1905 Movie Network News Editor's note: The animated film "Shook and Beta ", directed by Yan Dingxian and written by Yao Zhongli, Nie Xinru and others, was adapted from the novel by "Fairy Tale King" Zheng Yuanjie. It first appeared on the TV screen in 1989. The little mice Shuke and Beta drove airplanes and tanks, opened companies, caught bad guys, fought pirates, and defended human peace. They became the "best partners" in the hearts of many children at that time.
When "Shook and Beta" is being aired on the "Revisiting Classics" channel, the China Television Arts Committee invited screenwriters Yao Zhongli and Nie Xinru to review their creative experiences and "remember the classics" with the majority of TV audiences.
Treat Shuke and Beta as "people" when creating
Yao Zhongli, a first-level screenwriter at Shanghai Art Film Studio
Origin of creation: Empathy of a generation
In 1987, after I completed the creation of " Hulu Brothers ", I have been writing Planning a new script. One day, my 4-year-old son Yao Yu actually cried when he heard me read "The Adventures of Shuke and Beta" by Zheng Yuanjie. He said to me: "Dad, can you make Shukebeta into a cartoon?" I knew that the child was moved by the story of these two little mice.
"A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse gives birth to a burrow in the ground." The lineage theory of using "originality" to determine "good people" and "bad people" still has a great influence on our generation. If it can be used through animation How meaningful it would be for the film to break this concept. So I immediately started preparing for the preliminary desk work and submitted relevant shooting copywriting such as the origin of creation, story theme, character design, etc. to the leaders of Meiying Studio.
subverts traditional values
- the reason why I like Shuke Beta
I like Shuke Beta. One of the main reasons is that they both have names. For a long time, the small animals in domestic cartoons only had animal attributes and no "human names". However, there are famous "characters" such as Mickey, Tom and Jerry in foreign cartoons. Therefore, when we created the cartoon series "Little Rabbit Taotao" in 1982, we gave the little white rabbit a resounding name "Taotao".
I like Shukbeta, because like Mickey and Jerry, they are no longer labeled as bad guys, but as seemingly weak but intelligent little people who can export aesthetic value. Therefore, when designing the shooting copy, I focused on the two protagonists Shuke and Beta. The leaders of Meiying Studio quickly agreed to establish the project according to this plan, and Zheng Yuanjie also happily signed the authorization contract. At this point, I officially started writing the script for the animated film "Shuke and Beta".
and Nie Xinru and other screenwriters jointly created
. After the first draft was completed, the leaders of the American Film Studio asked for my opinion. Can Nie Xinru write the script together? Nie Xinru’s mother, Yu Hejing, is an old comrade in the literature group and my senior. I am also the lyricist of the theme song "Bright Eyes" for the animated film "The Blind Girl and the Fox" written by Nie Xinru. Therefore, I agreed with the leader's advice.
Nie Xinru successfully completed the second draft of the script for the first six episodes. In 1989, because Nie Xinru went to Germany to study, the writing of the next seven episodes of the script was continued by my old classmate Zhang Zhiyuan and me. The directors are Yan Dingxian and Lin Wenxiao, the couple who worked with me on "Little Rabbit Taotao".
"Shuke and Beta" was well received at the time and won many awards. More than thirty years later, it is still able to become a classic work imprinted in the hearts of children. I think this coincides with the second golden period of creation of American Film Studio. Animation Artists should keep in mind the motto of "Don't imitate others, don't repeat yourself". The spirit of craftsmanship is inseparable from the craftsmanship of not being utilitarian, working hard, and going all out to produce good works.
Shuke and Beta, the most glorious labor
Nie Xinru, a professor at East China Normal University
"The glory of labor" and collectivism
- I want to give the meaning of Shuke and Beta
I am full of personal emotions and feelings about "Shuke and Beta" It resonates with Yao Zhongli. But to create a cartoon for the public, personal emotions are not enough; solid character logic is also needed.To this end, we made a clear distinction between the characters of Shuke and Beta, making them "unknown to each other without fighting" and allowing them to win everyone's respect through work. "Labor is glorious" is my personal experience when I jumped in line, and it is also the meaning I want to give to Shuke and Beta.
Directors Yan Dingxian and Lin Wenxiao asked me to provide comments on the storyboard, and I made one suggestion: after Shuke helped the bees transport pollen, the soldiers guarding the hive saluted him. It only took one shot, but the matter was clearly explained. , but Shuke’s feeling of being respected for his labor is not outstanding enough. I suggest using a set of shots to show the little bee's salute. From Shuke's sight, there will be a strong psychological shock, because as a mouse in the past, he has never received such courtesy, so he will Tears welled up in my eyes. The two directors happily accepted my suggestions.
In addition to "the glory of labor", working for the collective, for everyone, rather than for individuals, is also an aspect that the film focuses on. Such a collectivist spirit and "the glory of labor" complement each other and become the theme throughout the film. We feel that it stands Liveable. Without such a spirit, Shuke and Beta would become naughty children in a general sense, rather than becoming "ideal" heroic figures.
Is the animated version of "Shuke and Beta" too "educational"? I don't agree with
. I've seen some comments in recent years, thinking that "Shuke and Beta" adapted by Shangmei Film has too much "educational" meaning, and seems to be a "transgression" of the original work. I don't agree with it. Those who make these comments clearly view “enlightenment” as a negative practice. For children, their world is a world that needs education and construction. People are not born as social beings. Only through "education" can they become people who live in harmony with society. Therefore, setting up characters and behaviors with positive significance in cartoons is not only a requirement of social ethics, but also the responsibility of cartoon screenwriters.
As the theme song of "Shuke and Beta" sings: on the one hand, don't be swayed by some incorrect social opinions, you must have your own opinions and "walk your own way"; on the other hand, you must put the collective welfare first. Above personal interests, "Whoever needs help just calls Shukbeta". These lyrics, accompanied by the music composed by teacher Jin Fuzai, spread all over the world.
subverts the binary opposition of "good guys" and "bad guys". After adapting the theme concept of
, it is necessary to build interesting plots and stories based on the original work. At that time, we had already produced successful cartoons such as "The Adventures of the Sloppy King", "The Black Cat Sheriff", "Calabash Brothers" and "Afanti", so we wanted to try to work on "Shuke and..." "Beta" constructs a narrative structure that enhances suspense and makes the stories interlocking.
We are also making some attempts to subvert the binary opposition of "good guys" and "bad guys". In addition to the bad cats, there are good cats like "Mili" who help Shukbeta; among the rats, in addition to positive images like Shukbeta, there are also good cats like "Bailu" A heartless and cruel guy. In addition, there are middle characters like "Feifei", who is neither a hero nor a villain, but a living being that exists in our daily lives.
These designs have been widely accepted by audiences today, but they were still quite new more than thirty years ago, at least they were rare in cartoons at the time. We hope that through this method, children can learn to dialectically distinguish "good" and "bad" based on people's specific behaviors.
