Puppet Drama is one of the traditional Chinese Puppetry. It was introduced to Taiwan during the Daoguang and Xianfeng years of the Qing Dynasty along with immigrants from Fujian and Guangdong. In Taiwan’s unique cultural environment and historical context, it developed a puppet show that is different from China mainland. Among them, “Pili Puppet Drama” was based on traditional puppetry and Jinguang puppetry, through brand-new content creation and commercial operation, transformed from puppetry performance art into a cultural and creative industry, and returned to the mainland in the late 1990s. Open up overseas markets in the original hometown.
In the development of more than two decades, Pili puppet show has explored an effective “localization” path in mainland China. In terms of content, the Pili puppet show began to adjust the dubbing and text of the series after trying to produce a puppet show jointly between the two sides of the strait, so that it presents a “Puppet Animation” style different from puppet show. The aesthetic preferences of mainland drama fans also have an impact on the content of the drama. Mandarin soundtracks are emerging one after another, and Mandarin dubbing is more recognized. The evolution of the plot also reflects the preferences of mainland drama fans. In terms of marketing, Pili Puppet Show faces the status quo of the Chinese mainland market and attracts young people under the name of “Puppet Animation”; when the mainland's cultural and creative industry enters the “pan-entertainment” stage, Pili Puppet Show also takes advantage of the trend and develops the pan-entertainment industry. Layout, gather a large number of theater fans, and develop the fan economy. The Pili puppet show has also had an important impact on the cultural field of mainland China. From a vertical perspective, mainland theater fans derive a rich fan culture from the plot and become an important component of mainland Chinese pop culture. From a horizontal perspective, the Pili puppet show has begun. The TV puppet show market in mainland China has attracted other Taiwan puppet shows to enter the mainland market. It has also attracted the attention of mainland Chinese academic circles and provided experience and reference for the industrialization of mainland intangible cultural assets.
At the same time, Pili puppet shows in mainland China have also encountered many challenges, such as copyright issues such as pirated resources and content plagiarism, the unhealthy tendency of mainland movie fans to “pan-entertainment” and “fanning circle”, and the external interference of the political situation across the strait. The combined forces of these factors made the Pili puppet show suffered a severe setback in the mainland market. In the future development, the Pili puppet show should seek common ground while reserving differences, seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, give full play to the identity advantages of traditional culture while avoiding differences and differences, establish a good brand image, and achieve long-term development in the mainland market.