wan brother

It was super fun looking at less main-stream animations apart from the Western and US, and diving into Chinese animation. I thought it was interesting how many adaptations of the same story exist; like remakes of Godzilla or King Kong, but with “The Journey to the West” and “Nezha”.

Many animations used Chinese Ink as their medium, giving each one a soft, elegant texture. Therefore, it was fitting that calm and slow pacing was used often.

The first artist of the day is Wan Brother, one of the earliest animators in China, who was inspired a lot by the US and has Snow-white/Disney vibes seen in their layout, set-up or background. Again, he worked with ink and used Rotoscoping which was also inspired by the US.

In 1956, a new movement began called the Hundred Flowers Campaign, which was to lift the restrictions felt imposed upon Chinese intellectuals, to stir up socialism and thus grant greater freedom of thought and speech.
It brought up the opportunity to create something new and original to represent China.
The name of the movement originated from a poem: “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend” (百花齐放，百家争鸣, Bǎihuā qífàng, bǎijiā zhēngmíng).
 “The policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend is designed to promote the flourishing of the arts and the progress of science”. – Mao Zhedong.
We can definitely admire the initially pure intentions to try and build creative freedom in China, and it’s something that’s worthwhile to remember and be grateful of.
It makes me curious to: if China had carried on developing their style, what would that look like?

Extra class notes:
Te Wei – Founder of Shanghai Arts and Film Studio!
Chinese manhua artist and animator, Developed chinese ink-wash animation
Studied in Changchun, Tadahito Mochinaga
Tadpoles Looking for Their Mama (1960) – Te Wei
Yu Zheugang A Clever Duckling (1960) an origami
A-Da/ Xu Jinqin –
Wan Brother:
Princess Iron Fan (1941)
Uproar in Heaven (1964) mixes in Chinese Opera make up on their characters.
Shanghai Arts and Film Studio, first coloured chinese animation (1956) Why is the Crow Black-coated.