A History Interrupted
The history of Chinese animation dates all the way back to 180 A.D., when inventor Ting Huan created the first zoetrope. Ting Huan's automated contraption hung over a lamp: rising hot air turned vanes that spun sheets of paper on which sequential images magically “came alive”. Modern Chinese animation, of course, began with the pioneering work of Wan Laiming, Wan Guchan, Wan Chaochen and Wan Dihuan in the mid-1920s. Their animated short, “Uproar In The Studio”, created an “uproar” among audiences on the mainland. With ambitious animated films such as the Wan brothers' Princess Iron Fan (released within two years of Disney's Snow White, during the Second Sino-Japanese War no less), China's fledgling animation industry was technically and artistically on par with the rest of the world. At the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, remarkable animated features, such as the vividly colored “Havoc In Heaven”, were created with the active support of the central government. Mao Zedong himself supported the new art form as a way to “Let hundreds of flowers blossom and hundreds of schools of thought contend”.
A scene from Princess Iron Fan, China's first animated feature film, released in 1941.
Ironically, China's animation industry would suffer a catastrophic blow from Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution in 1967. Filmmakers received a dangerous mixed message as freedom of expression was “permitted”, but accompanied by the persecution of those with differing views. Many talented animators lost their jobs (in some cases, their lives), and those who survived were compelled to create works that hewed closer to political propaganda than to creative expression. Although certain reforms took place during the late 1970s and 1980s, government control was still pervasive. Ultimately, the political and economic changes of the 1990s, coupled with the influential grassroots opportunities presented by the Internet, began to reopen and revitalize the Chinese animation industry.
Increasing Appetites
By this time, China had lost tremendous ground to Japan's stature within the international animation community. In fact, Japan had emerged as the de facto animation giant of the East, completely dominating the Chinese market. Today, approximately 18 billion RMB (almost $2.5 billion USD) is spent by animation consumers in China, but nearly 90% of that money flows straight out of the country to Japan (and to a lesser extent, the United States and Europe). Sadly, only 10% of Chinese children say that they prefer domestic animated productions. The lack of demand for native content compels many Chinese animation studios to survive by accepting outsourced work from the U.S. and Europe.
Outsourcing is clearly a flashpoint topic for most American animators, who feel that their jobs are being “taken.” Yet the issue takes on a different shape when viewed from the perspective of an aspiring animator getting that first professional break in China. I remember visiting a studio on the mainland a few years ago as they were hard at work on a direct-to-video project for a well-known, Burbank-based entertainment conglomerate. I had the chance to chat with a few of the animators, each of whom was earning several times more than at their previous non-animation jobs. I asked if they were aware of how American animators felt about the outsourced work that was stacked on their light tables. There was an uncomfortable pause... until a young woman replied shyly; “Americans are not the only ones in the world who deserve opportunities.”
A new animation studio under construction in Changzhou.
China is now out to regain lost creative territory. Despite an initial economic wariness, the Chinese government has re-engaged the domestic animation industry in a significant way. In 2004, China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) implemented new policies designed to encourage entrepreneurial mainland animation production - targeting academic and industrial institutions such as the Beijing Film Academy, the Communication University of China, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio and the China International Television Corporation. In this new climate, China's first International Animation Festival, held in the city of Hangzhou in 2005, featured a lively series of industry lectures and panels, and recorded an astonishing 1.2 million attendees!
One of the more controversial aspects of SARFT's policies has been the scaling back of Japanese and American animated content in favor of new domestic work. An upside of this intervention is that boutique animation studios in China are receiving unprecedented attention from private investors. International co-productions are increasingly common, and the National Animation Industry Base has prominent commercial centers in cities such as Hangzhou, Changzhou and Shanghai. But while a growing number of schools now offer programs in animation, there are still tens of thousands of vacant seats in China's animation industry waiting to be filled by the few hundreds of Chinese animation majors who graduate each year. Domestic supply has yet to keep up with demand - a fact that makes the ban on some foreign productions puzzling, to say the least.
Growing Abilities
Zhang Hongjian, head of Hangzhou's Department of Publicity and Information, once commented on the gap that exists between China's animation industry and those of Japan and the United States, in terms of technique and originality. If I were to personally assess the quality of U.S. animated content as ranging from 3 through 10 on a scale of ten (with the bulge of the bell curve around an 8), I would accordingly rate the quality of Chinese animated content as varying from 1 through 7 (with the majority of works around a 5). However, given China's ability to accelerate development within remarkably short periods of time, I would not expect it long before this gap is closed.
In 2005, the Chinese animation industry achieved an important milestone with the production of Jean Giraud's Thru The Mobius Strip in Shenzhen. Thru The Mobius Strip was the first 3D animated feature film, fully rendered in China, to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. While receiving good reviews for the quality of its animation, Mobius was regarded as more of a graphical accomplishment than a storytelling achievement.
Kevin Geiger and Paul Driessen on the CICDAF 2007 jury.
In 2007, I had the pleasure of participating on the jury of the 4th China International Animation and Digital Arts Festival, chaired by legendary independent animator Paul Driessen. The works we reviewed certainly adhered to the aforementioned quality scale, yet there were standouts in the program that clearly demonstrated an abundance of technical and artistic ability in China. The biggest problem at present seems to be a lack of compelling storytelling. And good storytelling is a product of innovative collaboration and creative freedom.
A Rock And A Hard Place
Acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou (Raise The Red Lantern, Hero) once said, “When the Chinese have a good story, they want to make a live-action motion picture from it, not an animated film.” Whether made in jest or in seriousness, this comment indeed speaks to the general view in China that animation is a medium for children. And while Chinese children certainly appreciate a good story, they are all too often presented with a didactic form of storytelling where character and plot are subjugated to an instructional imperative. The Wan brothers themselves believed that Chinese animation must be educational in addition to entertaining. This pedagogical philosophy has influenced the Chinese animation industry since its inception, in ways both constructive and restrictive. Unfortunately, animated films with limited thematic range and an emphasis on didactic folklore not only become rote for domestic Chinese audiences, but are also unappealing to international markets. Sun Lijun, Dean of the Animation School of the Beijing Film Academy, observed some years ago that Chinese animation should dwell in the realm of dreams, imagination and the human spirit, rather than restrict itself to time-worn political and educational territory.
China's parliament building, the Great Hall of the People.
During a visit to Beijing last December, I had the honor to deliver a brief address in the Great Hall of the People for a mixed audience of industry professionals, Chinese press and Ministry of Culture officials. I touched upon the dilemma that Chinese animators face as they attempt to define themselves in this day and age. Many Chinese animation artists truly feel caught between “a rock and a hard place”. On the one hand, there is the incredibly rich history and culture of China to contend with: a great treasure from which to draw, but also a heavy “weight” to bear. On the other hand, there is the overwhelming influence and allure of Japanese and American pop cultures: flashy, glittery, often superficial... but also tremendously seductive. It is easy to see how many Chinese animators feel that their choices are limited to carrying the old or copying the new. But there is a third way... a “Middle Way”, if you will: the way of personal filmmaking.
Animation Options' Kevin Geiger addressing the Ministry of Culture.
To Chinese animators struggling to be true to their cultural history and also relevant to an international audience, I advocated filmmaking from the heart. Personal, heartfelt storytelling accomplishes two seemingly contradictory goals. It inevitably represents the filmmaker's formative culture and history. At the same time, it speaks to a common humanity that transcends specific cultures and national boundaries. If I was at all apprehensive about how this observation would be received, I was greatly heartened to see Chinese filmmakers and Ministry of Culture officials nodding in assent. Not only is China's new generation of animation filmmakers eager to express themselves with distinction on the world stage, but they are receiving increasing support and encouragement from a government that is gradually warming to the value (and inevitability) of such expression. It's a brave new world for the Chinese animation industry, both in artistic form and original content.
“Home” Is Where The Art Is
One of the most eagerly anticipated animated Chinese feature films currently in development in Beijing is Road To Home: produced & directed by Sun Lijun and created & co-directed by Feng Wen from a screenplay by Yan Yi. Road To Home is representative of the new wave of Chinese animated feature film production in terms of the youth, enthusiasm and sophistication of its creative team.
Road To Home Producer/Director Sun Lijun, and Creator/Co-director Feng Wen.
Set in Western China, Road To Home portrays the unique cultural characteristics of China while speaking to common humanist themes, using the friendship of a little girl and a wolf cub as its main line. Both epic and intimate, Road To Home features compelling painterly landscapes, well-drawn characters (literally & figuratively), and timely themes of co-existence and stewardship within a fragile environment.
Road To Home heroine, Vivi.
Cubby
Gugu & Lulu.
Development is slated to continue through this summer, followed by a 2-year production period. Road To Home is a serious animation investment for China, with a budget that - while lean by Western standards - represents a commitment to quality that will be distinctive in the Chinese animation market and competitive on the international animation market. Narratively, artistically and technically, Road To Home aspires to be a defining milestone in Chinese feature animation, one that sets forth an internationally recognized style which is culturally and aesthetically unique to China, much as anime is to Japan.
Photo images copyright© Kevin Geiger.
Developmental artwork and images copyright© 2007 Road To Home all rights reserved.
Coming Soon...
With a total demographic market of over 500 million animation consumers (the number of children under 16 in China surpasses the entire U.S. population by 80 million), the Chinese animation industry is in an increasingly powerful position. The technology gap between home and professional studios in China is rapidly narrowing, with an attendant increase in “user-generated content.” These Internet-based works typically demonstrate a greater freedom of expression than has been seen in Chinese animation - a freedom which inevitably influences the more traditional forms, and the more traditional filmmakers. The days of animated films with stale, compromised plots are numbered as China's new generation of savvy young artists & storytellers takes the international stage, enriching the creative dialogue of the medium while challenging the assumptions of our industry.
Kevin Geiger is President & CEO of Animation Options LLC, an independent digital production consulting company (www.animationoptions.com). You may contact Kevin directly at: kevingeiger@animationoptions.com
