in 2020, the "Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Digital Cultural Industry" issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism introduced the concept of IP, proposing to "cultivate and shape a group of original IPs with distinctive Chinese cultural characteristics, strengthen IP development and transformation, making full use of animation games, online literature, online music, online performances, online videos, digital art, creative design and other industrial forms to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s excellent traditional culture.”
This is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the market, so it can be seen with the naked eye that there have been many Guochuang original IPs in recent years, and some high-quality IPs have also begun to plan derivative products.
Since then, IPs such as Trisolaris, Fat Tiger, Luo Tianyi, and Bubble Mart have become more and more popular, and various development and co-branding have made a lot of money. Honor of Kings, Genshin Impact, etc. have even been exported overseas.
The development of short videos has also promoted the spread of these IPs to a certain extent, such as "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf", "Balala Little Demon Fairy", "Pig Man", "Armor Warrior" and "Cute Chicken Squad" Some of the characters and plots of the classic IP have been reinterpreted by social media, making it once again attract the attention of a new generation of young people and successfully become popular. The most representative example of the blessing of various elements by
is the third season of "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" last year. The most popular is not the program itself, but Reme Miyori and her masterpiece "Pure Land".
Hundreds of millions of users voted for it. In fact, they wanted to use this to declare loudly: We in the second dimension are just old, not dead!
has policy support, a creative environment, and a huge number of users. This is the confidence and opportunity given from top to bottom.
Milk Dragon developed by "riding on the east wind" at this stage, not to mention that "Milk Dragon" is still a unique and fresh character. The
production team once said in an interview: "At the beginning, I wanted to make an image like a cute pet, and hoped that it would make others feel cute and healing."
There are very few virtual IPs with such images as domestically produced original animations This gave the producers an opportunity, so they created a cute pet image based on the two concepts of "fat" and "cute".
In this new IP world, there are only two absolute protagonists, Nailong and Xiaoqi. Nailong accompanies Xiaoqi to watch TV, eat, play games, go shopping, take risks, cry and laugh together, and bravely explore the world.
So naturally, we can understand why users often comment sincerely under the account: Although Milk Dragon was only born a few years ago, it has accompanied two generations.
The first generation is the post-90s generation who lacked companionship in childhood, and the other generation is the post-20s generation who grew up with short videos.
The former can find solace in the plot and emotions set by this IP. This is also the original idea of the production team: if every child has such a healing pet to accompany him in his life, it must be wonderful.
Just like Stephen Chow's "Yangtze River No. 7" that year, the combination of the human boy Zhou Xiaodi and the alien dog Xiaoqi moved many audiences.
Going back further, works such as "Alien" and "Lilo and Stitch" all have similar models.
For those born in the 1990s who lacked companionship when they were young, this setting and mode may be more stimulating to their feelings. Who in their childhood did not wish to have a cute but powerful alien partner by their side?
The latter, besides bears, sheep, and pigs, have a childhood memory that truly belongs to their generation, and it is the most unique one with Chinese characteristics, the milk dragon.
As the person in charge of the production team mentioned:
appears more purely, and it can also carry positive energy. This is a complex given to the public by anime IP. It is no longer a symbol in the audience's memory, but is fully, three-dimensional and truly presented to the public.
is also the same as the comment given by CCTV: Make up for childhood regrets by creating animated characters, heal yourself and your friends who also lack companionship...
Of course, whether it is Milk Dragon or other domestic original IPs, they are inseparable from social concepts and consumer trends. Variety.
To a certain extent, this is based on the considerable consumption power of Generation Z. China currently has about 251 million people born in 1995 who belong to Generation Z. The prosperity of domestic original IP is inseparable from their support.
The "2023 Generation Z Consumption Trend Insight Report" released by Nandu believes:
"They have stronger tolerance and willingness to support domestic products, and the national trend culture has been recognized and sought after by them for its unique recognition. , thus making the "Z generation" group praise national trend culture as the popular fashion of pioneering youth. They love the second dimension, are unique and want to show themselves in their preferred communities, and the "fan economy" is in their It has become stronger under the guidance of others."
In short, they are willing to pay for entertainment and interest.
Therefore, when an IP appears with good intentions and hits the emotional point, traffic and krypton gold will be spared no effort to bestow it.
Milk Dragon now has tens of millions of fans across the Internet and waves of IP co-branding are the best proof.
And with the development of related dramas, movies, derivatives, and joint brands, the vitality of this IP will more widely affect other circles, and it may become a representative case of successful overseas expansion in the future.
Milk Dragon Shape Cup Gift Box
Milk Dragon Doll Cup
Milk Dragon Doll Cup
