Abstract
Chinese animation recently has drawn increasing attention due to the significant domestic output, the vast investment in the industry and the high box office figures. In spite of this, the theoretical research on animation in China has not been given much attention and far from robust. The aims of this paper are therefore to trace the emergence and development of animation theories in China and to investigate how they have been influenced and reshaped by the different historical, cultural and political contexts.
Animation arrived in China in the 1930s, with the global popularity of American commercial animations. Firstly, this paper will look at how the debates about the relationship between animation ontology and methodologies among the local artists formed the early Chinese animation theories. The period from the 1950s to the 1960s is usually considered as the first “golden era” of Chinese animation, during which Shanghai Animation Film Studio produced a considerable number of animated films. The paper will then explore how Chinese animation theories were influenced by the Soviet animated film theories and tried to address three major issues at the time—nationality, imaginativeness and socialist realism. During the 1980s, influenced by the western modernism, there was a transformation of Chinese animation from a classical style to a more modern style, which also had an impact on the field of animation theories in China. The voice of modernizing Chinese animation will be examined in the following section. Since the 2000s, animation filmmaking in China has greatly changed within the context of globalization, and various approaches and methodologies for theorizing animation from the West has significantly enriched Chinese animation theories. The mish-mash of approaches constitutes and reshapes today’s animation research in China, which will be considered in the final part of the paper.
Animation arrived in China in the 1930s, with the global popularity of American commercial animations. Firstly, this paper will look at how the debates about the relationship between animation ontology and methodologies among the local artists formed the early Chinese animation theories. The period from the 1950s to the 1960s is usually considered as the first “golden era” of Chinese animation, during which Shanghai Animation Film Studio produced a considerable number of animated films. The paper will then explore how Chinese animation theories were influenced by the Soviet animated film theories and tried to address three major issues at the time—nationality, imaginativeness and socialist realism. During the 1980s, influenced by the western modernism, there was a transformation of Chinese animation from a classical style to a more modern style, which also had an impact on the field of animation theories in China. The voice of modernizing Chinese animation will be examined in the following section. Since the 2000s, animation filmmaking in China has greatly changed within the context of globalization, and various approaches and methodologies for theorizing animation from the West has significantly enriched Chinese animation theories. The mish-mash of approaches constitutes and reshapes today’s animation research in China, which will be considered in the final part of the paper.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 12 Apr 2021 |
| Event | The Inaugural Conference of the Association for Chinese Animation Studies - Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China Duration: 1 Mar 2021 → … https://acas.world/2020/11/15/conference-program-the-inaugural-conference-of-the-association-for-chinese-animation-studies-zoom-webinar-8am-march-1-may-12-2021/ |
Conference
| Conference | The Inaugural Conference of the Association for Chinese Animation Studies |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | China |
| City | Hong Kong |
| Period | 1/03/21 → … |
| Internet address |
Bibliographical note
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Keywords
- Chinese animation
- animation history
- animation theory
