History of Chinese animation
Encyclopedia
The history of Chinese Animation
began in the 20th century in the Republic of China
when the people became fascinated with the idea of animation. A lengthy history interlocks between the art, politics and the ever-changing economy.
the first zoetrope
was invented by Ting Huan (丁緩).
The modern cartoon industry began in France in 1888, invented by Charles-Émile Reynaud
. Chinese animation started in the 1920s, inspired by French, German, Russian and mostly American productions. One of the first examples of foreign animation did not land in Shanghai until 1918. This piece of animation from the US was titled (从墨水瓶里跳出来), known today as Out of the Inkwell
.
In 1922 Wan Laiming
produced the first animation in a cartoon advertisement for the Shuzhendong Chinese Typewriter
. Followed by the 1924 cartoon short Dog Treat. Shanghai tobacco company also produced a cartoon called New Year
. These are the earliest known cartoon shorts.
In 1926 the 4 Wan brothers
, Wan Laiming
, Wan Guchan
，Wan Chaochen
and Wan Dihuan
worked under the Great Wall Film Company
in China, not to be confused with Great Wall Movie Enterprises Ltd
. Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan were then recognized as China's animation pioneers when they produced the first animation short Uproar in the Studio
running 10 to 12 minutes long in black and white. The brothers believed that Chinese animation should be instructive, logical and thought-provoking besides being entertaining to its audience. They wanted to emphasize the development of an animation style that was uniquely Chinese. It was a common trend at the time to combine live action film footages with 2D animation. By 1932 one of the Wan brothers, Wan Di-huan, would voluntarily leave the Great Wall Film company for his own photography studio. Some of the first wave of influential American animations that reached Shanghai were Popeye
(大力水手), and a show known as (勃比小姐) that may be an off translation to what is known today as Betty Boop
.
By 1935 the Wan brothers would launch the first animation with sound titled The Camel’s Dance
. Four years later in 1939, America's Disney's Snow White
would also be introduced in Shanghai and it would be a great influence. In 1941 China's first animated feature film
of notable length, Princess Iron Fan
, was released under very difficult conditions during Second Sino-Japanese War
and World War II using extensive rotoscoping. While there were overlapping progress made in the Asian regions with Japanese anime at the time, they were not geographically or artistically influential to China directly. During the Japanese invasion period, the brothers produced more than 20 animated propaganda shorts focusing on various patriotic topics from resistance against Japanese troops
, opium
and imperialism
.
. It is the first known studio established by a communist party
. In 1947 productions such as Emperor's Dream
used puppets in an exaggerated way to expose corruption of the Kuomintang
Chinese nationalist party. The idea of using political content in puppetry films was becoming acceptable, and animators took note on their success. An example of such documentary-type cartoons can be found in Go After an Easy Prey
(1948). In 1948 the Northeast studio would change its name to Shanghai Picture Studio Group. On October 1, 1949, China would enter a new communist era led by Mao Zedong
.
would combine with other divisions to become the predecessor of Shanghai Animation Film Studio
. The Wan brothers, Central Academy of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Suzhou
and many other big name artists would all be concentrated in this studio for the first time. Among the talent is Japanese animator Tadahito Mochinaga
who would spent time in Shanghai creating Thank You, Kitty. Three years later he would depart for Japan, becoming possibly the only artist to have worked in both Chinese and Japanese industry in the era. By 1956 the Wan brothers have created the first colored animation of notable length titled Why is the Crow Black-Coated
, which became the first Chinese animation recognized internationally.
In April 1957 the central government would begin sponsoring the studio making it the nation's first and official animation factory. From the technology standpoint, China's animation was still relatively on pace with the rest of the world. In 1958 the Wan brothers created a new animation film technique based on the folk art cut-paper animation, which was demonstrated in Pigsy Eats Watermelon
. At the same time another technique called origami
animation was also developed by Yu Zheguang (虞哲光) in 1960, in the film A Clever Duckling. Also in 1960 the first set of animation film exhibitions were held in 6 major cities including Shanghai and Beijing, followed by exhibitions in Hong Kong in 1962 and Macau
in 1963.
The Wan brothers would receive the most recognition for their film Havoc in Heaven
, since it was well known among ordinary citizens. The development spanned 4 years from 1961 to 1964. It ran for nearly 2 hours pushing the technology to the limit with some of the most vivid colors ever put to the screen.
It can be said that in the short run, the financing of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio was strictly an extension of Mao's Anti-Rightist Movement
following up on speeches like “Let hundreds of flowers blossom and hundreds of schools of thought contend" (百花齐放，百家争鸣). Mao has publicly admitted that promoting new art forms and institutions was vital to the new China
. Though with time, his political campaign would prove to be a major backlash to the industry. Putting an end to the golden era.
Animations were considered technological marvels up until the cultural revolution
kicked into full gear in 1967. By now Mao Zedong
was promoting the animation industry only under the circumstances that it was a useful propaganda
tool for his Hundred Flowers Campaign
. He would send a dangerous message to the animation industry, since his regime
allowed complete freedom of expression, yet persecuted those who had views different from his political party. The revolution was widely known for the red guard
destruction crusades that would destroy artifacts, antiques, paintings, books and anything of conflicting value. Some of the artists were humiliated, forced to become farmers in the countryside, accept re-education or sent to prison. Some of the famous artists in the film and literature industry would rather commit suicide than to be humiliated. Most of the animators were not allowed to draw and forced to do labor work. The persecutions would grow exponentially worse from 1966 to 1972, labeling the period "catastrophic" for the industry.
The Chinese animation industry was practically put on pause for a decade until 1976 when the cultural revolution was over. What is left of the period were animations that heavily favored Mao's campaign if not furthered his ideology. Animations such as Little Trumpeter in 1973, a story about a young boy named "Xiaoyong" who became a heroic red guard soldier. Other animations from the same year include Little 8th Route Army
, a story about a boy taking on revenge against the Imperial Japanese Army
. Or Little Sentinel of East China Sea a story about a young girl named "Jiedaling" who followed 3 chemical warfare workers in disguise, and called upon the People's Liberation Army
to wipe out the enemy.
By 1978 it was clear that significant damage have been done by the cultural revolution. An indication of where China has dropped in rank was apparent. In the 20 year span from 1960 to 1989 from the theater standpoint, the majority of cartoons in Hong Kong were imported from the US. It was typical to play American movies in major cinemas preceded by an American cartoon segment. Sometimes the segment would even be shown in its entirety. An MGM or Disney movie was almost certain to be preceded by another Disney animation.
From the home animation standpoint, Japan have already emerged as the dominant animation provider in the Far East
. Their export of anime TV series would reach Hong Kong, Europe and the Middle East in mass quantities via analog broadcasts directly to home. Some of the more popular shows include Doraemon
and Transformers
, which was accompanied by one of the most successful toyline
in history. It was difficult for China to compete directly at home or on the big screen.
Nonetheless the Chinese animation industry would begin to reproduce animations in a new direction. Shanghai Animation Film Studio would launch 219 animation films in the 1980s. In 1979 Nezha
was one of the first notable animations shown during the rebirth period. Other films include Snow Kid
(1980), Lao Mountain Taoist
(1981), The Deer's Bell
(1982) and Legend of Sealed Book
(1983). Among the works Three Monks
(1980) and Feeling from Mountain and Water
(1988) were among the few animations that managed to earn awards.
, foreign animations like Pokémon
have already been popularized worldwide spawning $15 billion in sales. The commercialization and innovation of Japanese and American animations pushed the traditional Chinese animations out of the market. Complaints have been heard throughout the 90s about the problems facing Chinese animation. Numerous artists even ended up adopting into American and Japanese animation styles, with more noticeable changes in manhua
work.
Shanghai Studio Director Jin Guoping:
By the end of the millennium, the Internet opened up the Chinese animation industry a great deal. Software such as Adobe Flash
and venues such as YouTube and clones thereof allow for independent animators to produce Webtoon
s by themselves as long as they have a computer and an internet connection. More expensive animation products from Autodesk
, Newtek
and Adobe
were on the horizon for animation schools to adopt. When Xiao Xiao
was released on the internet it draw many attention one of the many famous Chinese webtoon.
CGI
special effects increased to the point where many new Chinese animation movies and series had begin to adopted by mid-2000s with some example of DragonBlade: The Legend of Lang
, Century Sonny
, etc.
Chinese animation
Chinese animation or Manhua Anime, in narrow sense, refers to animations that are made in China. In broad sense, it may refers to animations that are made in any Chinese speaking countries such as People's Republic of China , Republic of China , Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.- History :The...
began in the 20th century in the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
when the people became fascinated with the idea of animation. A lengthy history interlocks between the art, politics and the ever-changing economy.
Early history
In around 180 A.D.Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
the first zoetrope
Zoetrope
A zoetrope is a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures. The term zoetrope is from the Greek words "ζωή – zoe", "life" and τρόπος – tropos, "turn". It may be taken to mean "wheel of life"....
was invented by Ting Huan (丁緩).
The modern cartoon industry began in France in 1888, invented by Charles-Émile Reynaud
Charles-Émile Reynaud
Charles-Émile Reynaud was a French science teacher, responsible for the first projected animated cartoon films....
. Chinese animation started in the 1920s, inspired by French, German, Russian and mostly American productions. One of the first examples of foreign animation did not land in Shanghai until 1918. This piece of animation from the US was titled (从墨水瓶里跳出来), known today as Out of the Inkwell
Out of the Inkwell
Out of the Inkwell was a major animated series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929.The series was the result of three short experimental films that Max Fleischer independently produced in the period of 1914-1916 to demonstrate his invention, the Rotoscope, which was a...
.
Exploration periods (1920s–1945)
Wan Laiming
Wan Lai-Ming was born in Nanjing, China. He was one of the Wan brothers who pioneered the Chinese animation industry, and became China's first animator. As the director of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, he would raise the standard to International level before other historical events...
produced the first animation in a cartoon advertisement for the Shuzhendong Chinese Typewriter
Shuzhendong Chinese Typewriter
Shuzhendong Chinese Typewriter is the first Chinese animation ever made in 1922 by Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan.-Translations:There are 2 possible translations...
. Followed by the 1924 cartoon short Dog Treat. Shanghai tobacco company also produced a cartoon called New Year
New Year (1924 film)
New Year is a black and white Chinese animation made in 1924 by Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan.-History:It is a cartoon short produced under the "Shanghai Tobacco Company" . The clip was an advertisement. It is very likely that the company was actually the British American Tobacco Company given the...
. These are the earliest known cartoon shorts.
In 1926 the 4 Wan brothers
Wan brothers
The Wan Brothers were born in the early 20th century in Nanjing, China. They became the founders and pioneers of the Chinese animation industry and made the first Asian animation feature-length film, Princess Iron Fan in 1941.-Background:...
, Wan Laiming
Wan Laiming
Wan Lai-Ming was born in Nanjing, China. He was one of the Wan brothers who pioneered the Chinese animation industry, and became China's first animator. As the director of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, he would raise the standard to International level before other historical events...
, Wan Guchan
Wan Guchan
Wan Guchan was a Chinese filmmaker. Born in Nanjing, China, he was one of the Wan brothers who pioneered the Chinese animations industry.-Early history:Wan Guchan joined his twin brother Wan Laiming in most of the animation projects and experimentations....
，Wan Chaochen
Wan Chaochen
Wan Chao-Chan was born in Nanjing, China. He was one of the Wan brothers who pioneered the Chinese animations industry.-History:...
and Wan Dihuan
Wan Dihuan
Wan Dihuan was a Chinese filmmaker. Born in Nanjing, China, he was one of the Wan brothers who pioneered the Chinese animation industry...
worked under the Great Wall Film Company
Great Wall Film Company
Great Wall Film Company was one of the first Chinese film production companies based in Shanghai, China, in the 1920s.-Early history:The company was founded by and . At the time the Communist Party of China was just established, and the Northern Expedition was taking place.The first known film...
in China, not to be confused with Great Wall Movie Enterprises Ltd
Great Wall Movie Enterprises Ltd
Great Wall Studio was Hong Kong's leading left-wing studio and one committed to making progressive mandarin films with social content as well as entertainment value.-Overview:...
. Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan were then recognized as China's animation pioneers when they produced the first animation short Uproar in the Studio
Uproar in the Studio
Uproar in the Studio is a black and white Chinese animation short made in 1926 by Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan. The short film helped the Wan brothers become recognized as the official pioneer of the animation industry in China. The film is now lost....
running 10 to 12 minutes long in black and white. The brothers believed that Chinese animation should be instructive, logical and thought-provoking besides being entertaining to its audience. They wanted to emphasize the development of an animation style that was uniquely Chinese. It was a common trend at the time to combine live action film footages with 2D animation. By 1932 one of the Wan brothers, Wan Di-huan, would voluntarily leave the Great Wall Film company for his own photography studio. Some of the first wave of influential American animations that reached Shanghai were Popeye
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
(大力水手), and a show known as (勃比小姐) that may be an off translation to what is known today as Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
.
By 1935 the Wan brothers would launch the first animation with sound titled The Camel’s Dance
The Camel's Dance
The Camel's Dance is a black and white Chinese animation made in 1935 by 3 of the Wan brothers. It is considered the first animation with sound in China.-History:...
. Four years later in 1939, America's Disney's Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
would also be introduced in Shanghai and it would be a great influence. In 1941 China's first animated feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
of notable length, Princess Iron Fan
Princess Iron Fan (1941 film)
Princess Iron Fan , is the first Chinese animated feature film. It was directed in Shanghai under difficult conditions in the thick of World War II by Wan Guchan and Wan Laiming and was released on January 1, 1941.-Plot:...
, was released under very difficult conditions during Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
and World War II using extensive rotoscoping. While there were overlapping progress made in the Asian regions with Japanese anime at the time, they were not geographically or artistically influential to China directly. During the Japanese invasion period, the brothers produced more than 20 animated propaganda shorts focusing on various patriotic topics from resistance against Japanese troops
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
, opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
and imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
.
Steady development (1946–1949)
On October 1, 1946 a northeast motion picture studio was established in the Nenjiang province (龙江省兴山), known today as the Heilongjiang provinceHeilongjiang
For the river known in Mandarin as Heilong Jiang, see Amur River' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. "Heilongjiang" literally means Black Dragon River, which is the Chinese name for the Amur. The one-character abbreviation is 黑...
. It is the first known studio established by a communist party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
. In 1947 productions such as Emperor's Dream
Emperor's Dream
Emperor's Dream is a Chinese animated puppet film produced by the Northeast Film company in China.-Background:On October 1, 1946 the Northeast Film Studio was merged with the Yan'an Film Studio . The film is known to be produced in 1947 when the northeast company was being disintegrated from the...
used puppets in an exaggerated way to expose corruption of the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
Chinese nationalist party. The idea of using political content in puppetry films was becoming acceptable, and animators took note on their success. An example of such documentary-type cartoons can be found in Go After an Easy Prey
Go After an Easy Prey
Go After an Easy Prey is a Chinese animated film in black and white from 1948. It is also referred to as "Turtle Caught in a Jar".-Translation:The title of the film is a phrase describing something as easy to catch as a turtle...
(1948). In 1948 the Northeast studio would change its name to Shanghai Picture Studio Group. On October 1, 1949, China would enter a new communist era led by Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
.
Founding of Shanghai Arts and Film Studio (1950–1965)
In February 1950 the northeast groupNortheast Film Studio
Northeast Film Studio was one of the first formally-established movie production company in the northeast part of China.-Early history:After the War of Resistance against Japan the studio was established in the Dongbei territory of China. On October 1, 1946 the studio was relocated to Xingshan in...
would combine with other divisions to become the predecessor of Shanghai Animation Film Studio
Shanghai Animation Film Studio
Shanghai Animation Film Studio is the animation division of the Shanghai Film Group Corporation in Shanghai, China. It is responsible for the production of Chinese animations.-History:...
. The Wan brothers, Central Academy of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
and many other big name artists would all be concentrated in this studio for the first time. Among the talent is Japanese animator Tadahito Mochinaga
Tadahito Mochinaga
, also known as Tad Mochinaga, was a pioneer Japanese stop-motion animator. Having done many stop motion films/shorts in Japan, he is also best known as the animator for Rankin/Bass' "Animagic" specials/movies in the 1960s....
who would spent time in Shanghai creating Thank You, Kitty. Three years later he would depart for Japan, becoming possibly the only artist to have worked in both Chinese and Japanese industry in the era. By 1956 the Wan brothers have created the first colored animation of notable length titled Why is the Crow Black-Coated
Why Is the Crow Black-Coated
Why Is the Crow Black-Coated is the first Chinese animation in color produced at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio by Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan.-Plot:...
, which became the first Chinese animation recognized internationally.
In April 1957 the central government would begin sponsoring the studio making it the nation's first and official animation factory. From the technology standpoint, China's animation was still relatively on pace with the rest of the world. In 1958 the Wan brothers created a new animation film technique based on the folk art cut-paper animation, which was demonstrated in Pigsy Eats Watermelon
Pigsy Eats Watermelon
Pigsy Eats Watermelon is a chinese animation produced at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio by Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan. It is also referred to as "Mr. Pig Eats Watermelon" or "Zhu Bajie Eats Watermelon".-Story:...
. At the same time another technique called origami
Origami
is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century AD at the latest and was popularized outside Japan in the mid-1900s. It has since then evolved into a modern art form...
animation was also developed by Yu Zheguang (虞哲光) in 1960, in the film A Clever Duckling. Also in 1960 the first set of animation film exhibitions were held in 6 major cities including Shanghai and Beijing, followed by exhibitions in Hong Kong in 1962 and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
in 1963.
Havoc in Heaven
Havoc in Heaven , also known as Uproar in Heaven, is a Chinese animated feature film directed by Wan Laiming and produced by all four of the Wan brothers. The film was created at the height of the Chinese animation industry in the 1960s, and received numerous awards...
, since it was well known among ordinary citizens. The development spanned 4 years from 1961 to 1964. It ran for nearly 2 hours pushing the technology to the limit with some of the most vivid colors ever put to the screen.
It can be said that in the short run, the financing of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio was strictly an extension of Mao's Anti-Rightist Movement
Anti-Rightist Movement
The Anti-Rightist Movement of the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of a series of campaigns to purge alleged "rightists" within the Communist Party of China and abroad...
following up on speeches like “Let hundreds of flowers blossom and hundreds of schools of thought contend" (百花齐放，百家争鸣). Mao has publicly admitted that promoting new art forms and institutions was vital to the new China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. Though with time, his political campaign would prove to be a major backlash to the industry. Putting an end to the golden era.
Cultural Revolution interference (1966–1976)
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
kicked into full gear in 1967. By now Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
was promoting the animation industry only under the circumstances that it was a useful propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
tool for his Hundred Flowers Campaign
Hundred Flowers Campaign
The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement, refers mainly to a brief six weeks in the People's Republic of China in the early summer of 1957 during which the Communist Party of China encouraged a variety of views and solutions to national policy issues, launched...
. He would send a dangerous message to the animation industry, since his regime
Regime
The word regime refers to a set of conditions, most often of a political nature.-Politics:...
allowed complete freedom of expression, yet persecuted those who had views different from his political party. The revolution was widely known for the red guard
Red Guards (China)
Red Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the People's Republic of China , who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...
destruction crusades that would destroy artifacts, antiques, paintings, books and anything of conflicting value. Some of the artists were humiliated, forced to become farmers in the countryside, accept re-education or sent to prison. Some of the famous artists in the film and literature industry would rather commit suicide than to be humiliated. Most of the animators were not allowed to draw and forced to do labor work. The persecutions would grow exponentially worse from 1966 to 1972, labeling the period "catastrophic" for the industry.
The Chinese animation industry was practically put on pause for a decade until 1976 when the cultural revolution was over. What is left of the period were animations that heavily favored Mao's campaign if not furthered his ideology. Animations such as Little Trumpeter in 1973, a story about a young boy named "Xiaoyong" who became a heroic red guard soldier. Other animations from the same year include Little 8th Route Army
Little 8th Route Army
Little 8th Route Army is a Chinese animated puppet film. It is also referred to as "Little 8th Route Heroes" and "Small 8th Route Army".-Background:...
, a story about a boy taking on revenge against the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
. Or Little Sentinel of East China Sea a story about a young girl named "Jiedaling" who followed 3 chemical warfare workers in disguise, and called upon the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
to wipe out the enemy.
Reform period (1978–1989)
From the home animation standpoint, Japan have already emerged as the dominant animation provider in the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
. Their export of anime TV series would reach Hong Kong, Europe and the Middle East in mass quantities via analog broadcasts directly to home. Some of the more popular shows include Doraemon
Doraemon
is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko F. Fujio which later became an anime series and an Asian franchise...
and Transformers
The Transformers (TV series)
The Transformers is an animated television series depicting a war among giant robots who could transform into vehicles, other objects and animal-like forms. Written and recorded in America, the series was animated in Japan and South Korea...
, which was accompanied by one of the most successful toyline
Transformers (toy line)
The is a line of toys produced by the American toy company Hasbro. The Transformers toyline was created from toy molds mostly produced by Japanese company Takara in the toylines Diaclone and Microman. Other toy molds from other companies such as Bandai were used as well...
in history. It was difficult for China to compete directly at home or on the big screen.
Nonetheless the Chinese animation industry would begin to reproduce animations in a new direction. Shanghai Animation Film Studio would launch 219 animation films in the 1980s. In 1979 Nezha
Nezha (deity)
Nezha, Na Zha or Nata . He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" after he became a deity.Modern scholarship has shown that he is based on two figures from Hindu mythology, namely Nalakubar and Krishna....
was one of the first notable animations shown during the rebirth period. Other films include Snow Kid
Snow Kid
Snow Kid is a Chinese animated film produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It is also referred to as "Snow Child".-Story:...
(1980), Lao Mountain Taoist
Lao Mountain Taoist
Lao Mountain Taoist is a Chinese animated film produced by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio with stop motion-animated puppets and ink paint.-Background:...
(1981), The Deer's Bell
The Deer's Bell
The Deer's Bell is a Chinese animated film produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It is also referred to as "Bell on a Deer" and "Lu Ling".-Story:...
(1982) and Legend of Sealed Book
Legend of Sealed Book
Legend of Sealed Book is a Chinese animated feature film produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It is also referred to as "Book Which Came from the Sky", "Tales about the Heavenly Book" and "Secrets of the Heavenly Book".-Background:...
(1983). Among the works Three Monks
Three Monks
Three Monks is a Chinese animated feature film produced by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. After the cultural revolution and the fall of the political Gang of Four in 1976, the film was one of the first animations created as part of the rebirth period...
(1980) and Feeling from Mountain and Water
Feeling from Mountain and Water
Feeling from Mountain and Water is a Chinese animated short film produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio under the master animator Te Wei. It is also referred to as "Love of Mountain and River", "Feelings of Mountains and Waters".-Background:The film did not contain any dialogue, allowing it...
(1988) were among the few animations that managed to earn awards.
The Digital era (1990–present)
While China's broadcast was catching up on Doraemon on CCTVChina Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
, foreign animations like Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
have already been popularized worldwide spawning $15 billion in sales. The commercialization and innovation of Japanese and American animations pushed the traditional Chinese animations out of the market. Complaints have been heard throughout the 90s about the problems facing Chinese animation. Numerous artists even ended up adopting into American and Japanese animation styles, with more noticeable changes in manhua
Manhua
Manhua are Chinese comics originally produced in China. Possibly due to their greater degree of artistic freedom of expression and closer international ties with Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan have been the places of publication of most manhua thus far, often including Chinese translations of...
work.
Shanghai Studio Director Jin Guoping:
By the end of the millennium, the Internet opened up the Chinese animation industry a great deal. Software such as Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
and venues such as YouTube and clones thereof allow for independent animators to produce Webtoon
Webtoon
A webtoon is a less common term used to describe an animated comic strip that is distributed via the internet which are often created by amateur creators. Usually webtoons are drawn in full color and read in one long strip per chapter. They are commonly created using Flash, or a simple image...
s by themselves as long as they have a computer and an internet connection. More expensive animation products from Autodesk
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...
, Newtek
NewTek
NewTek, Inc. is a San Antonio, Texas-based hardware and software company that produces live and post-production video tools and visual imaging software for personal computers...
and Adobe
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
were on the horizon for animation schools to adopt. When Xiao Xiao
Xiao Xiao
Xiao Xiao is an internet Flash cartoon series by Chinese animator Zhu Zhiqiang, featuring stick-figure men performing choreographed fight scenes. Some of the cartoons are interactive and game-like. All cartoons are in the Adobe Flash format, although Xiao Xiao #1 was originally in AVI format...
was released on the internet it draw many attention one of the many famous Chinese webtoon.
CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
special effects increased to the point where many new Chinese animation movies and series had begin to adopted by mid-2000s with some example of DragonBlade: The Legend of Lang
DragonBlade: The Legend of Lang
DragonBlade: The Legend of Lang is the first 3D-CGI Chinese animated feature film from Hong Kong and directed by Antony szeto. It was produced by "DCDC" and "China Film" company, and is also considered the first 3D rendered martial arts film....
, Century Sonny
Century Sonny
Century Sonny: The Adventure of the Extra-Galactic Prince is the first large scale 3D-CGI Chinese animation TV series in China.-Background:...
, etc.
See also
- Chinese animationChinese animationChinese animation or Manhua Anime, in narrow sense, refers to animations that are made in China. In broad sense, it may refers to animations that are made in any Chinese speaking countries such as People's Republic of China , Republic of China , Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.- History :The...
- List of Chinese animated films
- History of animationHistory of animationAnimation is a graphic representation of drawings to show movement within those drawings. A series of drawings are linked together and usually photographed by a camera, or scanned into, or generated by a computer...
- History of animeHistory of animeThe history of anime began at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques that were being explored in the West. During the 1970s, anime developed further, separating itself from its Western roots, and developing distinct genres such as mecha...