Spring House Entertainment Inc is a Taiwanese animation studio founded in February 2000 by Micho Chang. After spending about twenty years as a television and music video director, Chang was not happy with his role in the entertainment industry. In one interview, Chang stated, "I always thought that I was an artist, but gradually I realized that I was just a subcontractor, creating for client needs rather than for personal expression."[1] He launched Spring House Entertainment and created an animated character – a ten-year-old boy named A-kuei, who lives in the fictional town of Springfall.[1][2]
The studio is based in Taipei, Taiwan. Since January 17, 2008, Spring House Entertainment Inc. has operated as a subsidiary of Chunghwa Telecom Company, Ltd.[3]
Several short films about A-kuei, ranging in length from ninety seconds to two minutes,[2] have been released through Spring House Entertainment's website.[1][2] According to Taiwan Info, A-kuei first became popular in the wake of a Taiwanese earthquake when many people found his character to be comforting. His popularity extended to Silicon Valley and rose as his short films spread across the internet through email.[1]
Short films featuring A-kuei use a simple visual style that Chang has compared to that of South Park.[1] In the early days of Spring House Entertainment, the company worked on a very limited budget.[1][2] Most of its income at that time was earned through advertising and merchandising, since the internet was still fairly rudimentary in Taiwan and was not extensively used in the country.[1] However, in June 2002, Spring House Entertainment began charging for subscriptions to its website.[2]