那些經典國產動畫背后的故事

楊晨曦

今年國慶節，時隔39年的動畫形象阿凡提全新回歸。這部3D動畫電影《阿凡提之奇緣歷險》，把能說會道、事事諳熟于心的阿凡提再度推到大眾眼前。

不少80后在電影院里好好地懷舊了一把，紛紛感慨“騎著小毛驢、蓄著山羊胡子、愛管人間不平事的機智男又回來了”。

然而，“回來的”不僅僅是阿凡提這個形象，更有中國老一輩動畫人的精神傳承。

有一種童年，叫上海美術電影制片廠（以下簡稱美影廠）。作為中國規模最大的美術電影制片和中國歷史最老的動畫制片廠之一，美影廠有著太多輝煌的時刻。早年出品的動畫，幾乎都是“藝術品”。水墨動畫、木偶動畫、剪紙動畫、折紙動畫等以中國美術元素為基礎的動畫片，在物資匱乏的年代里，卻達到了獨特的藝術高峰。類似阿凡提這樣的經典IP，美影廠的動畫創作史上還有很多。

筆者從2012年起，陸續拜訪了美影廠老一輩的創作者，通過他們的口述，與他們一起重溫那段既美好又艱辛的創作歲月，也深切感受到了他們對國產動畫的堅持與熱情。

向生活學習細節

美影廠的老一輩動畫人常常為了片子外出采風，踏實地體驗生活，使作品中的各方面更為真實和準確。他們始終認為只有這樣才能創作出觀眾可信的作品，真正感動觀眾。

“阿凡提”的形象是80后的經典記憶——整體形象上扁下圓，高腦門，戴著具有民族特點的白帽子，小眼珠炯炯有神，鼻子圓圓，胡子高翹，一看就很有智慧，又不失幽默感。

這個形象是動畫片《阿凡提的故事》導演曲建方和另外兩位美術工作者在新疆喀什和阿克蘇地區整整待了20多天，克服了住宿、飲食等方面不適創作出來的。“坐了七天七夜的車到了喀什，又吃不慣當地的羊肉，只能每天啃馕。”曲建方說，為了設計好里面的少數民族群眾形象，他們繪制了大量的速寫與油畫，結合當地博物館里館藏的漢唐俑，還征求了當地不少民眾和畫家的意見。他們將阿凡提上挑的眉毛參照當地文字的特點，做成柳藤狀，十分幽默。

錢運達導演回憶，《草原英雄小姐妹》劇組兩次進入內蒙古采風，他們與牧民們同吃同住，一起架蒙古包，了解了蒙古包的結構。他們與牧民一起放羊，騎馬趕路，觀察牧民用羊鏟趕羊的細節。他們還特意嘗試草原夜行，“以住所為起點，看著北極星，向東南西北各走500步，本想著能回到住所，沒想到偏了一點就迷路了。零下40攝氏度漆黑一團的草原上，害怕無助到極點，那個時候看到燈光就像看到生的希望啊！”也正是有這樣的經歷，他們才更真實地將草原小姐妹迷路的橋段在銀幕上展現出來。

《大鬧天宮》劇組在北京的天壇及周邊的廟宇中臨摹壁畫，采集傳統壁畫中的造型元素。《大鬧天宮》的主創動畫師浦稼祥記述：“那時候，為了給《大鬧天宮》做動畫設計，我和一群同事被送去京劇院和戲曲學院聽戲學武打，蹲點蹲了三四個月，從中體會出氣氛和感覺。”后來在片中二郎神與孫悟空斗法一段，浦稼祥就運用了京劇里武生亮相的招式。

改編自《佛說九色鹿經》的《九色鹿》四位主創花了23天的時間在敦煌臨摹壁畫，之后劇組其他成員再入敦煌采風一周有余。

與藝術家親密合作

美影廠作品中的人物形象與畫面設計千姿百態，幾乎每部片子的畫面形式都在創新求異。這點得益于美影廠創作群開放包容、博采眾長的創作方式。創作者們與當時知名漫畫家、國畫家、工藝美術家的合作從未間斷，并逐漸成為美影廠的一種創作習慣。

《狐貍打獵人》美術造型邀請了藝術家韓美林。當時導演胡雄華經人推薦觀看了韓美林的動物畫，他覺得韓美林的動物畫從章法到布局，物象的夸張與變形，以及神態刻畫、筆墨和色彩的運用都極具形式感，這些特點十分適合影片的風格。韓美林為影片設計的幾個人物造型注重形變與夸張。年輕獵人纖長單薄的身子蜷縮在皮襖與羊皮坎肩里，皮領還高高地遮住臉頰。倒掛的眉毛，深深的腮溝，總是哭喪著臉，一副活生生的膽小鬼的反面形象。而狐貍的形象，額頭寬大飽滿，一張靈巧的嘴，瞇起的長眼睛，一看便知詭計多端。

而韓美林為了照應劇本中狐貍與狼直立行走，對狐貍與狼本來的腿部關節作了相應的修改。在色彩方面，韓美林特意給整體陰暗、冷灰色調的獵人點上了一個小丑似的紅鼻頭。這種頗有“丑角”味道的化妝獲得了導演的贊賞。而狐貍全身鮮紅引人注目，突出其主角地位，狼則設計成深藍色，紅色的舌頭就更加凸顯出兇殘貪婪的性格。最終影片所呈現出來的風格十分鮮明，有異于美影廠生產的其他剪紙片的造型設計。

當韓美林回憶起這次創作，他還激動地表示，當時胡雄華親自去安徽邀請他加盟本片的創作，又在他到達上海火車站時，親自用廠里的車接他，使他萬分感動。在之后三個月的創作中他盡心盡力，邊學邊做，《狐貍打獵人》也被韓美林自己認可為代表作之一。

結合現實大膽想象

美影廠的動畫作品不僅在形象和畫面上創新求異，而且還在內容創作上有不少大膽的奇思妙想，將想象力和時代特征結合在一起，噴發閃光之作。其中，《黑貓警長》絕對是關鍵詞之一。

1984年，《黑貓警長》開播后，立刻紅遍大江南北，成為中國家喻戶曉的動畫系列片之一。《黑貓警長》的導演戴鐵郎，也因此獲得了一個雅號“黑貓爺爺”。

初見戴老那天，他從門口進來，一身素色的衣服，手里拎著一個黑色的皮包，身材不高，步子卻很快。筆者真的有些意外，這位老人就是給我留下深刻記憶的《黑貓警長》的導演。隨著之后的接觸，戴老的風趣、樂觀深深地感染了筆者。原來，“黑貓警長”聰明、堅強、善良的“基因”都源自于這位老人。

自然科學題材是戴老作品的一大特點，《黑貓警長》就包含了大量的自然科學常識。讓小觀眾了解這些自然科學常識，是戴老創作《黑貓警長》的主要初衷。

在上世紀80年代初，戴老就有習慣訂閱國外的一些科技雜志。《黑貓警長》的上映所引起強烈反響，也證明了這種題材在當時雖然鮮有，但是卻恰恰是社會需要的。戴老踐行著他對“寓教于樂”的理解，將自然科學知識主動融入動畫片，通過動畫片的形式傳輸給小觀眾們，例如母螳螂吞食公螳螂以完成繁衍等自然科學知識。

“會轉彎的子彈”“可以移動通話的電話”“在空中飛行的摩托艇”，這些在當時看似十分荒誕的想象和“超現實”的內容不僅增加了影片的趣味性，讓小觀眾們為之著迷，而且還激發了小觀眾探索未知領域的興趣，打開了想象世界的大門。這些荒誕的想象似乎還有著神奇的預言力，今天，這些“超現實”的奇思妙想都一一實現了。

其實，這些奇思妙想都是有科學依據的，并非戴老毫無根據的胡思亂想，只是在當時這些科學知識還沒有被大眾認識。例如黑貓警長手中的移動電話，就是根據二戰時美國士兵的通訊設備改變而來的。戴老對先進的科學技術一直抱有濃厚的興趣，每次與戴老聊天，他都會提到一些對熱點科技的看法，例如人工智能、平行宇宙等，而且戴老還總大膽想象一番。

戴老還有一些很特別的日常愛好，比如可樂、西點和冰淇淋，這些小愛好投射出戴老一顆不老的童心。80多歲的他在輔導學生做片子的時候，一瓶可樂總是放在手邊。戴老常常說，和學生們在一起，自己都覺得變年輕了。而他輔導學生的時候經常是邊說邊演，一個人完成表演、對白還有聲效，有時還會模仿動物的叫聲，《驕傲的將軍》中的馬嘶聲和那只學舌鸚鵡其實都是戴老配的音。戴老這樣活靈活現的講課方式，常常能贏得學生們的一片笑聲。在戴老這里，生活就像他最愛的飲料一樣是“可樂”的。耄耋之年，戴老仍對未來充滿想象。

Some Anecdotes behind Animation Classics

By Yang Chenxi

In celebration of the 69th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China， Avanti， an animation film first screened in 1979， was brought back in a new 3D form in 2018. Those who watched the film in their childhood years wowed at the new release. For at least one generation of filmgoers， Shanghai Animation Film Studio， which produced quite a few animation blockbusters， was a key component of their younger years. In fact， the studio is Chinas biggest animation film studio and one of Chinas oldest animation film makers. Many animation films made in the early years of the studio are now considered as classics and artworks.

Since 2012， I have interviewed a group of old-generation artists and directors who engaged in the making of these animation classics. Their stories revealed to a degree how these classics were created.

Research and Field Studies

In these years， artists of the studio traveled and did field studies for creating best images and for getting the hunch of a region， an era， and a lifestyle. To create the image of Avanti， Director Ou Jianfang and two artists from the studio spent 20 days in Kashgar and Aksu in Xinjiang， doing interviews and sketching and creating oil paintings. The artists visited the local museums and made sketches of the clay figurines made in the Han and the Tang dynasties. The artists consulted local people and artists about the image of Avanti. Back home at the studio， someone thought the sage looked ugly and wanted the director to modify so that the sage could look nice. Ou didnt budge， confident that they had done a great field study. The image became popular with the young audience across the country in the 1980s.

Qian Yunda， director of Hero Sisters on the Grassland， conducted two group researches in Inner Mongolia. They stayed with the local people to have the hands-on experience of everyday life. One night， they did a 500-step walk experiment from a Mongolian yurt. The walk in four directions was supposed to be as easy as ABC. But they got lost. In the total darkness and at a temperature of 40 degrees below zero， they were really scared.

The artists who created Havoc in Heaven sketched at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and at some ancient structures around the temple. “We spent three months watching the martial arts training and rehearsing at Peking Opera Troupe and some performing art schools in order to get the feel，” recalled Pu Jiaxiang， an animator of the film， in an interview with me. What he learned in the research was later transformed into the animation feature.

In order to create Nine-Color Deer， based on a Buddhist story， four artists from the studio spent 23 days sketching in the caves of Dunhuang. Other artists later followed their steps for more than a week in Dunhuang. The grotto paintings inspired them.

Working with Han Meilin

The studio worked closely with artists across the country in its golden decades. In making The Fox and the Hunter， an animation feature film based on a folk story of the Elun Ethnic Group in northeastern China， the studio engaged Han Meilin， an artist then based in Anhui in 1978， when he was relatively unknown to the public. Han made his national and international fame by creating Fuwa dolls for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Han was recommended to Hu Xionghua， the director of the animation film， for his brilliant animal paintings. Hu thought Han was the right person for the film. Hans design of the characters of the film was so successful that the film stood out from the studios other animation films in terms of style. Han holds fond memory of the experience. The director came all the way from Shanghai to visit him in Anhui Province and invited him to be the chief artist of the animation film. When Han arrived in Shanghai by train， Hu came with a car to meet him at the station. That would sound like nothing today， but back then， how many cars did China have？

Wild Imagination

Black Cat Sheriff， no doubt， is the most exceptional animation film ever produced by the studio. From 1984 to 1987， the studio launched five seasons of the black cats law enforcement adventures in a forest. It became an instant national blockbuster. Directed by Dai Tielang， the five seasons depicted a world of brand-new technologies， most of which were unknown to the general public back then. Dai himself was an enthusiastic reader and subscribed to many international science periodicals. He introduced what he knew and imagined into the films： a bullet turned and followed the target， a telephone was a mobile equipment， and a motor boat flew in the sky. Back then， these innovative images looked absurd and even supernatural， but they added an exotic touch to the sheriffs experience and won the hearts of the young audience across the country where science and technology were making a huge comeback.

Dai did not invent these new gadgets. It was that the public in China back then did not know about them. In my interviews with Dai， he talked about artificial intelligence and parallel universes and commented wildly on them.