A screen capture from Monkey King: Hero is back.[Photo/Agencies]

The overwhelming success of a China-made animation has trained the spotlight on a burgeoning mode of Internet finance -- crowdfunding.

The novel fundraising channel impressed many Chinese movie-goers when "Monkey King: Hero is Back" presented a long producer list that included 109 children, whose parents pooled money to aid in the movie's marketing.

More inspiring is the news that the parents, who have invested a total of 7 million yuan ($1.1 million), will get more than 30 million yuan in return thanks to the film's immense box office success.

China's largest blackhorse movie this summer, the "Monkey King" amassed 700 million yuan in ticket sales as of July 28, beating "Kung Fu Panda 2" as the top-grossing animated film in Chinese cinemas.

Lu Wei, producer of the film, said he posted the crowdfunding bid on WeChat, a mobile messaging app, in late 2014 when the film was near completion. The initiative attracted many parents who made donations ranging from several thousands to over 100,000 yuan.

"Their participation contributed greatly to the movie -- they are not just funders, but also enthusiastic promoters who actively advertised for the film. Some booked the entire cinema for the film's screening," he said.