Ali the red fox is a cartoon character created by Xu Han. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Telling stories

In making a film, telling a good story is the big challenge, he says, which takes Xu to a story of his own: how his red fox came about.

He created it in high school to win over a girl sitting in front of him, he says. From then on, he kept drawing short stories that he passed on to adults who appreciated fairy tales.

In the picture book that came out in March he recounts tales of Ali confronting characters from Western fairy tales such as the Little Prince, Pinocchio and the Ugly Duckling. Some stories are inspired by his daily life, he says. For example, one story tells of Ali's father bidding him farewell as he embarks on a journey. That, Xu says, reflects his experience when he left home to attend college.

China has never had an established cartoonist or cartoon image that has been recognised outside the country, and Xu says he hopes Ali will go some way to rectifying that.