The history of

Chinese animation Chinese animation refers to animation made in China. In China and in Chinese, donghua ( zh, s=动画, t=動畫, p=dònghuà) describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. However, outside of China and in English, ''donghua'' is col ...

began in the 20th century in the Republic of China when the people became fascinated with the idea of animation. A lengthy history interlocks between the art, politics and the ever-changing economy. Chinese animation has long been under the shadow of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

and Japanese animations, but it once played a very important role in world animation.

Early history

In the first century BC, the Han-era Chinese engineer

Ding Huan Ding Huan () was a Chinese craftsman, mechanical engineer, and inventor who lived in the first century BC during the Han dynasty. Among the inventions attributed to him is an air conditioning system based on evaporative cooling. Purported inventio ...

(丁緩) invented a device "on which many strange birds and mysterious animals were attached" that were said to have "moved quite naturally", a machine that British historian Joseph Needham has speculated may have been "a variety of

zoetrope A zoetrope is one of several pre-film animation devices that produce the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. It was basically a cylindrical variation of the phénak ...

".Needham, Joseph (1962). ''Science and Civilization in China'', vol. IV, part 1: ''Physics and Physical Technology''. Cambridge University Press. p. 123-124. However, it is unclear whether Ding's device actually involved any illusion of animation or simply featured static or mechanized figures actually moving through space. The modern animation industry began in France in 1888, invented by Charles-Émile Reynaud. The industry eventually spread to China where Chinese animation started in the 1920s, inspired by French, German, Russian and mostly American animated productions. One of the first examples of foreign animation did not land in Shanghai until 1918. This piece of animation from the US was titled (从墨水瓶里跳出来),Animation History transcribed from Jilin School of Art.
CCTV
" ''Animation History.'' Retrieved on December 19, 2006. known today as ''

Out of the Inkwell ''Out of the Inkwell'' is an American major animated series of the silent era produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929. History The series was the result of three short experimental films that Max Fleischer independently produced from 191 ...

''.

Exploration periods (1920s–1945)

In 1922

Wan Laiming Wan Laiming (; 18 January 1900 – 7 October 1997) was born in Nanjing, Qing dynasty. He was one of the Wan brothers who pioneered the Chinese animation industry, and is commonly considered as China's first animator. As the director of the Sha ...

produced the first animation in a cartoon advertisement for the '' Shuzhendong Chinese Typewriter''. Followed by the 1924 animation short ''

Dog Treat Dog food is food specifically formulated and intended for consumption by dogs and other related canines. Dogs are considered to be omnivores with a carnivorous bias. They have the sharp, pointed teeth and shorter gastrointestinal tracts of ca ...

''. The Shanghai Tobacco Company also produced an animation called ''

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

''. These are the earliest known cartoon shorts. In 1926 the four

Wan brothers The Wan Brothers () were born in the early 20th century in Nanjing, China. They became the founders and pioneers of the Chinese animation industry and made the first Asian animation feature-length film, ''Princess Iron Fan'' in 1941. Background ...

Wan Guchan Wan Guchan (; 18 January 1900 – 19 November 1995) was a Chinese filmmaker. Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu, he was one of the Wan brothers who pioneered the Chinese animations industry. Early history Wan Guchan joined his twin brother Wan Laiming ...

，

Wan Chaochen Wan Chao-Chan (; 1906–1992) was born in Nanjing, China. He was one of the Wan brothers who pioneered the Chinese animations industry. History He joined his other brothers Wan Laiming Wan Laiming (; 18 January 1900 – 7 October 1997) wa ...

and Wan Dihuan worked under the

Great Wall Film Company Great Wall Film Company () was one of the first Chinese film production companies based in Shanghai, China, in the 1920s. History The company was founded by Mei Xuechou (梅雪俦) and Liu Zhaoming (刘兆明) in the 1920s. The company's first ...

in China. Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan were then recognized as China's animation pioneers when they produced the first animation short '' Uproar in the Studio'' running 10 to 12 minutes long in black and white.Qing Yun.
Qing Yun
." ''Qing Yun.com.'' Retrieved on December 19, 2006. The brothers believed that Chinese animation should be instructive, logical and thought-provoking besides being entertaining to its audience. They wanted to emphasize the development of an animation style that was uniquely Chinese. It was a common trend at the time to combine live action film footages with 2D animation. By 1932 one of the Wan brothers, Wan Di-huan, would voluntarily leave the Great Wall Film company for his own photography studio. Some of the first wave of influential American animations that reached Shanghai were ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Cartoon World.
Cartoon World
." ''ZZU.edu.'' Retrieved on December 19, 2006. that may be an off translation to what is known today as '' Betty Boop''. Many animated sequences can be found in Republican Chinese live-action film. By 1935 the Wan brothers would launch the first animation with sound titled '' The Camel’s Dance''. Four years later in 1939, America's

Disney's The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'' would also be introduced in Shanghai and it would be a great influence. In 1941 China's first animated

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

of notable length, ''

Princess Iron Fan Princess Iron Fan () is a character from the 16th century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. She is the wife of the Bull Demon King and mother of Red Boy. She is one of the most popular ''Journey to the West'' villains, alongside her husband ...

'', was released under very difficult conditions during

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

and World War II using extensive rotoscoping. While there were overlapping progress made in the Asian regions with Japanese anime at the time, they were not geographically or artistically influential to China directly. During the Japanese invasion period, the brothers produced more than 20 animated propaganda shorts focusing on various patriotic topics from resistance against Japanese troops, opium and imperialism.

Steady development (1946–1949)

On October 1, 1946 a northeast motion picture studio was established in the

Nenjiang province Nunkiang, () was a province in Northeast China, which was established in 1945. It was c.26,000 sq mi/67,340 km² large and the provincial capital was Qiqihar. The province was abolished in 1950 and incorporated with Heilongjiang Heilongj ...

(龙江省兴山), known today as the

Heilongjiang province Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost provinc ...

. It is the first known studio established by a

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. In 1947 productions such as '' Emperor's Dream'' used puppets in an exaggerated way to expose corruption of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

Chinese nationalist party. The idea of using political content in puppetry films was becoming acceptable, and animators took note on their success. An example of such documentary-type cartoons can be found in ''

Go After an Easy Prey ''Go After an Easy Prey'' (Chinese: 瓮中捉鳖) is a Chinese animated film in black and white from 1948. It is also referred to as ''"Turtle Caught in a Jar"''. Translation The title of the film is a phrase describing something as easy to ca ...

'' (1948). In 1948 the Northeast studio would change its name to Shanghai Picture Studio Group. On October 1, 1949, China would enter a new communist era led by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

Founding of Shanghai Arts and Film Studio (1950–1965)

In February 1950 the northeast group would combine with other divisions to become the predecessor of

Shanghai Animation Film Studio Shanghai Animation Film Studio () also known as SAFS () is a Chinese animation studio based in Shanghai, China, as part of the Shanghai Film Group Corporation. Shanghai Animation Film Studio was officially established in April, 1957, led by pion ...

. The Wan brothers,

Central Academy of Fine Arts The Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is an art academy under the direct charge of the Ministry of Education of China. The Manila Bulletin calls the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy". It is one of the most selectiv ...

, the Art Institute of Suzhou and many other big-name artists would all be concentrated in this studio for the first time. Among the talent is Japanese animator Tadahito Mochinaga, who would spend time in Shanghai creating '' Thank You, Kitty''. Three years later he would depart for Japan, becoming possibly the only artist to have worked in both Chinese and Japanese industry in the era. By 1956 the Wan brothers have created the first colored animation of notable length titled '' Why is the Crow Black-Coated'', which became the first Chinese animation recognized internationally. In April 1957 the central government would begin sponsoring the studio making it the nation's first and official animation factory. From the technology standpoint, China's animation was still relatively on pace with the rest of the world. In 1958 the Wan brothers created a new animation film technique based on the folk art cut-paper animation, which was demonstrated in ''

Pigsy Eats Watermelon ''Pigsy Eats Watermelon'' () is a 1958 Chinese animation short film produced at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio by Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan. It is also translated as ''"Mr. Pig Eats Watermelon"'' or ''"Zhu Bajie Eats Watermelon"''. Wan Guc ...

''. At the same time another technique called

origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a f ...

animation was also developed by Yu Zheguang (虞哲光) in 1960, in the film '' A Clever Duckling''. Also in 1960 the first set of animation film exhibitions were held in 6 major cities including Shanghai and Beijing, followed by exhibitions in Hong Kong in 1962 and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

in 1963. In the early 1960s, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio also created ink wash animation, the first of its kind in the world. The Wan brothers would receive the most recognition for their film ''

Havoc in Heaven ''Havoc in Heaven'', also translated as ''Uproar in Heaven'', is a Chinese donghua feature film directed by Wan Laiming and produced by all four of the Wan brothers. The film was created at the height of the Chinese animation industry in the 196 ...

'', since it was well known among ordinary citizens. The development spanned 4 years from 1961 to 1964. It ran for nearly 2 hours pushing the technology to the limit with some of the most vivid colors ever put to the screen. It can be said that in the short run, the financing of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio was strictly an extension of Mao's

Anti-Rightist Movement The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged "Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign was l ...

following up on speeches like “Let hundreds of flowers blossom and hundreds of schools of thought contend" (百花齐放，百家争鸣). Mao has publicly admitted that promoting new art forms and institutions was vital to the new China. Though with time, his political campaign would prove to be a major backlash to the industry. Putting an end to the golden era.

Cultural Revolution interference (1966–1976)

Animations were considered technological marvels up until the

cultural revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

kicked into full gear in 1967. By now

was promoting the animation industry only under the circumstances that it was a useful propaganda tool for his

Hundred Flowers Campaign The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement (), was a period from 1956 to 1957 in the People's Republic of China during which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) encouraged citizens to openly express their opinions of t ...

. He would send a dangerous message to the animation industry, since his

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

allowed complete freedom of expression, yet persecuted those who had views different from his political party. The revolution was widely known for the

red guard Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard le ...

destruction crusades that would destroy artifacts, antiques, paintings, books and anything of conflicting value. Some of the artists were humiliated, forced to become farmers in the countryside, accept re-education or sent to prison. Some of the famous artists in the film and literature industry would rather commit suicide than to be humiliated. Most of the animators were not allowed to draw and forced to do labor work. The persecutions would grow exponentially worse from 1966 to 1972, labeling the period "catastrophic" for the industry. The Chinese animation industry was practically put on pause for a decade until 1976 when the cultural revolution was over. What is left of the period were animations that heavily favored Mao's campaign if not furthered his ideology. Animations such as '' Little Trumpeter'' in 1973, a story about a young boy named "Xiaoyong" who became a heroic red guard soldier. Other animations from the same year include '' Little 8th Route Army'', a story about a boy taking on revenge against the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

. Or '' Little Sentinel of East China Sea'' a story about a young girl named "Jiedaling" who followed 3 chemical warfare workers in disguise, and called upon the People's Liberation Army to wipe out the enemy.

Reform period (1978–1989)

By 1978 it was clear that significant damage have been done by the cultural revolution. An indication of where China has dropped in rank was apparent. In the 20-year span from 1960 to 1989 from the theater standpoint, the majority of cartoons in Hong Kong were imported from the US. It was typical to play American movies in major cinemas preceded by an American cartoon segment. Sometimes the segment would even be shown in its entirety. An

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

or Disney movie was almost certain to be preceded by another Disney animation. From the home animation standpoint, Japan have already emerged as the dominant animation provider in

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

. Their export of anime television series would reach Hong Kong, Europe and the Middle East in mass quantities via analog broadcasts directly to home. Some of the more popular shows include ''

Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ''tankōbon'' volumes and ...

'' and ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms ...

'', which was accompanied by one of the most successful

toyline A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

in history. It was difficult for China to compete directly at home or on the big screen. Nonetheless the Chinese animation industry would begin to reproduce animations in a new direction. Shanghai Animation Film Studio would launch 219 animation films in the 1980s. In 1979 ''

Nezha Conquers the Dragon King ''Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'' () is a 1979 Chinese animated fantasy film produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It was screened out of competition at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival, listed under the English title ''Prince Nezha's Trium ...

'' was one of the first notable animations shown during the rebirth period. Other films include '' Snow Kid'' (1980), ''

Lao Mountain Taoist ''Lao Mountain Taoist'' () is a Chinese animated film produced by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio with stop motion-animated puppets and ink paint. Background The production was finished in 1981, and in 2006 the film was voted as one of the mo ...

'' (1981), ''

The Deer's Bell ''The Deer's Bell'' () is a 1982 Chinese animated film produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It is also referred to as ''Bell on a Deer'' and ''Lu Ling''. Plot An old man and his granddaughter rescue an injured young deer. The girl and the ...

'' (1982) and '' Legend of Sealed Book'' (1983). Among the works '' Three Monks'' (1980) and ''

Feeling from Mountain and Water ''Feeling from Mountain and Water'' (Chinese: 山水情; Pinyin: shān shuǐ qíng) is a Chinese animated short film produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio under the master animator Te Wei. It is also referred to as ''Love of Mountain and Ri ...

'' (1988) Maakisundarchoot Kemazae in 1987 were among the few animations that managed to earn awards.

The Digital era (1990–present)

While China's broadcast was catching up on ''

'' on CCTV, foreign animations like '' Pokémon'' have already been popularized worldwide spawning $15 billion in sales. The commercialization and innovation of Japanese and American animations pushed the traditional Chinese animations out of the market. Complaints have been heard throughout the 90s about the problems facing Chinese animation. Numerous artists even ended up adopting into American and Japanese animation styles, with more noticeable changes in

manhua () are Chinese-language comics produced in China and Taiwan. Whilst Chinese comics and narrated illustrations have existed in China in some shape or form throughout its imperial history, the term first appeared in 1904 in a comic titled ''Cu ...

work. Shanghai Studio Director Jin Guoping: By the end of the millennium, the Internet opened up the Chinese animation industry a great deal. Software such as

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...

and venues such as YouTube allowed for independent animators to produce

Webtoon Webtoons (), are a type of digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally ...

s by themselves as long as they have a computer and an internet connection. More expensive animation products from

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartere ...

Newtek NewTek, Inc. is a San Antonio, Texas-based hardware and software company that produces live and post-production video tools and visual imaging software for personal computers. The company was founded in 1985 in Topeka, Kansas, United States, by T ...

and Adobe were on the horizon for animation schools to adopt. When

Xiao Xiao Xiao Xiao () is an Internet Flash cartoon series by Chinese animator Zhu Zhiqiang, featuring stick figures performing choreographed fight scenes. Some of the cartoons are interactive and game-like. All cartoons are in the Adobe Flash format, ...

was released on the Internet it drew much attention to Chinese flash animation. CGI special effects increased to the point where many new Chinese animation movies and series had begun to be adopted by mid-2000s with some example of '' DragonBlade: The Legend of Lang'' and ''

Century Sonny Century Sonny: The Adventure of the Extra-Galactic Prince () is the first large scale 3D- CGI Chinese animation TV series in China. Background Lonma company invested 1.5 billion RMB (about US$188 million) on the 52-episode series. Each episode ...

''. In 2011, 261,444 minutes of television animation were produced in China and in 2012, China produced 33 animated films.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Chinese Animation

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Chinese animation