The origin of Chinese animation can be said to be truly from scratch.
In the winter of 1920, the American cartoon "Popeye" was released in Shanghai. Four brothers, Wan Laiming, Wan Guchan, Wan Chaochen, and Wan Dihuan, who worked at the Commercial Press, went to the cinema to watch "foreign cartoons" that could move on their own without being pulled.
This sight inspired them to want to make a domestic cartoon. But how can foreigners tell you the secrets of cartoons?
In the following years, in an alley on Tiantong'an Road, Zhabei, Shanghai, neighbors could often see that the 7-square-meter pavilion where the four Wan brothers lived was always lit all night long. They studied day and night in this special cartoon laboratory.
In this small pavilion, the Wan brothers drew dozens of pages of pictures of cats and mice on the corner of each page of a thick book, making the distance between cats and mice Draw closer and closer, then quickly turn the pages of the book.
Alive! In this rapid churning, cats were seen running to catch mice, while mice were running away desperately. With their own wisdom and research, the Wan brothers finally found the key to "moving" animation.
With no equipment, they used the money they saved to buy a dilapidated camera from a garage sale and converted it into a homemade frame camera; without experience, they explored step by step by shooting animated advertisements.
In 1926, China's first cartoon "Havoc in the Studio" was finally born in this small pavilion: the painter played by Wan Laiming was painting in the studio, and a paper man jumped out of the ink bottle to follow. He caused trouble and made a scene in the studio.
From the very beginning, Chinese cartoons have been full of unbridled imagination.
Wan Laiming once said: "Who is the first Chinese to go to heaven in the world? Sun Wukong." Therefore, "Princess Iron Fan" written and directed by the Wan brothers - China's first animated feature film The film - the main character is Sun Monkey who pops out of a stone.
After a year and a half of hard work, more than 100 people participated in the drawing, nearly 20,000 drawings, more than 6,000 meters of raw footage, and the finished film was more than 2,500 meters long. The final 80-minute cartoon was completed in September 1941. The film was released simultaneously in three theaters in Greater Shanghai, Shin Kong and Huguang for more than a month, with unprecedented success.
"Japan's "Astro Boy" director Osamu Tezuka said that it was watching the film "Princess Iron Fan" that inspired him to devote himself to animation creation, so he thinks Wan Suming is My own enlightenment teacher," said Zhang Songlin, director of "Brainless and Unhappy" and secretary-general of the China Animation Society.
Golden Age: Wukong rushes out of the country
Have you seen "Zhu Bajie Eats Watermelon"? It was China's first paper-cut film.
Have you ever watched "Tadpole Looking for Mom"? It was China's first ink cartoon.
Have you seen "Smart Duck"? It was the first origami film in China.
Zhang Songlin said that it was really the golden age of Chinese animation. "With the founding of the People's Republic of China, everything was ready to be revitalized, and Chinese animation also ushered in its spring. In February 1950, Shanghai Film Group established an 'artistic film group', quietly playing the prelude to the golden age of Chinese animated films."
In 1955, "Why Are Crows Black" produced by the Shanghai Film Art Group won an international award, but team leader Te Wei heard that his film was mistaken for an Eastern European animation work. Tewei, who was unhappy, began to think deeply: China has a long cultural connotation, and the key for domestic cartoons to go global is to find its own national style.
With the establishment of Shanghai Art Film Studio on April 1, 1957, Chinese cartoons began to develop rapidly in the direction of nationalization and professionalization. In the eight years from the establishment of "Meiying" to 1965, my country's animated films experienced their first creative climax, which is known as the "Golden Age" of animation. During this period, 105 films were produced, including 40 cartoons, 37 puppet films, 16 paper-cut films, 3 origami films, and 9 puppet documentaries.
Only those with a nation have life.
Just like an elegant picture album, the quiet lotus pond scenery, and the fish, shrimps, and frogs painted by the painter Qi Baishi come alive on the screen. "Tadpole Looking for Mom" ??introduces ink painting, a new type of animation unique to China, with its unique The unique sense of space and modeling expression have made it a charming and unique flower in the forest of animation art in the world. Mr. Mao Dun commented: "Mo Xiao's story contains philosophy, painting and poetry, and it has all three beauties."
This is a myth that cannot be ignored in the history of Chinese animation: "The Big Brother" The Sun Wukong in "Havoc in Heaven" is still an animated character that children talk about today.
"At that time, there was no image of Sun Wukong that could be imitated. The only things we could learn from were Peking Opera facial makeup and the image of Sun Wukong in the painter Zhang Guangyu's "Journey to the West." Facial makeup is a unique art form in China. It has exaggerated beauty and rich national heritage, and everyone is familiar with it, so the face shape of Sun Wukong was determined," recalled Yan Dingxian, one of the creators of "Havoc in Heaven".
Yan Dingxian and his wife Lin Wenxiao were newly married at the time and were the two youngest original painters in the seven-person original painting team of "Havoc in Heaven". Compared to the average American cartoon, which has 30 main animators, and Japan's main animators, which have dozens, "Havoc in Heaven" was entirely hand-drawn by seven animators. "The movements of Sun Wukong cannot be purely based on imagination, but were created by the original animators based on observing their own expressions and the movements of people around them, combined with the characteristics of the monkey shrugging and shrinking. We once went to the Peking Opera Academy and talked with the students there. Let’s learn movements such as cloud hand and appearance together, just to better draw the Monkey King’s skills.”
It has a total length of 11,000 feet, and since 1960, it has included hundreds of people working in directing, dubbing, and sound production. It took the staff nearly four years to complete "Havoc in Heaven". Divided into two parts, "Havoc in Heaven" gained international recognition after its release. Walter Durrell, representative of the U.S.-China Import and Export Corporation, said: "This kind of cartoon is so lifelike that the United States will never be able to produce such a cartoon."
"Havoc in Heaven" has created the highest output of Chinese animated films. The record, by 1984, had been released in 44 countries and regions, and its popularity continued.
Where is the road to the rise of Chinese animation?
Qu Jianfang still clearly remembers that in the 1980s and 1990s, "Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck", "Cat and Tom" "Rat", "Doraemon", "Slam Dunk", "Saint Seiya"... Foreign animations entered China one after another and quickly found their fans.
What about us? In addition to "Sun Wukong", there is "Calabash Baby". As if encountering a "Waterloo", China's original animation was once beautiful, but today it is no longer the same. Embarrassment permeates the air in the Chinese animation industry.
On the one hand, China’s animation craze continues to heat up——
As one of the largest consumers of the animation industry in the world, Snoopy, Mickey Mouse, KITTY Cat, The five cartoon characters of Pikachu and Tinker Bell can earn a net profit of 600 million yuan in China every year. Today, the camp of animation fans across all ages is getting bigger and bigger: the two animation exhibitions held in Shanghai in June this year alone attracted more than 100,000 people in just 6 days. At the "Cartoon Story" scene, there were even long lines of people queuing up to buy tickets every day.
The country’s policy support is also constantly being introduced: from the second half of 2004 to the first half of 2005 alone, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television approved 323 national TV cartoon-themed dramas, 36,038 episodes, and nearly 400,000 minutes; in addition , in addition to the cartoons broadcast on the children's channel, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television also supports three TV stations in Beijing, Shanghai and Hunan to establish animation satellite channels.
But on the other hand, China's animation industry has been constantly poured cold water on -
The first one to bear the brunt is "making wedding dresses for others." Guo Hong, associate professor at the School of Journalism at Fudan University and head of the National Social Science Animation Research Group, pointed out: “Due to the lack of successful creativity and commercial operations, Chinese animation has become a world-famous ‘animation wage earner’.
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Chen Ming, the art director and production director of the animated film "Mobius Ring" said: "Many Chinese companies have been doing animation 'processing' since the 1980s, even if it is produced by China Animation The works of creative masters are still labeled as Disney or foreign brands when sent abroad. For example, fragments of "The Lion King", "The Wizard of Oz" and "Batman" were all processed and produced in China. What is helpless is that these works have returned to their ‘homeland’ in large numbers and are consumed by countless people. "
Secondly, traditional themes have been plundered. For example, "Mulan" was first made into a movie by Disney; "Three Kingdoms", which is also a traditional Chinese theme, became Japan's mahjong game, and "Water Margin" Chinese classics such as "Journey to the West" and "Journey to the West" have been registered as game trademarks by Japanese companies in China.
Where is the path for Chinese animation to rise?
Tomorrow, "Baolian Lantern" is not enough
Do you know "Baolian Lantern"? It can be called the pioneer of modern animation in China. However, its box office is far less than "The Lion King". Where?
China has had many successful cartoons, but there has never been a successful animation industry. Guo Hong, associate professor at the School of Journalism at Fudan University, believes: "Animation should be an industry. The gap between us and the current animation developed countries is largely caused by the two sides’ different understanding and positioning of animation. ”
Facts are the best footnote. Today, Japan’s animation industry has become the second pillar industry of its national economy. The export volume of the animation industry in the United States has surpassed its automobile and aviation products, and as a rising star The economic status of South Korea's animation industry has also ranked fourth.
We can no longer immerse ourselves in the glory of the past. A change from the inside out is absolutely impossible for Chinese animation. Less.
The first is a change in concepts. Fu Tiezheng, deputy director of the Cartoon Art Committee of the China Television Artists Association, believes that "Chinese animation creation should not place too much emphasis on entertainment. Practice has proved that the consequences of emphasizing the former are harmful. Teaching is no fun. Therefore, Chinese children do not like to see it, and foreign children cannot understand it. Secondly, animation is not for young children, it should be for all ages. "
Li Yongming, a professor at Zhejiang University Law School, believes: "Domestic animation companies lack crisis awareness. Taking trademark squatting as an example, they have not realized that if traditional masterpieces become the trademarks of foreign companies, then domestic software , animation companies will be unable to develop and utilize these works. ”
Xia Ying, deputy director of the Animation Industry Research Institute of Zhejiang University, believes: “People have regarded animation as a resource that can bring huge commercial value. Due to its nature, the industry needs to propose commercialization rights legislation in a timely manner to strengthen the intellectual property protection of the animation industry. ”
All the above-mentioned changes in concepts ultimately point to the establishment of an animation “industrial chain.”
In order for Chinese animation to catch up, in addition to developing original animation, it must Establish a complete industrial chain from original creation to derivatives licensing and development. Compared with countries such as the United States, Japan, and South Korea, China's animation industry has not yet formed a complete production, operation, and distribution system, and it lags behind in the market development of animation derivatives. < /p>
Take the cartoon "The Wandering Story of Sanmao" as an example. One of the reasons for its success is the close integration of the production chain and the industrial chain. Fili, a famous Australian toy developer responsible for the "development" of Sanmao derivatives. Jia Songning, chief creative director of the group, said: "The company has conceived and designed many derivative products for Sanmao, including online games, bubble noodles, T-shirts and comic character toys of Sanmao and his good friends, etc. "
For the future of Chinese animation, only a "Lotus Lantern" is not enough;
Chinese animation has gone through 80 years, and now it is making progress from scratch, and there is a long way to go! (Trainee reporter Han Jing, Li Junna/Intern Xie Jingjing)