The history and theory of animation.

When I preparing my presentation for Unit 1: World Animation, I chose to research the history of Chinese animation. During the research I learned about the formation and development of Chinese animation style.

I read the book <Animation in China : History, Aesthetics, Media, Taylor & Francis Group> which mentions the beginnings of the Chinese animation style.

1955, Why is the Crow Black is the first Chinese animated film in color. It was presented during the Venice International Film Festival in 1956, but international audiences mistook this animation for a Soviet film. The reason was that during the early years of the founding of the China, all life were modeled after the Soviet Union.

Since then, Te Wei has been committed to producing Chinese national style animation.

1960, “Where is Mama” is famous all over the world because it combines the traditional Chinese ink painting. The unique Chinese style has made Chinese animation famous in the world.

1961, The iconic animation classic “Uproar in heaven” is a clear example of national art. Not only in the form of traditional murals, ink, Peking Opera face painting, etc., the animation performance also draws on the stage art of Peking Opera and combines with the rhythmic traditional opera music. This kind of distinctive Chinese national art is refreshing in the world of animation, and national animation art has become the distinctive label of Chinese animation.

The heyday of Chinese animation was during the period when the first ink animation was released. During the period from 1950 to 1978, China was in a period of post-war recovery and development, and the people were extremely active in the development of the country and the nation. In the field of animation, many works pursued quality and artistic value, regardless of the cost. This allowed Chinese animation works to reach a stage of rapid development, which is also known as the most innocent era in the history of Chinese animation. 

I watched the documentary “The Lost Magic of the Shanghai Art Studios” which describes:

In about 1985, Japanese cartoons first appeared on our screens. They encouraged our TV channels to show their series, which then spread throughout the country. In the 1990, Japan dominated the whole Chinese market, and Chinese animation began to mimic the style of them, with most of the animation produced during this time having the delicate faces and large eyes of Japanese characters. These had a great impact on the style of Chinese animation and led to the stagnation of the development of Chinese animation.

Reflection: In the process of learning animation I need not only to improve my skills, but also to find my personal unique style in the process of experimentation. I am proud of Chinese animation works and I would love to try to include Chinese elements in my future works. I am very interested in ink animation, in the future I would like to try paper cut stop motion with ink material.