NFTs of famous Hong Kong cartoon character McDull to be auctioned by Sotheby’s in January

As if having your own bronze statue on Hong Kong’s Avenue of Stars isn’t enough, McDull has been further immortalised in NFTs.

Two non-fungible tokens of Hong Kong’s favourite porcine cartoon character will be auctioned by Sotheby’s later in January, along with original manuscripts and new cartoon strips about McDull and his cousin McMug created by illustrator Alice Mak Ka-bik and writer Brian Tse Lap-man, the auction house announced on Monday.

NFTs are digital contracts built on the same blockchain technology behind cryptocurrencies and are designed as permanent and immutable records of how the ownership of assets such as digital art is passed from one person to another. They are essentially certificates of authenticity for digital art – the very thing Tse and Mak were interested in, they said in an emailed statement.

One of the NFTs will come as a special picture frame displaying a 3D animation of McDull appearing as Prince de la Bun, the Hong Kong version of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, with a pineapple bun on his head, guarding a rose (something that viewers of the 2004 film McDull, Prince De La Bun will understand). According to the description: “As his rose bud blooms, the look on McDull’s face changes from anticipation to excitement while stars glimmer in the background.”

The other NFT is a 3D animation of McDull with his class at the Springfield Flowers Kindergarten, looking comical in animal costumes as they get ready to perform on stage. This one comes with a soundtrack that all McMug and McDull fans would recognise: the Springfield Flower Kindergarten’s school anthem, or Chun Tian Hua Hua Kindergarten School Song, as it is called in the auction catalogue.

Buyer of this NFT will receive it in a glasses-free 3D display screen with built-in speakers, with the animated footage of the characters singing and playing musical instruments programmed to play on a loop.