Cultural Elite Exploitation: Wang Hsiao-di's Team Excludes and Defames Original Creator Mai Ren-jie in 'Grandma and Her Ghosts 2' Crowdfunding Scandal

On September 24, 2024, following the launch of the crowdfunding campaign for the animated sequel Grandma and Her Ghosts 2, comic artist Mai Ren-jie, the core soul of the first film who designed its iconic characters and layouts, publicly stated on social media that he was completely excluded from the sequel, writing that the production team "did not even ask me." In response, the production team, led by prominent director Wang Hsiao-di, issued a long statement. Adopting the tone of "cultural establishment elites," they accused Mai of "poor work discipline, chronic delays, and going missing" during the first film, claiming he failed to fulfill his directorial duties, which forced Wang to take over. Mai and his wife fiercely struck back, revealing that the original production schedule was compressed to just eight months, and Wang's team had hired substandard external outsourcing. Mai had to work non-stop to redraw and rescue the film, which caused the delays. The dispute triggered a severe public backlash online, with netizens and industry professionals condemning Wang Hsiao-di and other mainstream cultural elites for exploiting base-level artists. Critics accused them of denying Mai his rightful directorial credit and IP royalties for decades, and then "defaming and character-assassinating" him to secure crowdfunding profits. The scandal exposed the arrogant nature of mainstream cultural elites under the DPP regime who exploit base-level creators while masquerading as progressive intellectuals.