The challenges of animation in China

Introduction

Long-form animation began in 1926. Since then， Chinese animation goes though three stages of budding， splendid and decline. In this article， I will analyze the challenges of Chinese animation industry.

一、Domestic challenges

Firstly， misunderstanding of animation’s conceptions and narrow targeting extensively exist among Chinese animation makers. Xu1 （cited in Li， 2004） criticizes that animation products should suitable for all age groups not just for children. A large percentage of animation programs targeted the children under 12 which lead to the animated content over na?ve and tedious for adult people. It is easily explained why American or Japanese animation so popular amount adult. Compared with China， Japan animators create different content based on variety of audience groups. ‘The Smurfs⑨’， ‘Detective Conan⑩’ and ‘Ghost in the Shell?’ are suitable for children， youth and adults， respectively.

In addition， the purpose of mainstream Chinese animation is educating young children makes Chinese animators lack of creative ideas and put Chinese animation industry in disadvantageous situation. Zheng2 （cited in Li， 2004） discusses that the process of story is slow and the story have the responsibility to teach children knowledge or truth， the storyline always singleness to advocating hero spirit and justices defeat evils also be advocated. Compared with Chinese animation， Japanese and US animations are more humanity and amiableness. Abroad animators pay more attentions on family， friendship and love. For example， ‘Spirited Away?’ tells a story about a little girl who run into a dangerous place to rescue their parents and American film ‘Shrek?’ represents the beautiful love between adults.

Furthermore， Chinese animation lacks stronger domestic characteristics. Jiang claims that Chinese animation should be ‘Chinese style’， and Chinese audiences expect animators adding Chinese characteristics in their products. Although there are few Chinese animations in recent years， copy vestige obviously and lost Chinese elements. As a result， Yao3 （cited in Li， 2004） advocates that China should immediately develop the classics water ink animation before it disappears. One of the most well-known water ink animation products is ‘Monkey King?’， traditional Chinese printing skills and structure are wildly used. The same series of products such as ‘Little Tadpole looking for Mom’， ‘Love Nature’ and ‘Ne Zha Conquers the Dragon King’ are the peak of Chinese animation. In addition， Chinese style is considered as national spirit rather than simple Chinese symbols. For example， ‘Kung Fu Panda?’ looks like a Chinese animation because there are a lot of Chinese elements in the movie， such as panda and scene. However， the story humorous and consciousness are American style. In other words， although Chinese element is a symbol of animation， the national spirit is Chinese animation’s pursuit.

二、Western animation products in Chinese animation market

Western animation brings numerous benefits for Chinese animation development. Specifically， western animation makes China’s animation programs more various. ‘Tom and Jerry?’， ‘Pixie?’， and ‘Snow White and Seven Dwarfs?’ were popular animation in China. In addition， abroad animation provides opportunities for Chinese animator to study advanced technology. For example， more and more Chinese animators are trained in foreign countries （Muthalib， 2007）.

Western animation advantages Chinese animation development. However， the negative effect cannot be ignored. First of all， importing foreign animation leads to economic interest conflict. For example， Chinese importers spend 3 billion US dollars on foreign animation products each year， Chinese domestic animation producers only received 1million dollars of orders from them （Zeng， 2009）. This leads to foreign animation occupying large part of Chinese animation market and domestic producers are pushed out. In addition， western get the profits from China’s market not only in animation products， but also in relevant products. The American animation ‘Transformer?’ is a good example. Americans send the animation as a gift to China， but they earn animation’s relevant products earned 50 billion RMB from Chinese children.

三、Conclusion

In conclusion， although the Chinese animation development faces constraints and impact from domestic and foreign， but learning the success operation model from Japan and South Korea to develop Chinese animation industry is an efficient alternative.

Notes

1.Xu， K.， 1950- ， Chinese famous film director.

2.Zheng， Y， J.， 1955- ， Chinese famous writer.

3.Yao， F， L.， 1974- ， Chinese famous caricaturist.

References

Lent， J， A.， 2000， ‘Animation in Asia： appropriation， reinterpretation， and adoption or adaptation’， Screening the Past， viewed 1 November 2000， .

Li， X.， 2004， ‘Chinese animation： Splendid past， Bitter present’， China Network， Beijing， viewed 18 January 2004， .

Muthalib， H. A.， 2007， ‘From mousedeer to mouse： Malaysian animation at the crossroad’， Inter-Asia Culture Studies， vol. 8， no. 2.

Zeng， G. C.， 2009， ‘Chinese Animation’s Current Situation and Problem’， Chinese Document， viewed 3 February， 2009， .