Lights, Camera: Chinese animation's progress from the 1970s to 1990s

This new episode of our cultural column "Lights, Camera" focuses its lens on the development and international sharing of Chinese animation from 1976 to 1994, an important period to develop an international perspective for animation creation.

The development of the Chinese animation industry was suspended during the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) and it was not until November of 1976 that Chinese animation started to enter a new era of growth that lasted around two decades.

The creation and production of high-quality animated films gradually recovered nationwide. From 1977 to 1994, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio produced a total of 288 animated works in varied styles. Animation studios in other cities like Beijing, Nanjing, Changchun, and Shenzhen also flourished.

In 1978, the classic color animated feature "The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven," which was produced in the 1960s, amazed Western audiences when it was screened at the 23rd London International Film Festival and won the Best Film prize. The film won praise as the festival's most sensational and lively movie by the British press at that time.

The Shanghai Animation Film Studio released another classic animated feature film "Prince Nezha's Triumph Against [the] Dragon King" in 1979. The color film was China's first wide-screen animated feature and the first Chinese animated film screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

Adapted from a story in Chinese mythology, the film about Nezha's fight against evil dragons is another time-honored production following "The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven."

"The film has a touching story, distinct artistic style and gradually maturing action design," said Professor Chen Zhihong, a veteran animation director and scholar from Shanghai University's Shanghai Film Academy. "It had a significant impact both domestically and internationally after its release."

On May 30, 2014, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the release of "Prince Nezha's Triumph Against [the] Dragon King," Chen designed a special doodle for Google, which became the search homepage for Chinese speaking regions that day.

Director Wang Shuchen and Qian Yunda's animated feature film "The Legend of [the] Sealed Book" in 1983 was another classic work and milestone in China's animation history and is widely considered one of the best features from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio for its artistry, imagination, and storytelling method.

The 89-minute film brought together the country's best animators at that time who spent about three years drawing 120,000 sketches in an era with no computers. Its plot is based on the ancient Chinese story "The Suppression of the Demons," revolving around a boy's efforts to stop the vicious things three foxes do to human beings after they learn magic from a heavenly book. In 2021, a 4K restoration of the film was shown in tribute to the older generation of animators in the city.

Chen said that the film's animation language is more mature and pure, and its storyline is humorous and full of imagination.

"Its poetic scenes are also inspired by the style of Chinese ink and wash painting, and the character design extensively incorporates elements of folk art and customs," he added.

In the early 1980s, foreign animated series began to air and dominate domestic TV screens, which pushed the studios to adjust their production plans. The amount of short animated films decreased to support the creation of Chinese animated TV series and co-productions.

In 1987, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio released the 13-episode "Dirty King Adventure," the country's first serial animation. The series is a fantasy story about a sloppy and dirty little boy who is trapped and tricked to the rat kingdom. Its interesting storyline and theme song sung by the then 8-year-old little girl Cao Lei made the series a major success.

China's first color puppet series is the studio's "The Legend of Capturing Demons," which also debuted in 1987. Based on the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) novel "Fengshen Yanyi," or "The Investiture of the Gods," puppet shows in the series were performed by artists from the Zhangzhou Puppet Troupe.

With artistic elements of Peking Opera in its music and puppet facial makeup, the series vividly portrays the battles between gods, goddesses, and mortals during the fall of the Shang Dynasty in the 11th century BC.

The country's first papercutting series was the famous "The Calabash Brothers." With 13 episodes, the classic cartoon tells a story of how seven brothers vanquish the evil Snake Queen with unique magic powers. Ever since the series' first airing in 1986, the classic has touched generations of children in China, leaving them lasting memories. In addition to multiple domestic awards, the series received the Bronze Prize at the 3rd Cairo International Children's Film Festival in 1992.

Animated shorts from this period were also impressive. Most of them still adopted the style from the Chinese school of animation and incorporated elements from traditional Chinese culture and arts.

Among the successful shorts are "The Nine-Colored Deer" (1981), "Snipe-Clam Grapple" (1983) and "Feelings of Mountains and Waters" (1988).

"The Nine-Colored Deer" was inspired by the story of betrayal and punishment from a famous mural painting in the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, Gansu Province. Ancient Chinese philosophies, Chinese ink and wash painting and the elegant music of traditional Chinese instruments are featured in both "Snipe-Clam Grapple" and "Feelings of Mountains and Waters."

Foreign exchanges were also strengthened to promote the development of Chinese animation since the launch of China's reform and opening-up policy in 1978. In the 1980s, many animation studios in the country were engaged in cultural exchanges, film processing, and co-productions with their foreign counterparts. It also helped domestic animation filmmakers to acquire valuable experience in the production of serial animation.

China's first co-produced animation was "The Nightingale," a joint effort of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio and Canadian animation studio Atkinson Film-Arts in 1987.

The 25-minute animated film was produced by Chinese animators based on the script and image designs from the Canadian peers. Adapted from one of Hans Christian Andersen's famous fairytales, the film combines Western comic techniques with the style of the Chinese school of animation. Its exaggerated character designs and clear and lively visuals received wide acclaim from audiences. The film has been distributed to more than 10 countries and regions around the world.

The successful collaboration case of "The Nightingale" also opened up a new path for Chinese animation to go global, achieving a leap in animation production from domestic to international vision.

During this period, overseas Chinese animation film exhibitions were also hosted in countries including Japan, Algeria, France and Canada. These retrospective exhibitions were hailed by foreign audiences and the influence of Chinese animation in the world continued to expand. Meanwhile, veteran foreign animators were invited to the city to give lectures and share their expertise and experience at local festivals and other cultural activities.

Despite experiencing a period of pain and a low point after the death of its founder Walt Disney, animation tycoon Disney was reshaping the American animation world and revived its business through the release of an array of classic animated features since the late 1980s. Among them were "The Little Mermaid" (1989), "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), "Aladdin" (1992) and "The Lion King" (1994).

These successful movies expanded their stories toward literature and story themes from other countries, enriched the film content and developed creative ideas and concepts for cinematography.

Additionally, Touchstone Pictures released the groundbreaking live-action fantasy comedy film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" in 1988. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg, the film about a cartoon rabbit's proof of his innocence in a murder case became a sensation and won a few technical Academy Awards.

Animation also flourished in Japan with the release of a few popular animated series including "Lulu, The Flower Angel" (1979), "Doraemon" (1979), "Saint Seiya" (1986), "Dragonball" (1986), "Chibi Maruko-chan" (1990) and "Slam Dunk" (1993). These series were highly popular with Chinese youths.

According to Chen, these foreign animations undoubtedly brought inspiration to Chinese animation.

"On the one hand, Chinese animators realized their own advantages in animation art style," he said. "At the same time, they were also aware of some problems, such as neglecting storytelling, inadequate experience in the comprehensive application of various animated film creation methods, especially considering the commercial attributes of animation. Chinese animation faced the challenge of adapting to the times and the market."