Chinese animation
Chinese animation refers to
History
The history of animated moving pictures in China began in 1918 when an animation piece from the United States titled Out of the Inkwell landed in Shanghai. Cartoon clips were first used in advertisements for domestic products. Though the animation industry did not begin until the arrival of the Wan brothers in 1926. The Wan brothers produced the first Chinese animated film with sound, The Camel's Dance, in 1935. The first animated film of notable length was Princess Iron Fan in 1941. Princess Iron Fan was the first animated feature film in Asia and it had great impact on wartime Japanese Momotarō animated feature films and later on Osamu Tezuka.[1] China was relatively on pace with the rest of the world up to the mid-1960s,[2] with the Wan's brothers Havoc in Heaven earning numerous international awards.
China's golden age of animation would come to an end following the onset of the
As China’s economic reform reached its height, the 1990s and early 2000s gave way to a relatively open television and film market, where Japanese and American animation powerhouses found a receptive audience among Chinese moviegoers. As government-backed funding dried up and investors flocked to more profitable businesses, animation outsourcing started to take off in China, where cartoon factories sprung up, churning out frames for TV series and movies owned by foreign clients from Japan and the U.S.[5]
The 2004 cartoon series Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, a slapstick-coyote-and roadrunner-like cartoon, became a huge success in China. Pleasant Goat and his goat pals became cultural icons for China, and a powerful soft power tool in foreign relations and brought light and helped the trend of globalization. The show was not only popular with children but surprisingly adults as well. Although there was some controversy for being too violent the show was banned during a censorship on violence and pornography in China.[6]
Terminology
Chinese animations today can best be described in two categories. The first type are "conventional animations" produced by corporations of well-financed entities. These content falls along the lines of traditional 2D cartoons or modern 3D CG animated films distributed via cinemas, DVD or broadcast on TV. This format can be summarized as a reviving industry coming together with advanced computer technology and low cost labor.[7]
The second type are "webtoons" produced by corporations or sometimes just individuals. These contents are generally flash animations ranging anywhere from amateurish to high quality, hosted publicly on various websites. While the global community has always gauged industry success by box office sales. This format cannot be denied when measured in hits among a population of 1.3 billion in just mainland China alone. Most importantly it provides greater freedom of expression on top of potential advertising.
Characteristics
In the 1920s, the pioneering
The concept of Chinese animations have begun loosening up in recent years without locking into any particular one style. One of the first revolutionary change was in the 1995 manhua animation adaptation Cyber Weapon Z. The style consist of characters that are practically indistinguishable from any typical anime, yet it is categorized as Chinese animation. It can be said that productions are not necessarily limited to any one technique; that water ink, puppetry, computer CG are all demonstrated in the art.
Newer waves of animations since the 1990s, especially flash animations, are trying to break away from the tradition. In 2001
In 1998,
Conventional animation market
The demographics of the Chinese consumer market show an audience where 11% are under the age of 13, 59% between 14 and 17, and 30% over 18 years of age. Potentially 500 million people could be identified as cartoon consumers.[13] China has 370 million children, one of the world's largest animation audiences.[14]
From 2006 to present, the Chinese government has considered animation as a key sector for the birth of a new national identity and for the cultural development in China. The government has started to promote the development of cinema and TV series with the aim of reaching 1% of GDP in the next five years against an investment of around RMB250-350 million (€29-41 million). It supported the birth of about 6000 animation studios and 1300 universities which provide animation studies. In 2010, 220,000 minutes of animations were produced, making China the world's biggest producer of cartoons on TV.[15]
In 1999 Shanghai Animation Film Studio spent 21 million RMB (about US$2.6 million) producing the animation Lotus Lantern. The film earned a box office income of more than RMB 20 million (about US$2.5 million), but failed to capitalize on any related products. The same company shot a cartoon series Music Up in 2001, and although 66% of its profits came from selling related merchandise, it lagged far behind foreign animations.[12]
The year 2007 saw the debut of the popular Chinese Series,
One of the most popular manhua in Hong Kong was Old Master Q. The characters were converted into cartoon forms as early as 1981, followed by numerous animation adaptations including a widescreen DVD release in 2003. While the publications remained legendary for decades, the animations have always been considered more of a fan tribute. And this is another sign that newer generations are further disconnected with older styled characters. Newer animations like My Life as McDull has also been introduced to expand on the modern trend.
In 2005 the first 3D CG-animated movie from Shenzhen China, Thru the Moebius Strip was debuted. Running for 80 minutes, it is the first 3D movie fully rendered in mainland China to premiere in the Cannes Film Festival.[16] It was a critical first step for the industry. The immensely popular kids's animated series Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf came out the same year.
In November 2006 an animation summit forum was held to announce China's top 10 most popular domestic cartoons as
In 2011
In 2015, Monkey King: Hero Is Back gained $2.85 million in the box office, making it the highest-grossing animated film in China.[21]
The most important award for Chinese animation is the Golden Monkey Award.[22]
Flash animation market
On 15 September 1999 FlashEmpire became the first
In 2001,
On 24 April 2006 Flashlands.com was launched, hosting a variety of high quality flash animations from mainland China. The site is designed to be one of the first cross-cultural site allowing English speakers easy access to domestic productions. Though the success of the site has yet to be determined.
In October 2006, 3G.NET.CN paid 3 million RMB (about US$380,000) to produce A Chinese odyssey, the flash version of Stephen Chow's A Chinese Odyssey in flash format.[24]
Government's role in the industry
For every
Criticism
Statistics from China's
SARFT also have a history of taking protectionism actions such as banning foreign programming, such as the film Babe: Pig in the City. Doing so would jeopardize the broadcast order of homemade animation and mislead their development according to foreign sources.[27][28]
The Chinese government has consistently implemented censorship measures on media deemed morally objectionable, particularly those featuring graphic and violent content. Numerous media productions have undergone alterations to align with these censorship requirements. In 2021, China made a formal announcement regarding the prohibition of violent, vulgar, and bloody content in children's TV shows. The National Radio and Television Administration issued a statement emphasizing the importance of broadcasting content that is wholesome, and progressive, and promotes values of truth, goodness, and beauty within the realm of cartoons. This over censorship of media is a concern for criticism.[29]
Literature and scholarship
There is little discussion of Chinese animation in English. Daisy Yan Du's PhD dissertation, On the Move: The Trans/national Animated Film in 1940s–1970s China (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2012), is by far the most systematic analysis of early Chinese animation before 1980.[30] Weihua Wu's PhD dissertation, Animation in Postsocialist China: Visual Narrative, Modernity, and Digital Culture (City University of Hong Kong, 2006), discusses contemporary Chinese animation in the digital age after 1980.[31] Besides the two major works, there are other articles and book chapters written by John Lent, Paola Voci, Mary Farquhar, and others about Chinese animation. The first English-language monograph devoted to Chinese animation was Rolf Giesen's Chinese Animation: A History and Filmography, 1922–2012 (McFarland & Company, Jefferson NC, 2015).
See also
- Anime
- Chinese art
- Cinema of China
- Dongman
- History of animation
- North Korean animation
- South Korean animation
- List of animated feature films
- List of Chinese animated films
- List of Chinese animated series
- Manhua
- Taiwanese animation
References
- ^ Du, Daisy Yan (May 2012). "A Wartime Romance: Princess iron Fan and the Chinese Connection in Early Japanese Animation". On the Move: The Trans/national Animated Film in 1940s–1970s China (Ph.D.). The University of Wisconsin-Madison. pp. 15–60.
- ISBN 978-0-8248-7210-6.
- ^ Qing Yun. "Qing Yun" (Archived 21 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine). Qing Yun.com. Retrieved 19 December 2006.
- ^ Socialist Marketing Economy. "Socialist Marketing Economy." "Socialist Marketing Economy." Retrieved 20 December 2006.
- ^ "History of Chinese animation". MCLC Resource Center. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ Jones, Stephanie (2019). ""The Chinese Animation Industry: from the Mao Era to the Digital Age"". USF Scholarship: A Digital Repository @ Gleeson Library | Geschke Center.
- ^ French, Howard W. (1 December 2004). "China Hurries to Animate Its Film Industry". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- S2CID 54882711.
- ^ Wang, Nan (4 June 2008). "Water-and-Ink animation". China Daily. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- ^ Fang, Liu (20 March 2012). "Is there a future for water-ink animation?". CNTV. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- ^ Huang, Joyce (28 April 2003). "A-Kuei: The animated boy who keeps us young at heart". Time. Retrieved 19 December 2006.
- ^ a b China Today. "China Today." "Chinese Animation Market: Monkey King vs Mickey Mouse." Retrieved 20 December 2006.
- ^ Homepage of author Jonathan Clement. "Homepage of author Jonathan Clement Archived 6 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine. "Chinese Animation." Retrieved 21 December 2006.
- ^ a b People's Daily Online. ""China Opens Cartoon Industry to Private Investors". People's Daily Online. Retrieved 20 December 2006.
- ISSN 2063-7330. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ^ Broadcast Buyers Guide. "Broadcast Buyers Guide Archived 26 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine." "GDC Technology and Arts Alliance Media Partner for a Digital Screening Premiere at Cannes." Retrieved 21 December 2006.
- ^ China's CityLife. "China's City Life." "Top 10 Domestic Cartoons." Retrieved 21 December 2006.
- ^ "Chinese Animation at a Crossroads". CNTV English. Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ Kemp, Stuart (24 June 2011). "Beijing Calls the Toons". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ "China Animation To Be Screened in Japan Before Its Mainland Theater Release". China Screen News. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- S2CID 194577213.
- ^ China Daily (13 January 2017). "Animated 3-D film 'Bicycle Boy' to hit screens on 13 Jan". english.entgroup.cn. EntGroup Inc. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ FlashEmpire. "FlashEmpire Archived 22 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine. " "FlashEmpire info." Retrieved 19 December 2006.
- ^ Embedded Flash Advertising. "Virtual China Org." "Embedded Flash Advertising." Retrieved 21 December 2006. Archived 18 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 国家新闻出版广电总局关于推荐2016年第三季度优秀国产电视动画片的通知 (in Chinese). State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
- ^ People's Daily Online. "People's Daily Online." "Cartoon Festival Launches Monkey King Award." Retrieved 20 December 2006.
- ^ USA Today. "Usatoday." "Animation Ban." Retrieved 20 December 2006.
- ^ BackStageCasting. "BackStageCasting Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine." "China bans TV toons that include live actors." Retrieved 20 December 2006.
- ^ Schlitz, Heather. "China bans violent or vulgar cartoons and anime as its crackdown on the entertainment industry continues". Business Insider. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- ^ Du, Daisy Yan (May 2012). On the Move: The Trans/national Animated Film in the 1940s–1970s China (Ph.D.). The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- ^ Wu, Weihua (2006). Animation in Postsocialist China: Visual Narrative, Modernity, and Digital Culture. City University of Hong Kong.
External links
- China's Cartoon Industry Forum
- Remembering Te Wei at AnimationInsider.net