2019 is a special year for domestic animated films.
"Nezha's Devil Boy Comes into the World" topped the domestic animation film at the box office and became the second domestic film and television. Now the secret key is postponed again, and 5 billion is bound to be won; in fact, the good reputation of "White Snake: Origin" at the beginning of the year indicates this year It must be a year for domestic animated films to shine, and then "Luo Xiaohei Zhan Ji" was not far behind, and announced the official rise of this national comic with the super high reputation of Douban 8.2.
As we all know, our country once had world-renowned animation works, but after that, it was silent for many years and was dominated by Japanese animation and Hollywood. So what is blocking our progress, what are Chinese animators doing in the window of so many years? Why is the rise of domestic animated films long overdue. In this issue, let us walk into the world of domestic animation and talk about the unknown behind the scenes and the past.
Historical reasons
In the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, China was in the groping period of socialist construction. Both agriculture and industry were vigorously developing the collective economy, which also affected the social and cultural trends at that time. Except for some legends and mythological themes, most of the animations that appear in the public eye as art films are aimed at ordinary working people, with conservative style and unified image.
After the reform and opening up, American blockbusters such as "Popeye" began to be shown in some theaters in Shanghai. These works inspired a group of Chinese to embark on the path of animation creation. Chinese animation has taken the first step in a very difficult environment.
When the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out in 1937, the Wan Brothers, the founder of domestic animation at the time, launched a series of works that inspired the Chinese people to resist the Japanese War, using the paintbrush in their hands as a weapon for patriots. Also in 1937, Disney produced the world's first animated feature film "Snow White". It was in this situation of broken mountains and rivers and great external pressure that the Wan Brothers released a great work "Princess Iron Fan", which was also the first animated feature film in Asia, given the crisis of the war at that time Regarding the situation, there are still many metaphors about politics in "Princess Iron Fan", but even if all political ideological elements are stripped away, "Princess Iron Fan" is still a world-class work at the time. The later master Osamu Tezuka was a fan of Mr. Wan Laiming, the Wan brothers.
The Wan brothers used their own efforts to synchronize Chinese animation with the world. After that, Chinese animation prospered for another decade. After the official founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1950, 22 key members of the Art Group of the Northeast Studio moved to Shanghai and established the Art Group of the Shanghai Film Studio. Later, the world-renowned "Naos in Heaven", "Little Tadpoles Looking for Mother", and "Nezha Naked in the Sea" were all created at this time. Before the Cultural Revolution, this was a paradise for Chinese animation creation. They were daring to innovate and were willing to create. They developed various forms of animation creation such as ink painting, origami, paper cutting, clay sculpture and wood carving. They have won many international awards and amazed the world's animation colleagues.
By the end of the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Chinese animation was in a total trough. In the past ten years, there were no outstanding works. Chinese animation was either silent or short-lived. The massive invasion of American and Japanese animation made domestic animation sluggish. , And the market tricks are unheard of. For example, when "Transformers" was introduced, the money was almost confiscated. First use the free strategy to defeat the domestic animation industry, and then use peripheral products to make profits. In 1995, the state abolished the unified marketing and purchase of the US Film Factory, making the situation of domestic animation even more difficult. In addition, the deeper reason is that after decades of shutting down the country, when the country opened, we saw the huge economic and cultural gap between China and the West. This contrast made Chinese audiences and creators lose confidence in national culture and felt that everything was happening. Not as good as people, the moon in foreign countries is relatively round. This kind of pain can be described as piercing, but it is also the only way for history.
After this, domestic animation is not without trying to break through. "Baolian Lantern" is a typed attempt, and it has achieved good results. But you can't be fat with one bite, and its significance is extraordinary.
"Animation is an indicator of cultural imagination, who is more imaginative? The strong one."
Only when true cultural confidence comes, can there be leisure and leisure, so in the past few years, good Chinese comic works have been born. , Everyone is shouting "the rise of domestic animation". The country becomes prosperous, and the people have the will to consume cultural products, so domestic animation can truly rise.
Funding energy problems
animation is a particularly money-burning and laborious gadget. How much money is burned and how laborious is it? The Wan brothers of
did "Princess Iron Fan" at the beginning. In the case of shortage of funds, the production team of more than 100 people was busy for nearly two In 1999, it took more than 20,000 original paintings to complete. After the fire of "Nezha", many viewers knew the bitterness of the production behind it. At the same time, animation is also a very money-consuming project, especially 3D. We often see that when animation works have particularly exquisite pictures, there will always be barrage "funds burning" drifting by.
Post a picture for everyone here, and everyone can have an intuitive impression.
Below is the list of animations with the highest budget in the world as of 2015, in US dollars. (Don’t ask why it’s not as of 2019, Silver Fox has no information, but this is enough)
As you can see, the cost of "Toy Story 3" is as high as 32,000 US dollars per second. If at this price, "White Snake" The 80 million yuan cost of "The Origin" is only enough to make a 400-second play...
animation is a costly, laborious, and long-term creative product. It is difficult without the love of the creator and the support of capital. Made it down.
