The Bears animated film series began in 2014 and has accompanied the audience for ten years, creating a unique Spring Festival Bears phenomenon. On the first day of the Lunar New Year in 2024, the tenth movie in the series "The Bears Reversed Time and Space" will arrive as scheduled, continuing to stage a new round of joyful and warm stories.
There is a new term popular among young viewers: "full-level bear fans", which refers specifically to viewers who have watched every "Bear Bears" movie. Bear Haunt accompanied these young people to spend a happy holiday and left them with beautiful memories of the Spring Festival. Some of these viewers have already entered college and entered the workplace, becoming the main force in the current film market. This reflects from one aspect the great contribution that Bear Haunting has made in cultivating audiences for Chinese films. So many bear fans have different expectations for the movie every year. In order to bring more surprises to the audience, the creators of "Bear Bears Reversal of Time and Space" have made new expansions in the following aspects.
is first of all an upgrade of multi-type integration and narrative. The film combines science fiction, magic, action and other elements, such as setting up plots or concepts such as time and space reversal, black holes in the universe, etc., which satisfies the curiosity of the audience, especially young people. In terms of narrative, the film's setting of a parallel universe and the protagonist's struggle with memory and time give the audience a deeper understanding and observation of the world and life. These expressions are somewhat innovative.
Secondly, the character creation has a stronger sense of substitution and can arouse the resonance of the audience. In "The Bears Reversal of Time and Space", Bald Qiang becomes the protagonist, transforming from a lumberjack in the mountains to a professional in the metropolis. He felt lonely in the big city, and naturally showed his nostalgia for Xiong Da, Xiong Er and the previous happy life in the mountains and forests. This setting fits the current reality and makes the characters believable and three-dimensional.
Finally, it responds to social concerns and demonstrates a strong sense of reality and humanistic care. The discussion of issues such as the meaning of life, self-worth and social life in the film allows the audience to reflect on themselves and gain ideological enlightenment and spiritual guidance. For Bald Qiang’s desire to return to rural life and have a richer life experience, the movie gives the answer. Hard work is not inconsistent with poetry and the distance. We can face reality and be down-to-earth, and we can also look up at the stars and pursue A better life. These contents give the film rich social value.
However, the film also has some regrets. For example, the newly added image of a domineering female president conflicts with the image of the bald Qiang, and the sense of comedy between them is not fully released. If the dramatic tension between these two characters is stronger and the dramatic conflicts are richer, the movie will be more family-friendly.
is the first domestic film to launch the tenth film in the series. If it wants to continue to innovate, the task is arduous. Creators should be more open-minded and actively try diverse artistic expression and development models to open up a broader imagination space for subsequent creations and accumulate more successful experience for the creation of domestic series of films. (Authors: Rao Shuguang and Zhu Yuqing are respectively the president of the China Film Critics Society and the deputy secretary-general of the Children's Film Working Committee of the China Film Association)
"Guangming Daily" (page 15, February 21, 2024)
