{ "id": "epsag1tr7f", "slug": "boonie-bears-guardian-code", "title": "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts", "label": "Animated and short films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-features-by-country", "label": "Animated films by country and region", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-features-by-country" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "China · 2021 and later: Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021", "label": "China · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code (熊出没·伴我“熊芯”) is a 2023 Chinese animated film, the ninth in the Boonie Bears franchise, directed by Lin Yongchang and Shao Heqi.", "snippet": "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code (熊出没·伴我“熊芯”) is a 2023 Chinese animated film, the ninth in the Boonie Bears franchise, directed by Lin Yongchang and Shao Heqi.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.animated-features-by-country", "markdown": "# Boonie Bears: Guardian Code\n\n**Boonie Bears: Guardian Code** (熊出没·伴我“熊芯”) is a 2023 Chinese animated film, the ninth theatrical feature in the [Boonie Bears](https://www.edgepedia.org/boonie-bears) franchise produced by Fantawild Animation. It was released in mainland China on 22 January 2023, the first day of the [Lunar New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/lunar-new-year) holiday, and became the highest-grossing film in the series.[1](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2256318/info/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/22/boonie-bears-guardian-code-review) The film was directed by Lin Yongchang (林永长) and Shao Heqi (邵和麒), written by Xu Yun, Cui Tiezhi, and Liu Zunjie, and produced by [Fantawild](https://www.edgepedia.org/fantawild) (Shenzhen) Animation with Hengdian Entertainment, China Film, Wanda Film, and Lianrui Pictures.[3](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/boonie-bears-guardian-code) • [1](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2256318/info/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Chinese title | 熊出没·伴我“熊芯” (Xiong Chu Mei Ban Wo Xiong Xin)[3](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/boonie-bears-guardian-code) |\n| Release | 22 January 2023, mainland China, Lunar New Year holiday slot[1](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2256318/info/) |\n| Directors | Lin Yongchang and Shao Heqi; production company Fantawild Animation[3](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/boonie-bears-guardian-code) |\n| Box office | $217,400,000 in China, the franchise's highest-grossing film[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr1537102341/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/22/boonie-bears-guardian-code-review) |\n| Series milestone | First Boonie Bears film to pass the 1 billion yuan mark, reaching 11.5亿元 (about 1.15 billion yuan) after 13 days[5](https://news.bjd.com.cn/2023/02/04/10324556.shtml) |\n| Running time | 96 minutes per the Chinese film database; 94 minutes on the Australian classification record[1](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2256318/info/) • [3](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/boonie-bears-guardian-code) |\n| Awards | Golden Dolphin Award (Silver), 15th Xiamen International Animation Festival; Bronze Best Animated Film, 20th Chinese Animation Golden Dragon Awards[1](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2256318/info/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe film follows the bear brothers Briar and Bramble, who lost their mother at a young age in mysterious circumstances involving a fire. Years later, logger Vick takes the bears to visit a Robot Research Institute on an island, where they encounter a white bear resembling their mother and uncover a clue about her disappearance.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/boonie_bears_guardian_code) • [3](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/boonie-bears-guardian-code) The brothers become entangled in a kidnapping plot by a robot bandit gang, and Briar, who never came to terms with being abandoned, recognizes the white bear as his mother. As the villains surface, he learns the truth of what happened years before.[1](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2256318/info/)\n\nThe central twist ties the mother's story to artificial intelligence: the filmmakers combined the mother-bear character with an AI setting and a memory-erasure premise, drawing inspiration from real-world robotics.[7](https://chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20230118/202301180201156403.pdf) The film also shows the mother as a novice parent learning to care for the cubs, a portrayal the directors built from the experiences of mothers on the production team.[7](https://chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20230118/202301180201156403.pdf)\n\n## Production\n\nFantawild runs the series on a project system with parallel teams. Guardian Code's production team numbered more than 400 people, organized into specialized groups, with core creators in a separate group reviewing and correcting output at each stage.[8](https://www.taptap.cn/moment/374621081165630585) The visual effects work covered rain, animal fur, energy effects, lightning, shattering, ice, and exhaust effects, across 458 effects shots.[5](https://news.bjd.com.cn/2023/02/04/10324556.shtml)\n\nThe setting moved away from the series' northeastern forest to an island, which commentators noted broadened the film's visual range and audience.[9](https://www.cflac.org.cn/zgysb/dz/ysb/page_4/202301/P020230115813759127390.pdf) The mother bear's return was a response to years of audience requests; she had appeared only briefly in an earlier film eight years before, and infant versions of Briar and Bramble appear on screen for the first time.[7](https://chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20230118/202301180201156403.pdf)\n\n## Box office and reception\n\nReleased in the 2023 Spring Festival slot, the film earned 11.5亿元 (about 1.15 billion yuan) in its first 13 days, becoming the first film in the nine-film series to cross the 1 billion yuan threshold and the first animated film to reach the top three of a Spring Festival box office.[5](https://news.bjd.com.cn/2023/02/04/10324556.shtml) By mid-February 2023 its running total stood at 12.97亿元, and the franchise's cumulative box office passed 5 billion yuan.[10](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_21887765) [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records $217,400,000 in China, with smaller international releases in Russia/CIS, the [United Arab Emirates](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-arab-emirates), Lithuania, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czechia, and Türkiye between 2023 and 2025.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr1537102341/) The Guardian called it the franchise's highest-grossing film and the second-biggest Chinese film of 2023 at the time of writing, behind [The Wandering Earth 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-wandering-earth-2).[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/22/boonie-bears-guardian-code-review)\n\nCritical response was mixed to positive. The Guardian's review found the plot points generic but well executed, praising the detailed CGI bear designs and lively action while noting wooden voice work in the English dub.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/22/boonie-bears-guardian-code-review) Chinese critics highlighted the film's fusion of science fiction with family themes: Chen Xuguang, a professor at [Peking University](https://www.edgepedia.org/peking-university)'s School of Arts, described it as an \"animal kingdom\" counterpart to Hi, Mom, arguing that the film answers whether humans can accept an artificial intelligence that has developed emotion.[11](https://www.chinafilmnews.cn/mobile/Qnews.php?id=10886) Reviewers at a China Film Association seminar praised the mother-bear character's depth and the realistic rendering of a scene of Briar in the rain.[9](https://www.cflac.org.cn/zgysb/dz/ysb/page_4/202301/P020230115813759127390.pdf)\n\n## Classification and content\n\nThe Australian Classification Board rated the film PG with consumer advice of \"mild themes and animated violence, some scenes may upset young children\", citing themes of parental loss, science fiction themes involving evil robots, and animated combat between robots, bears, and humans using laser light force and hand-to-hand combat.[3](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/boonie-bears-guardian-code) Common Sense Media described the English-dubbed version as a downbeat and often violent action adventure with little brightness in its story of two orphaned cubs.[12](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/boonie-bears-guardian-code)\n\n## Place in the series\n\nThe Boonie Bears film series began in 2014 with Boonie Bears: Mystical Winter (熊出没之夺宝熊兵) and has released a feature in nearly every Spring Festival period since, becoming a fixture of [Chinese New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/chinese-new-year) family viewing.[13](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/images/2024-02/02/07/rmrbhwb2024020207.pdf) Guardian Code was the first entry in which the mother of Briar and Bramble formally appeared on screen, eight years after a brief appearance in an earlier film, and it revealed the brothers' backstory.[7](https://chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20230118/202301180201156403.pdf) • [14](https://ep.ycwb.com/epaper/ycwb/resfile/2023-01-22/A05/ycwb20230122A05.pdf) Its success established a new single-film box office record for the series, surpassing the 9.77亿元 of [Boonie Bears: Back to Earth](https://www.edgepedia.org/boonie-bears-back-to-earth) (2022).[15](https://www.sohu.com/a/638900803_388075)\n\n## References\n\n1. [熊出没·伴我“熊芯”详细资料, 1905电影网](https://www.1905.com/mdb/film/2256318/info/)\n2. [Boonie Bears: Guardian Code review, The Guardian (22 May 2023)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/22/boonie-bears-guardian-code-review)\n3. [Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/boonie-bears-guardian-code)\n4. [Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/releasegroup/gr1537102341/)\n5. [《熊出没·伴我“熊芯”》上映13天票房11.5亿元, 北京日报网 (4 February 2023)](https://news.bjd.com.cn/2023/02/04/10324556.shtml)\n6. [Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/boonie_bears_guardian_code)\n7. [中国电影报 (18 January 2023)](https://chinafilmnews.cn/UploadFiles/file/20230118/202301180201156403.pdf)\n8. [十年，你看不起的《熊出没》成了国产第一, TapTap](https://www.taptap.cn/moment/374621081165630585)\n9. [中国艺术报 (16 January 2023)](https://www.cflac.org.cn/zgysb/dz/ysb/page_4/202301/P020230115813759127390.pdf)\n10. [《熊出没》系列正走在工业化路上, 澎湃新闻 (12 February 2023)](https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_21887765)\n11. [人机关系的“伦理想象”, 中国电影报 (8 February 2023)](https://www.chinafilmnews.cn/mobile/Qnews.php?id=10886)\n12. [Boonie Bears: Guardian Code Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/boonie-bears-guardian-code)\n13. [人民日报海外版 (2 February 2024)](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/images/2024-02/02/07/rmrbhwb2024020207.pdf)\n14. [羊城晚报 (22 January 2023)](https://ep.ycwb.com/epaper/ycwb/resfile/2023-01-22/A05/ycwb20230122A05.pdf)\n15. [《熊出没·伴我“熊芯“》：持续成长的常青树, 搜狐/中国电影报 (9 February 2023)](https://www.sohu.com/a/638900803_388075)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Animated films by country and region*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/boonie-bears-guardian-code", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/boonie-bears-guardian-code.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Boonie Bears: Guardian Code\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/boonie-bears-guardian-code. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Boonie Bears: Guardian Code](https://www.edgepedia.org/boonie-bears-guardian-code)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/boonie-bears-guardian-code](https://www.edgepedia.org/boonie-bears-guardian-code). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Boonie Bears: Guardian Code\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/boonie-bears-guardian-code. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Boonie Bears: Guardian Code is a 2023 Chinese animated film, the ninth in the Boonie Bears franchise, directed by Lin Yongchang and Shao Heqi." }