A Pure Chinese Animation, Chinese Strange Tan,Why do so many Chinese Love it?
When mentioning Shanghai Art Film Studio, many Chinese post-80s, post-90s, and even post-60s and post-70s will smile knowingly, thinking of "Havoc in Heaven", "Nezha Trouble the Sea", "The Book of Heaven", " Black Cat Sheriff" and other classic works. Back in the day, these works accompanied generation after generation through childhood, and also represented Chinese animation, creating unique "cultural business cards" on the international stage. Time flies, and the brilliance created by Chinese animation in the era of "art films" has begun to fade in people's memory. After going through the trough and tempering, under the guidance of the "Guochuang" trend, the Chinese animation industry has finally seen the light again in recent years. However, although more and more domestic animations are "out of the circle" every year, and the market response is getting better every year, works with outstanding quality and reputation are still rare. Against this backdrop, shortly after its broadcast, a collection of short films called "China's Strange Story" received a high score of 9.5 from more than 70,000 viewers on Douban. It is the once "King of Art Films" Shanghai Art Film Studio that produced this collection of short films. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the presence of "art films" in the eyes of audiences in the 20th century has been decreasing. The style of the new generation of Chinese animation, on the one hand, is obviously influenced by mature animation markets such as Japan, Europe and the United States, and on the other hand, it is also actively catering to the needs of contemporary young people. aesthetic preference. However, the emergence and success of "China Strange Story" has made people realize that although the era of "art films" is over, the aesthetic resources, style resources, and unique Chinese cultural and ideological resources accumulated in the past by Chinese animation are still worthwhile. It has been further excavated today, and it is used as a starting point to carry out "inherited innovation". Why are the few episodes of "Chinese Strange Story" that have been aired so successful? The answer to this question, of course, must be found in the original film content. The first episode, "The Summer of Little Monsters", is the closest relative to the "art films" of the last century. Whether it is the cultural background derived from "Journey to the West", the classic art style with clear inheritance, or the highly recognizable image of Monkey King, it is enough to make audiences who are familiar with the development history of Chinese animation burst into tears. However, although "Little Monster's Summer" feels familiar, it is not an imitation of an old work. Its story line uses monster caves as a metaphor for the contemporary workplace, which young office workers can understand at a glance. With the nameless little demon instead of the quartet of Buddhist scriptures as the protagonist, the narrative style of persuading people to be kind and full of warmth is also eye-catching. In addition, the ink painting style of the second episode "Goose Goose Goose", silent film techniques, and "Liaozhai flavor" are full of open plots that are good at leaving blank space and have a long aftertaste; The bold attempt to integrate 3D animation, the romantic presentation of the natural features of Northeast China, and the thinking about the relationship between man and nature… These distinctive highlights all convey the unique insights of the main creative team and support them to transform these indirectly into works Courage and sincerity. From an industrial level point of view, the project scale of "China Strange Story" determines that it is impossible to pursue the top level. But it excels in creativity, sincerity, and the "Chinese gene" in it. "Chinese Strange Tan" first became famous, and it is closely related to the "feeling" attribute that comes with "Little Monster's Summer". piece. However, starting from "Lin Lin", we can already clearly see the courage of "Chinese Strange Tan" to explore a new world while relying on traditional resources. From the preview, it can be found that starting from the fourth episode, "Chinese Strange Tan" will even break away from the ancient background and come to the modern and even the future. At present, we don't know how long the ratings of "China Strange Tan" can be maintained, and the quality of the few episodes that have not been aired, but we might as well look forward to it and see how high they can reach. Read the full article