The animation collection "Chinese Tales" jointly produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio and Bilibili, has continued to attract the attention and heated discussions of netizens since its launch on January 1, 2023.
Ten directors including Yu Shui, Hu Rui, Yang Mu, Liu Maoning, Chen Lianhua and Zhou Xiaolin, Xu Ning, Gu Yang and Liu Kuang, and Pan Bin have each created 8 independent stories rooted in Chinese traditional culture, created with majestic imagination. Bring out the fresh experience of "wonderland into a dream, I am in it".
"Chinese Strange Story" shows a strong Chinese style.
For example, "Little Monster's Summer" is taken from ancient Chinese stories, and the ancient children's clothing and family decorations in "Xiao Man" come from ancient Chinese paintings and folk New Year pictures.
In addition, according to chief director Chen Liaoyu, "The Country Bus Takes the King and the Immortals Away" shows the real rural life, and the director returned to his hometown to do a lot of work; In the alley, a lot of materials have been accumulated.
According to Hu Rui, the director of "Goose, Goose, Goose", the film is based on "Yang Xian Scholar" in the strange novel "Continued Qi Harmony" in the Southern Dynasties. It tells the adventure of a shopkeeper sending two geese to Goose Mountain.
The creators of this story have adapted 4 editions successively, but in the end they returned to the original point, basically respecting the original and adding a little modification. As a result, no matter the story or the artistic conception, "Goose Goose" is very intriguing.
In addition to the core of the story, the different art styles and production techniques used in "Chinese Strange Tan" are also worthy of attention: "Summer of Little Monsters" draws on Chinese painting techniques, "Goose Goose Goose" uses sketch-style painting, and "Lin Lin" is a three-dimensional painting. Animation, "Xiao Man" is a paper-cut stop-motion animation, and "Small Shop" is a three-rendering two-rendering animation...The creators use the style of Chinese aesthetics to weave strange, magical, or romantic dreams for the audience.
"China Strange Tan" boldly explores and extends the artistic path of Shanghai Animation Film Studio.
Over the past decades, Shanghai Animation Film Studio has produced more than 500 works such as "Snow Child", "Havoc in Heaven", "Black Cat Sheriff" and "Calabash Brothers", accompanying several generations of Chinese people.
Te Wei, the first director of the factory, put forward the slogan of "exploring the road of national style". Many senior artists adhered to this creative concept and created the internationally renowned "Chinese School" of animation.
In Chen Liaoyu's view, "The Proud General" in 1956 established a Chinese-style animation style; "Havoc in Heaven" in 1964 further systematized the expression of Chinese animation; In 1983, "Tianshu Qitan" introduced entertainment into creation, making animation more down-to-earth.
Today's "China Strange Story" has some shadows of the past, making people feel that this is the Chinese story told by the Chinese.
For example, some details that everyone likes to talk about in the film: the self-mockery of the workers in "The Summer of the Little Monster", the nagging of the wild boar mother asking the little wild boar to "drink more water", and the "goose, goose, goose" that integrates Chinese folk beliefs. "Kitten Temple" and so on, not only have a contemporary temperament, but also are very Chinese.
China has a long history and has accumulated rich traditional cultural resources. For animation creation, there are many myths, strange novels, and a large number of landscape paintings and figure paintings that can be used for reference.
On this basis, the creators, combined with the expression methods of developed countries in the film industry, will surely be able to create more excellent animation works like "Chinese Strange Tan" that not only have national cultural characteristics, but also resonate with audiences at home and abroad.
People's Daily Overseas Edition