"Pay back my grandfather!"
Hair three or seven points, wearing an oval gold-rimmed glasses, the corners of the mouth always have a little smile - these two days, many netizens are forwarding a photo, sincerely knocking down "return my grandfather".
The person in the photo is Hu Jinqing, who died of illness at 3 p.m. on May 13 at the Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital. At the age of 50, he created The Gourd Brothers, "Gourd Baby, Gourd Baby, Seven Flowers on a Vine." ”
As a result, seven gourd babies popped out of the fruit, each with different skills, after Grandpa was abducted by the snake spirit and the scorpion essence, they used their full body skills to run to each other's nest again and again, and the classic line of "return my grandfather" came here.
As a director, Hu Jinqing can afford the title of "father of Huluwa", but in the more than 30 years since the birth of this film, he has been interviewed several times, and he always has to bring a sentence "Huluwa is not my own work." ”
Not only that, when I first saw the original script, Hu Jinqing bluntly said that I couldn't shoot this film. In the preparatory stage, he was in a stalemate with the US film studio several times, and he also "let loose words". When it comes to the most satisfactory works, then "Hulu Brothers" has to go to the back row.
The more I look at his story, the more I feel that Hu Jinqing and his people are really more than just a "father of huluwa" who sounds like an old artist Fan.
Hu Jinqing was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, studied at the Beijing Film Academy, entered the Shanghai Film Studio in his 20s, danced rumba, danced tango, could afford Western classical music, violin on a neck, we can also play two songs. Can eat, open your mouth can tell you about the best sesame cake in Shanghai, talk about people eager to pull their legs immediately.
According to Mrs. Hu Jinqing, at that time, he was followed by a little girl who liked him. I'm not surprised at all.
The skill tree is full of dots, not to mention, who was the master hu Jinqing was with at that time? Ancient Toad. Hu Jinqing is the "father of Huluwa", and Wangu Toad is the "father of Chinese animation".
In 1958, Hu Jinqing was still a 22-year-old boy, and even before he graduated from college, he had the opportunity to follow Wangu Toad and made China's first paper-cut cartoon "Pig Eight Commandments Eat Watermelon".
From left to right: Qian Yunda, Hu Jinqing, Wangu Toad
In 1963, Wangu Toad directed "Golden Conch", and now watching this cartoon on a video website, the first bullet screen is "Oh my God, I always thought it was a dream I made, and I just watched it once and remembered it." ”
Hu Jinqing served as a styling designer in it, with his hands raised and put down, and a fishing net floated down, very alive. It was carved out of a long knife he was wielding, a knife.
Looking at people again, the characters have complicated costumes, fine headdresses, hair is stunned to make a sense of modeling, and the eyeliner is outlined by Hu Jinqing with a thin knife. He later recalled his state of mind, "Meticulously crafted, seeking a feeling that non-human beings can achieve." ”
It is no wonder that Japanese colleagues watched "Golden Conch" and lamented that this person was more beautiful than the people in real life.
In those years, Hu Jinqing caught up with the "re-education of intellectuals." At the farm, Hu Jinqing took the time to collect a sheet of pictorials, using watercolors to copy the portraits one by one, and the colors and structures used by scholars.
Many people are spent on carrying water and hoes and other things, Hu Jinqing relies on these idle kung fu, finally did not waste himself, after returning to the Studio, he began to independently direct animation.
"Bamboo Shoots Growing in the House" and "Naughty Golden Snub-nosed Monkey" are the works of two small test knives, and Hu Jinqing got some leather paper. This kind of paper made of mulberry skin is characterized by slender fibers. Hu Jinqing took advantage of this feature.
You go to see the monkeys climbing high and down in "Golden Snub-nosed Monkey", the orange-red outline edges seem to be made with fine fur, which is the effect of Hu Jinqing tearing apart the leather paper fibers to imitate the blending feeling of traditional Chinese paintings.
At that time, the films of the Us Film Studio were all rushing to win international awards. Hu Jinqing also lacks a "masterpiece."
One day, Hu Jinqing put a script on the table, this book, the director of the factory, Te Wei, did not pass, but Hu Jinqing read page by page, pondering, it is really reluctant to give up.
The structure of other scripts is very different, like poetry, like prose, just not like traditional animation, these were all adventure places at the time, but at Hu Jinqing's insistence, he got the opportunity to start shooting.
Hu Jinqing threw himself into it. The script is called "Sandpiper And Mussel Competition", he usually raises some birds and some insects, so he wanders to the aquatic market and brings a river back to raise it, and there is nothing to think about.
Once Hu Jinqing stretched out a finger, poked a poke at the shell of the mussel, the mussel immediately sprayed a string of water droplets, almost washed the face of Hu Jinqing, not annoyed at all, but happy, immediately recorded the self-defense action of this river mussel in the book, becoming an interesting detail in the film.
Another protagonist, Hu Jinqing, did not waste less effort. At first glance, the head and neck are nothing unusual, but there are 34 circles hidden inside, each of which has to be brushed.
The whole bird moves and comes alive. "Incredible." The jury at the West Berlin Film Festival said so. "The Clam Fight" also won the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival that year.
After winning the A-category film festival award, in 84 years of "Straw Man", he could have followed the production method of "Sandpiper And Mussel Competition", but Hu Jinqing, the elder brother, gave himself a dead rule: "Do not repeat yourself, do not imitate others." ”
The cute bird in "Straw Man" has a neck made up of hundreds of circles. "Sandpiper Scramble" uses nylon wire strung together, but because "Straw Man" is more delicate, the leather band and nylon wire have failed.
Hu Jinqing is an "inspiration catcher", falling asleep in bed in the middle of the night, half asleep and half awake is just suitable for brewing inspiration, thinking of what a good idea, immediately turned over and got up, quickly walked to the table to write it down.
The ultimate solution to "Straw Man" is a flash of inspiration, who would have thought that this fat bird's neck would hide human hair?
In 1987, Hu Jinqing, together with colleagues from the American Film Studio and animation masters from Switzerland, France and Poland, made an experimental animation "Academy Variant Rieter", which won the Best Short Film Award of the Jury of Cannes.
When the Taiwanese director met with him, he had to say, "Hu Jinqing, you have medals in your bag. Saying that he has won too many awards, the Studio calls the "award-winning professional households" of the art awards.
But at that time, the problem facing Chinese animation was not how to go further artistically.
In the mid-1980s, the obstacle in front of the US film studio was how to produce a series of animation films with commercial characteristics and children's favorite watch under the tide of good-looking translated animation films.
Times are changing.
In 1983, "A Smart Break" was compiled by the Liaoning Children's Art Theater and became a sensation after broadcasting
The earliest script of "Hulu Brothers", "Ten Brothers", was handed to him. Out of the grave, ten brothers with different appearances and talents have sprung up, and they have "special functions" such as clairvoyance, tailwind ears, infinite divine power, copper-headed iron bones, long legs, big feet, big mouths, and big eyes. In order to save the people from fire and water, the brothers fought against the landlords, officials, and even the emperor..."
Hu Jinqing looked at it carefully and said bluntly that he could not shoot it.
Such a complex character and plot setting, in terms of the cost of paper cuts, must not be able to take down. If you want to shoot, you have to change.
Illustration of ten brothers
In traditional Chinese mythology, "seven" is also common, such as the seven fairies, so the ten brothers were changed to seven brothers.
Each manifestation is a bright spot, which should be retained, but in terms of character image, it can be reduced to the same, distinguished by color.
From the grave, this setting is not suitable for children. Come to think of it, the silver horn king's magic gourd in "Journey to the West" is good, that's it.
The complex villains are also reduced to snake spirits and scorpion spirits, and the scenes are placed on the mountain and in the cave. In this way, it is guaranteed that the trick can be done at a very limited cost.
However, for Hu Jinqing's idea, the art committee of the American Film Studio directly rejected it because it did not have a complete script.
"If you don't agree, I won't shoot!"
Hu Jinqing is very rigid, watching this continue, later we may see another "Ten Brothers" directed by others. The new director Yan Dingxian (the director of the animation design "Shuk and Beta" of "Big Trouble in the Sky") supported Hu Jinqing in the back.
When "Sandpipers and Clams Fight" was filmed, there was no complete script.
This matter finally got on the right track, and Hu Jinqing and his old partner Wu Yunchu began to ponder the shape of Huluwa. In the beginning, The Gourd Baby is a small doll carved in powder, which continues the refinement similar to that in "Golden Conch".
The original gourd doll image
After several revisions, the two were still not satisfied. Hu Jinqing felt that the gourd babies were born in the soil, so he put a small gourd on the head of the gourd babies, and the gourd leaf clothes were open, exposing the chest and abdomen, and beating barefoot.
With this change, "wild game" came out.
At that time, there was only a total cost of 60,000 pieces, and each grid was only 5 or 6 pieces, hu Jinqing and his colleagues "cut" one block at a time.
The gourd brothers are paper-cut animations, which are ever-changing, and they have tried repeatedly to ensure that the stones they see today are cracking, the bees are out of the hole, the gourd grows, and the actions of the two parties are the optimal solution.
Later, Hu Jinqing talked about "Hulu Brothers", and in one sentence, he distinguished it from the previous works of "Sandpiper And Mussel Competition": there were not so many elaborate carvings, all black lines, and kung fu was spent on drama (dramatic conflict).
The old man's family still has a thick stack of scripts Picture source: "Witness"
And on the credits at the end of the film, Hu Jinqing used three names: Hu Jinqing, Jinqing, and Mo Calf, and one person wore several "vests" because "it is ugly to be all my name." ”
In 1986, "Hulu Brothers" appeared. When the national television set is still a rarity, the cartoons performed by these unique gourd dolls are unforgettable to watch. Almost all prefecture-level television stations have purchased broadcast rights, and VCDs have been sold one after another.
The life of "Hulu Brothers" continues, but Hu Jinqing's artistic life is very short.
The year of making "Hulu Brothers", Hu Jinqing was 50 years old, what is the concept of an animation director?
Take Hayao Miyazaki as an example, when he made "Totoro" and "Castle in the Sky", Miyazaki was close to 50 years old. And he won the Oscar and the Berlin Golden Bear's "Spirited Away", which was made when he was 60 years old.
But when Hu Jinqing was 60 years old, he retired due to the institutional inertia of traditional studios.
Image source: The Witness
Although after filming "Hulu Brothers", he is still doing artistic exploration. At the Shanghai International Animation Film Festival in 1992, he brought new works, pure engraving paper - every picture was cut out of paper.
In the past, most of the animations were cut like shadow puppets, moving the joints to shoot the whole film, and the workload brought by pure engraving paper is self-evident.
Hu Jinqing said that in this way, the "taste of the knife" can be brought into full play.
He used a word to describe the quality of a work that wants to impress people's hearts — aggression. The term does not conform to the mild-mannered image of the "old artist", but there is a rare ambition.
I think he would love to keep shooting.
Pure knife engraving in 1992
On the 13th, The Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio also released a eulogy on the official website for the first time, before that, "Hulu Brothers" and "Haunting Tiangong" and "Black Cat Sheriff" were remembered and discussed as the "classic IP" of the US film studio.
Under this announcement, followed by a "theory of the evolution of China's animation industry", and a month before, is "Shanghai Meiying launched the Hulu Brothers series of joint shoes".
Hu Jinqing's old owner is also trying to capture the direction of the tide.
At the top of the official website of the US film studio, it is the major "IP" of the past.
"Hulu Brothers" is not a perfect animation, and the old problems of character masking and preaching are all "nostalgic arcs" that cannot be covered. But it just happens to stand at that turning node, undertaking the artistic exploration brought by Wangu Toad and others, and doing a good job of commercial exploration, worthy of the childhood memories of generations.
Although far from the front line, Hu Jinqing also maintains observations about today's animation. He believes that "Blue Cat" and "Pleasant Goat and Gray Wolf" are "good dialogue and arrangement", but the action is simple, "the artistic vitality will not be too long." ”
In today's tide, if Hu Jinqing still comes to shoot, what kind of works will be filmed?
No one knows.
A few years ago, the "Witness" short interview program went to Hu Jinqing's home for an interview, and next to the neatly stacked "Hulu Brothers" video tape, there was a big fat gourd.
Probably at the request of the film crew, he lay down in a chair and did not know how many times he looked at the gourd baby.
His movements and voice are very slow, and the snake spirit in the picture takes out the magic weapon with his fingers cocked, and the movement is still vivid.
The image extends life by three times and retains a part of Hu Jinqing.
Hu Jinqing's home
Maybe you don't have to "pay back my grandfather", open the video website of "Hulu Brothers", "Sandpiper Fight", "Straw Man", "Grandpa" is still there.
Although when I talk about Hu Jinqing, what comes to my eyes is not the image of this old man, but the young man who jumped on the rumba, laughed and dared to shout in the 1950s and 1960s, ambitiously, and was about to make a career in the Chinese animation industry.
Salute to Hu Jinqing.
Resources:
Beijing News: Friends recall Hu Jinqing's past: "Hulu Brothers" can't sign me as a director
Lao Liang Story Club: "Hulu Brothers"
Witness Series Interviews: Hu Jinqing
Kuzo Anime Archive: The Birth and Modeling of "Hulu Brothers"
Kim Baisong: My thought trajectory - interview with Hu Jinqing
Kim BaiSong: Interview with six directors of the art film
China Youth Daily: Hulu Brothers Creators Talk About Current Cartoons: Happy Goat "Action Is Too Simple"