It has been 99 years since the production of the first advertising animation "Shu Zhendong Chinese Typewriter", and when it comes to the glory of Chinese animation, many people will mention the animation of the Shangmei film period.
But the glory is not achieved overnight, the time when Chinese animation really made Chinese style is between 1955 and 1989, the animation style of this stage is known as the "Chinese School" in the world, 34 years, from the beginning to the transformation, the "Chinese School" has gone through a total of 6 stages, how much do you know?
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="3" >01</h1>
In 1954, the Chinese animation "Why the Crow is Black" won an award at the Venice International Film Festival, but it was considered by the jury to be a Soviet work, which gave Chinese animation filmmakers a great stimulus, and since then decided to create our own national animation.
So in 1955 began to produce the animation "Proud General", artists went to Beijing, Shandong, Hebei and other places to collect a large number of ancient paintings, sculptures, architecture and other materials, and many elements of traditional drama into it, which is the first work of Chinese animation to step out of the national style.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="35" >02</h1>
After Chinese animation began to produce new styles, the creators began to explore new production methods.
In 1958, China's first paper-cut animation "Eight Commandments of Pigs Eating Watermelon" was completed.
In 1960, China's first origami animation "Smart Duck" was produced.
These two works have greatly enriched the types of Chinese animation and opened up a new path for Chinese animation production.
At this stage of Chinese animation, new styles have been explored.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="36" >03.Mature: 1961-1965</h1>
In 1961, Shangmei Film produced the first ink animation "Little Tadpole Finds Mother", which combined Chinese ink painting with animated films to become the art style with the most Chinese characteristics, and "The Haunting of the Heavenly Palace" also began to be produced.
Later, he produced a second ink animation "Mudi", as well as the puppet animation "Peacock Princess" and the paper-cut animation "Golden Conch" and other new styles.
Many animations at this stage have become classics that are still difficult to surpass, and also mark the nationalization of Chinese animation into a mature period.
Chinese animation, which should have been a big show, just caught up with the decade that I did not want to recall, and the production of animation was basically in a state of stagnation.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="37" >04</h1>
After 10 years of "suppressing" the creators' enthusiasm for animation creation, Chinese animation films have once again entered a period of prosperity.
After correcting the previously distorted creative concepts, the creators began to create new animation stories, and "Nezha Noisy Sea", which was broadcast in 1979, is a masterpiece of this stage.
"Nezha Noisy Sea" is another amazing work after "The Haunting of the Heavenly Palace", in terms of modeling, action design, picture, music, technology, story laying out, etc., have reached a super level, many of which are changed again and again, only to have the finished film that everyone sees.
The enthusiasm of the creators is destined to bring more classic animations.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="38" >05</h1>
After the reform and opening up, there have been new achievements in the theme content, art form, production skills and other aspects of Chinese animation, and the trophies of various animation competitions at home and abroad are indispensable to Chinese animation.
For example, the animation "Three Monks", which does not have a single line, relies entirely on characters, animations, expressions and montage narrative methods to present a vivid story for the audience.
Classic animations such as "Snow Child", "Mr. Nanguo", "Monkey Fishing moon", "Clams Fight", "The Story of Avanti", "Tianshu Qitan", "True and False Li Kui" and so on, all come from this stage.
Chinese animation during the harvest period, the technology is more mature, the production is also exquisitely crafted, and the artistic style is more prominent, which is a peak in the development process of Chinese animation!
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="39" >06</h1>
From 1978 to the end of the 1980s, dozens of animation shooting bases were established across the country, ending the situation that only Shangmei Film "thrived" in animation production.
Since 1986, Chinese animation has begun to undergo commercial transformation, and the focus of production has also shifted to television animation, and the "Chinese school" animation with a very national style has gradually come to an end.
Although the animation of this period was frequently produced, it failed to appear beyond the works of the 60s, and most of them only maintained the previous standards, such as "Crossing the Bridge", "Landscape and Water", "Shooting Without Shooting" and other animations.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="40" > conclusion</h1>
The specific source of the term "Chinese school" is no longer possible, because chinese animation in the past 34 years has brought too many surprises to the world, and it has enjoyed this title internationally, whether it is the production method or the core of the story, it is only Unique to China.
At that time, Chinese animation was all "art", and after the beginning of a large-scale transfer to commercial creation, "selling" became the first factor to consider, and the exploration of new production methods and the continuation of classic production methods were also very few.
Such a transformation is not related to right or wrong, different stages, animation has different development directions, the current animation market is gradually maturing, I believe that the future of Chinese animation, can still enjoy international fame!
The above information is compiled and published by @Toot Toot Guoman, if you have any views on the development process of Chinese animation, welcome to the comment area for exchange and discussion.