Ribbib... Move over, Kermit

The poster of The Frog Kingdom, an animation film by the institute and its in-house animation company Vixo, which is currently in theaters.

Guo Tao optimistic about 'Where Are We Going, Dad'

Cartoon movie 'Boonie Bears: To the Rescue' premieres in Beijing

The biggest project for the institute and its in-house animation company Vixo has been The Frog Kingdom, a film which they spent five years producing. About 80 percent of the 300-member production team consists of graduates from the institute, not counting the hundreds of students who took part in the production every year.

Yue Jinxi, a student at his final year, says he was involved in making models of the frogs for the film last year. As a result, he has set up his own studio with some classmates to produce models of animated characters.

"We only do the basic work for the film," says 23-year-old Yue, adding that there are many studios led by teachers running different projects for the movie.

Yue is one of near 900 students in the animation department, where about 60 are majoring in model making. It costs him about 20,000 yuan ($3,314) every year to study at the institute. If he had attended a public university, his tuition fees would have been only about 5,000 yuan.

Many students think it's worth the price and the effort because they will not find it hard to get a job after graduation. Companies in the animation and games industry come to the institute to recruit twice a year.

Making an animated film involves a broad spectrum of skills and the 3-D digital animation that Yue was involved in is only a small part of the production effort that finally makes it to the big screen.

The Frog Kingdom tells the adventure of a frog princess and her partner and how they go through the trials and tribulations of winning back a country taken away by enemies.

The director is Nelson Shin, who has produced iconic animations such as The Simpsons and Transformers.

With a total investment of nearly 50 million yuan, the film needs box-office takings of 120 million yuan to generate a profit.