Since the birth of the child, the most I have seen for her is the classic old animation of Shanghai Fine Arts Studio.
In fact, from the time the child knew how to read and look at pictures, I screened the cartoons that the baby watched. Those unintended, poor quality and vulgar animations are not in my eyes. Disney classic animation, not every one of them to watch, because many of the stories of animation are not too meaningful, and most of them are simple princess dreams or the realization of personal idealism, and there is no room for aftertaste after watching.
If an animation film is something that even adults like to watch, then it is definitely a good work.
Based on my past experience, I think those classic old animations are simply a mine, and there are precious treasures buried in it! Obviously, there are few people who know how to dig them.
When we are painstakingly searching for picture books for children's enlightenment stories, we all know that the stories we read when we were children are the best nourishment. Seemingly inconspicuous old stories are precisely the ones that have stood the scrutiny of time.
Because, the people who created them, are so attentive, so dedicated, so loving to our children.
My children's favorite is "Hulu Brothers". Seven gourds, seven abilities, gather a heart to defeat the goblins. The seven different colors represent the most primitive colors in the world, just like the later Seven Star Warriors, but they are many years ahead. When you look closely, you will find that the painting style of the gourd is very well-made, and the movements, expressions and tone of each gourd are very spirited and have a rich soul. Including snake spirits, scorpion spirits, toad spirits, etc., you can see that they are monsters at a glance, but they have their own "demon" appearance.
Today, I want to talk about not "Hulu Brothers", but a 4K animation that Shanghai Fine Arts Studio has recently restored - "Tianshu Qitan".
I have watched this anime twice, the first time casually browsing, but the child is very fascinated; the second time I watched it carefully, I found it really good!
In fact, when I watched it for the first time, I didn't fully understand it. Yes, I'm an adult, but I can't see through a cartoon (shame), which makes me think that this animation is not simple and worth watching again. And the child is very fascinated, this time I am confused, how, is a 5 or 6-year-old child better than the adult understanding ability?
In fact, children's concentration is much stronger than our adults, and there is a more critical ability, that is, children's curiosity, which is beyond the reach of adults.
This "Heavenly Book Qitan" is a long divine and demonic novel compiled by Luo Guanzhong and Feng Menglong of the Ming Dynasty according to folklore and the concept of city gossip, and its original name was "The Legend of the Three Sui Ping Demons".
People, gods, and demons always have unlimited attraction and curiosity for people. Don't think about the deep meaning behind the story, because thinking too much will make people lose the pleasure of exploration. Just looking at the characterization of this animation, it is quite rich, interesting, and witty.
Unlike those cartoons made up of handsome men and beautiful women, domestic animation always has a very "ground-to-earth" taste, and even some "exaggeration".
In "Heavenly Book", the protagonist is egg-born, which is the shape of a cute little boy. He was conceived from a swan egg, with wisdom and courage, and a kind heart; Yuan Gong, originally a celestial immortal, but his official position was very small, responsible for guarding the Heavenly Book. Later, he was punished by the Jade Emperor for peeking at the Heavenly Book and bringing it into the mortal world; the three fox demons, the most exquisite shape depicted in the animation, are the goblins incarnated by these three foxes, the fox mother is old and treacherous, the fox girl is flattering and cunning, and the fox is stupid, all of which are portrayed in three points.
These elements are the core elements that make up a good animation. Without the support of the characters, the story is difficult to deduce no matter how good it is.
In fact, writing is the same, a good story does not rely on narrative content to finish, but relies on a vivid character and dialogue to complete all the plot descriptions. The reason why "Heavenly Book" can be called a classic good animation is because it has high artistic value.
In addition to these protagonists, there are many supporting characters who are very good, so let me take it slowly.
In fact, this animation is about a robbery war between people, gods, and demons caused by the "Book of Heaven".
Yuan Gong violated the Heavenly Rules in the Heavenly Court, peeked at the Heavenly Book, and privately took the Heavenly Book, and carved the Heavenly Book text on the stone wall of the Baiyun Cave of Yunmeng Mountain, so he was relegated to the human world to guard the Stone Wall Heavenly Book. One day, Yuan Gong stepped on the clouds to patrol the mountains, encountered a group of swans on the road, the swan laid an egg, Yuan gong spell to transform the swan egg into a human form, named egg raw.
In order to spread the Book of Heaven to the world, he instructed Egg Sheng to use paper to expand the Book of Heaven on the stone wall in the cave. According to Yuan Gong's instructions, Egg Sheng expanded the Book of Heaven, and Yuan Gong instructed Egg Sheng to study hard and use the Book of Heaven for the benefit of the people. Egg students study the Book of Heaven, cure locusts and disaster relief, and eliminate harm for the people.
The three fox spirits secretly saw it, plotted to steal the Book of Heaven, colluded with the government, and harmed the people. Egg Sheng chased after the Heavenly Book and fought with the fox spirit many times. When Egg Sheng and the Fox Spirit competed for the Heavenly Book, Yuan Gong arrived, and he took back the Heavenly Book and crushed the Fox Essence to death under the Yunmeng Mountain. However, Yuan Gong, anticipating that he would not be able to escape the Heavenly Court's legal net, handed the Heavenly Book to Egg Sheng and instructed him to quickly write down the Heavenly Book in his heart. Then Yuan used a divine fire to burn the Heavenly Book to the end. Suddenly, thunder and lightning were exchanged, and the Jade Emperor issued a holy decree to take Yuan Gong back to the Heavenly Court for questioning.
The synopsis is like this, it doesn't matter, just to make it clear.
The layman looks at the bustle, and the insider looks at the doorway. Why is it a good drama because it is full of critical realism, not blindly promoting a certain position.
There are several types of characters here, gods, mortals, and goblins. Each type of character has its own shortcomings, and the Emperor of the Heavenly Gods has advantages and privileges, and no one can violate them, even if it is unreasonable. In the Book of Heaven, it is clearly written that "the Heavenly Dao is selfless and will be passed on to future generations", but the Jade Emperor has used three thousand years of strict control to eliminate the possibility of it "flowing for hundreds of generations".
Mortals are powerless to compete with the heavens, and the people of the city obey the fate of heaven, so there is a drama of fox demons pretending to be fairy goddesses to defraud the people of money. The old and young monks in the temple fought for an egg and killed each other for incense money; Zhixian, the lord of the prefectural government, the emperor, etc., although of different statuses, were all mortals, and when they heard that a fairy (fox demon in disguise) appeared, they scrambled to return to their homes and kowtowed to the "fairy girl". This explains what it means, that is, the weakness of mortals, that is, the limitations of cognition, which determine their fate of being subject to "heaven".
And goblins, not to mention, are representatives of evil. Anything is good or bad, and so are people. However, even though the goblins can use spells to confuse sentient beings, they cannot escape the end of being surrendered by the gods.
Yuan Gong, on the other hand, is a special existence. He is like a "rebel" who does not succumb to the gods, knowing that he is in danger of being punished, but still going to find out and break the rules. The Book of Heaven, which was originally used to benefit mankind, was strictly controlled, and Yuan Gong knew that such a strange book would definitely be robbed, so he let The Egg Sheng remember it in his heart, and then burned the Book of Heaven, which was obtained by mankind like a fire seed and passed on to future generations.
At the end of the story, Yuan Gong was treated as a sinner, tied with chains and brought back to the heavenly court. The phrase "master" shouted by the egg student became the end of the whole play.
There is no happy ending, which does not meet the psychological expectations of modern people to pursue "harmony and consummation".
But this is the real life, this is the great ending.
Because, not all stories end in perfection.
Perhaps, children still can't understand what human nature is and what is the meaning of extension, but they will definitely find the points they want to understand and think about in it.
Even the painting style of each frame is a highly appreciative art. In the animation, a delicate gongbi painting style is used to depict mountains, fields, ponds, willow trees, temples, street markets, and royal palaces with a strong Chinese style, creating a picturesque ancient Jiangnan scene.
This is the essence of Chinese animation, and it is also a local feature that cannot be copied.
This "Heavenly Book Of Wonders" was produced in 1983, 3 years before "Hulu Brothers". However, the embodiment of our traditional Chinese culture has reached a meticulous level. Isn't such an excellent domestic old animation the best artistic enlightenment and cultural enlightenment for children?
I think that what can stand up to time and be called a classic must be a good story.
It is the creation and precipitation of the older generation of artists, telling the oldest story in China, full of the essence of culture, human nature and philosophical principles.
In fact, children are the same. They watch a cartoon over and over again because they're growing and their comprehension is improving.
However, a perfunctory animation, the child will not touch again; in the same way, an animation worth thinking about and reminiscing, the child will not get tired of watching.