The history of Chinese animation can be traced back to the early 20th century when the first animated films were produced in Shanghai after the eminent end of World War I. In the beginning, films were inspired mainly by US animations like ‘Out of the Inkwell’, a major animated series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929.
The 1930’s and 1940s
During the Japanese occupation of China from 1937 to 1945, both countries influenced each other in the industry. While Chinese-style paintings influenced animations in Japan and inspired Tezuka Osamu, also known as the ‘God of Manga’, Japan also contributed its collections of animation to China where a lot of said animations were produced by Japanese animators.
However, Chinese animators soon began to develop their unique style, drawing on traditional Chinese art and culture initially used as advertisements for various companies. Innovation struck the Chinese world of animation in the form of three brothers, Wan Chaochen, Wan Laiming, and Wan Dihuan, who are considered the pioneers of Chinese animation.
The brothers thought that animation should be instructive, logical, and thought-provoking besides being entertaining to its audience. Keeping that vision in mind, the Wan brothers launched the first animation with sound titled The Camel’s Dance in 1935 and went on to make the first Asian animation feature-length film, Princess Iron Fan in 1941.
Princess Iron Fan was released under very difficult conditions during Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II using extensive rotoscoping. During the Japanese invasion period, the brothers actively produced more than 20 animated propaganda shorts focusing on various patriotic topics from resistance against Japanese troops, to opium and imperialism.
On October 1, 1946, a motion picture studio called Northeast Film Studio was established in the Nenjiang province, known today as the Heilongjiang province. It is the first known studio established by a Communist party with many talents including the Wan Brothers and the Japanese animator Mochinaga Tadahito, who spent time creating ‘Thank You, Kitty’. Mochinaga was the only one to work in both the Chinese and Japanese industries at that age.
From the 1960’s to the 1970s
Sadly, the Chinese animation industry was put on pause, due to the Cultural Revolution, a sociopolitical movement that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands to millions of civilians from 1967 to 1976. The loss of life and cultural materials was a devastating blow to the animation industry that set the country back for several years.
The 1990’s and early 2000’s
However, the industry began to revive in the 1990s. After the Cultural Revolution, ‘Nezha Conquers the Dragon King’ was released and to this day, remains one of China’s classic masterpieces. It has many underlying tones and allegorical references to the Cultural Revolution, which was led by Mao Zedong and the Gang of Four. The film can be seen as a metaphor for the Cultural Revolution, with Nezha representing the Chinese people and the Dragon King representing the Gang of Four.
Before this movie, Chinese animation was divided into two schools. One that advocated fantasy, and the other that advocated realism. The realism school focused on creating realistic depictions of Chinese life and culture influenced by the Soviet Union’s animation, which was known for its realistic style. The fantasy school focused on creating stories and characters that were based on Chinese mythology and folklore influenced by Japanese animation, which was known for its vibrant and colorful style.
The two schools of Chinese animation coexisted for many years, but the fantasy school eventually became more popular with time, especially after the release of ‘Nezha Conquers the Dragon King’. Other famous animated cartoons that were released during that time are Havoc in Heaven (1964), The Monkey King (1967), and The Legend of the White Snake (1993).
The Mid 2000’s
In recent years, Chinese animation has begun to gain international attention. In 2011, the film The Legend of the White Snake won the Cristal Award for Best Feature at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. And in 2019, the film Ne Zha became the highest-grossing animated film in China’s history. This successful run, however, was short-lived.
Building on the world of the blockbuster “Ne Zha”, “Jiang Ziya”, a Chinese computer-animated fantasy adventure film released in 2020, was met with an outpouring of disappointment from critics and average moviegoers, who took particular issue with its awkward action sequences and confusion character development. Meanwhile, Kung Fu Mulan, a Chinese-produced animated Mulan movie, was hit with a wave of brutal reviews when it came out in October last year. The reception was so negative that it got pulled from theaters just three days after its release.
Conclusion
In present years, 3D animation has been the usual style for Chinese animation, which raked them 1 billion, contributing 82% of the total revenue earned by animation movies. With the innovation and popularization of global digital technology, Chinese animation is struggling between ideology and Western cinematic language. But that’s not a cause for worry. The future of Chinese animation looks bright. With a strong tradition of animation and a growing market for animated films, China is poised to become a major player in the global animation industry.