Original title: Cartoon "Little Longzi: The Origin of the South China Sea": conveying ocean awareness to children
Not long ago, the TV cartoon "Little Longzi: The Origin of the South China Sea" produced by Sansha Satellite TV was broadcast on the CCTV Children's Channel. The film tells the story of Nanhai Xiaolongzi, who faced evil forces, united with friends of different races, fought tirelessly to defend his homeland, thwarted the enemy's plots one by one, and finally brought peace and tranquility to his homeland in Nanhai.
In the history of Chinese film and television creation, there are relatively few works that tell Chinese stories around the ocean. From this perspective, the creation of the cartoon "Little Longzi: The Origin of the South China Sea" is of great significance. It provides us with a perspective to understand the unique charm and profound historical and cultural heritage of the South China Sea, and helps to increase the public's understanding and attention to the South China Sea. Further enhance people’s ocean awareness and cultural confidence.
Wherever a country’s territory is, its literary and artistic narrative should reach there. Before "Little Longzi: The Origin of the South China Sea", the movie "The Storm in the South China Sea" was the first work in New China to use the South China Sea as its narrative space. In the film, the lyrics sung by the protagonist are on the beautiful and rich Xisha Island, where my ancestors grew up for generations. The islands are covered with sweat, and the ancient hometown is prosperous, which leaves a deep impression on people. "Little Longzi: The Origin of the South China Sea" inherits and expands the content of the ancient hometown sung and narrated in the episode of "The Storm in the South China Sea". The creator uses the character image of a dragon to transform generations of ancestors into totem characters. By interpreting the Dragon King of the South China Sea among the dragon kings of the four seas in ancient legends, the creator further focuses on the story of the South China Sea, and then combines the legendary image with regional culture to make the often said China has a long history. And the vast territory materializes. Not only that, the work also designed the image of Yinglong, explaining the background of the story of Yinglong helping Huangdi fight Chi You, connecting Yinglong and the legend of Huangdi, and through Yinglong being injured and lying on the bottom of the South China Sea, making the legendary Central Plains where the war took place Connect with the South China Sea. At the same time, in addition to borrowing legends to portray the Little Dragon from the South China Sea, the work also portrays A Feng, a little mainland girl, as a descendant of the Phoenix tribe, thereby achieving a complete character configuration of dragon and phoenix, which is an expression of distinctive Chinese totem cultural characteristics. As a result, the work is linked to the concept of national territory through the expression of civilizational forms and the configuration of cultural symbols.
"Little Longzi: The Origin of the South China Sea" is an animation work, and its core audience is young children. Therefore, after introducing the father-generation characters such as the Dragon King of the South China Sea and the Prime Minister Turtle, the work immediately focuses on the images of young people such as Xiao Longzi, Daying and Afeng, and even creates the image of a small flying dragon that suits the viewing preferences of young children. As a result, the story of the South China Sea, which originated from ancient legends, has been integrated into the life course of the new generation of South China Sea descendants. In this way, the basic goal of conveying ocean awareness to children has been achieved.
"Little Dragon Son: The Origin of the South China Sea" strives to enrich the writing of border legends in Chinese stories and add to the scarce South China Sea narrative. This attitude of having the courage to shoulder social responsibilities and cultural missions deserves recognition. However, for the audience of young children, the story of this cartoon has too many threads and unclear clues, making legends, history, inspirational, fantasy and other contents entangled. If we focus on one point and describe the beauty of the motherland's marine landforms and the richness of marine life, the work will show a clearer structure and a more complete logic. (Author: Zhao Tong, director of the Television Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles)
"Guangming Daily" (Page 15, January 3, 2024)
