Why Everybody Is Watching Chinese Animation Industry中國動畫產業何以引全球關注

菲利普·馬克　郝福合

China is cementing itself as a frontier and focal point of the entertainment industry; the largest nation by population is projected to overtake the United States as the worlds biggest box office in 2020， bringing in an estimated $12.28 billion. The country is also attracting the attention of Western animation studios， both as a target audience and as a service work destination， and is increasingly producing its own homegrown hits.

So why is it only now that China is establishing itself on the animation map？

History of animation in China

The answer requires going back to the early 20th Century. The first animated film to reach Chinese audiences was screened in 1918 and in the subsequent decade， a quartet1 of producers known as the Wan Brothers would pioneer techniques and join the Great Wall Film Company.

The Wan Brothers created Chinas first animated film with sound， The Camels Dance， and would continue to innovate the medium—progressing towards longer-format productions until WWII. Around this time， there was an East-West cultural exchange， with global films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves being screened in Shanghai and influencing local creators.

Chinese animation flourished during the post-war recovery， with the Wan Brothers creating Why Is the Crow Black-Coated （their first feature-length colour toon2） and Havoc in Heaven， a musical masterpiece inspired by the classic story of Journey to the West. However， the “Cultural Revolution” from the late 1960s until the end of the 1970s put the industry on pause.

Will 2020 be the decade of Chinese animation？

While the Chinese animation industry would not have been considered a power player at the turn of the millennium， in 20 years it has established itself as both a creator and consumer of high-quality content. The proof is in the productions： films like 2016s Big Fish & Begonia have been compared to the anime of Studio Ghibli and it was subsequently distributed across the West. It also became the single most successful Chinese crowdfunding project to-date， raising $260，000—and grossing nearly $85 million at the Sino box office.

“There are big opportunities right now for domestic studios who want to create content， both domestically and internationally，” says Vivan Han， a producer at Chinese animation studio Feitong Cartoon.

In July 2019， Enlights latest CG-animated film Nezha landed the biggest-ever opening weekend for an animated film in China—grossing $91.5 million. It also took second place at the global box office， beat out3 only by Disneys The Lion King reboot4. Similarly， 3D films Monkey King： Hero Is Back and White Snake have had financial success at Sino cinemas， with the latter becoming GKIDS first Chinese acquisition and to receive North American distribution.

Plus there are plenty of international co-productions in the pipeline5， from The Monkey Prince （a collaboration between Beijing-based Bona Film Group and Japans Toei Animation） to Wish Dragon， which is being created through a partnership between Sony Pictures Animation， Chinas Base Animation and Jackie Chans Sparkle Roll Media. With so much looking up6， whats keeping the countrys industry down？

Beyond co-productions and original IPs， China is also continuing to establish itself as a hub for service work. As of 2017， Asia produced around 90 percent of American television animation—though the Chinese industry has not traditionally been a key player in the market. The reasons why range from the cultural to the governmental.

“Chinas animation market is completely different from other countries， not only in the culture， but also in the strategy and government policy，” says Han.

She continues， “The world is shifting and with streamers like Netflix and Disney+， distribution is changing and there is greater demand than ever for content. Western studios cannot keep up with the demand for work and it is improving our opportunities to work with foreign studios.”

Chinese animations opportunities and challenges

According to Mars Dai of Animated-China.org， Chinas GDP per capita now exceeds $10，000 and for more than 150 million， is above $20，000. Additionally， over 230 million people there are aged 0 to 14—presenting a huge opportunity for cartoon creators.

On the flip side7， Chinese audiences and authorities tend to view animation as something for younger viewers， which comes with its own baggage.

Additional challenges the countrys animation industry faces are related to a growing demand for professional education and training. This often becomes the responsibility of the studios themselves， which can decrease quality and increase costs.

“Although animation education in China has improved， when it comes to character effects or other technical skills， they dont teach any of it in universities—you can only learn it on the job in a company environment，” said Yuan Ye， cofounder of Lightchaser Animation Studios （the creators of White Snake）， as quoted by Variety.

He continues， “Weve made our company like an extension of college. For an animation company hoping to put out a consistent pipeline of films， this sort of in-house8 talent pool is a necessity.”

There is also a groundswell9 of organizations emerging to support the industry. Dais platform， Animated-China.org， is， “collecting and collating10 the information of hundreds of animation-related enterprises and individuals in China. Through websites and publications， we will transmit this information to those interested in Chinese companies globally at major animation festivals and exhibitions， and facilitate more cooperation across creativity， production， financing， distribution， merchandising11 and more.”

He continues， “Meanwhile， as a bridge and platform， we are also synchronizing12 the information of the global animation industry to China to help the Chinese animation industry better understand the world.”

His is not the only entity that recognizes the huge potential in Chinese animation， with great interest and investment coming from outside its borders; Canadas Corus Entertainment， Nelvana and Toon Boom Animation partnered with local toon distributor and brand managers WeKids on a joint talent initiative， China Tales Incubator.

China Tales Incubator invited China-based creators to submit kids animated content concepts—hosting six workshops across the country. The winning project was Dreamweavers by Beijing-based Bingo Animation Studio， which has gone into development.

While new productions like Dreamweavers offer an optimistic view of the future， it will likely be some time until China truly rivals the United States and Japan in terms of output. That said， if the latter half of the 20th Century proves anything， things tend to move quickly in the country. It may not be long until “Made in China” becomes the new industry standard of quality.

中國正確立自己在娛樂產業的前沿和中心地位;據估計，到2020年，這個人口最多的國家將實現票房收入122.8億美元，有望超過美國，成為全球最大電影票倉。同時，中國正在吸引西方動畫公司的關注，成為其目標受眾國和外包業務目的地，而且正越來越多地推出自己的本土大片。

那么，緣何直到今天中國才逐步確立起在動畫版圖上的地位呢？

中國動畫史

要回答該問題，需追溯到20世紀早期。中國觀眾看到的第一部動畫影片在1918年上映，隨后10年，“萬氏兄弟”四人創作組合開創技術，并受邀加入長城畫片公司。

萬氏兄弟創作出中國首部有聲動畫影片《駱駝獻舞》，并不斷對動畫電影加以創新——朝著創作動畫長片的方向取得持續進展，直到二戰爆發。大約在這個時期，出現了一次東西方文化交流，《白雪公主和七個小矮人》等國外影片在上海放映，對本土創作者產生了影響。

中國動畫在戰后恢復期曾一度繁榮，萬氏兄弟創作出《烏鴉為什么是黑的》（他們的首部彩色動畫長片）和《大鬧天宮》。后者是一部配樂杰作，改編自《西游記》這部經典。然而，1960年代后期至1970年代末的“文化大革命”使動畫產業陷于停滯。

2020年能否成為中國動畫的十年？

盡管在千年之交，中國動畫產業在人們看來也許尚不具雄厚實力，但20年后，卻已成為優質內容的創作者和消費者。證據在于影片產出：有人把《大魚海棠》（2016）等影片與日本吉卜力工作室的動畫片相提并論，隨后該片在西方發行。這部影片也成為中國迄今最成功的眾籌電影：融資26萬美元，國內票房收入近8500萬美元。

“當下，無論在國內還是國際上，希望創作內容的國內電影公司都有大好機會。”中國動畫公司飛侗動漫的一位制片人薇薇安·韓表示。

2019年7月，光線傳媒最新的CG動畫影片《哪吒之魔童降世》拿下中國動畫電影首映周末史上最高票房——收入9150萬美元。同時，該片在全球票房位居第二，僅次于迪士尼的《獅子王》重啟版。同樣，3D電影《西游記之大圣歸來》和《白蛇：緣起》在國內影院也取得了商業成功，后者成為美國GKIDS公司買下北美發行權的首部中國電影。

此外，許多國際合拍片正在制作之中，包括《猴王子》（北京博納影業集團與日本東映動畫的合作影片），以及《許愿神龍》，后者正在由索尼影視動畫、中國的倍視動畫以及成龍的耀萊傳媒聯手打造。向好情況如此之多，還有什么可阻礙中國動畫產業的腳步呢？

除合拍片和原創IP電影以外，中國正不斷把自己打造成外包業務中心。截至2017年，美國電視動畫約有90%由亞洲制作——盡管歷來中國動畫產業并未扮演重要的市場角色。究其原因，涉及文化和政府等多重因素。

“中國的動畫市場完全有別于其他國家，不僅反映在文化方面，也反映在戰略和國家政策方面。”韓如是說。

她接著講道：“世界在變，有了奈飛和迪士尼+這樣的流媒體平臺，發行方式也在變，對內容的需求之大超過以往。西方電影公司無法滿足制作需求，這就增加了我們與國外公司合作的機會。”

中國動畫的機遇和挑戰

據Animated-China.org網站的馬爾斯·戴所說，中國的人均GDP現已突破1萬美元，有1.5億多人達到2萬美元以上。此外，0至14歲的中國人口超過2.3億，為動畫創作者提供了巨大機遇。

但另一方面，中國觀眾和有關部門往往認為動畫片是拍給孩子看的，從而束縛了動畫片的手腳。

中國動畫產業面臨的挑戰還在于，對專業教育和培訓的需求日益增長。專業教育和培訓往往由動畫公司自行負責，這樣做會降低品質、增加成本。

“雖然中國的動畫教育已有改觀，但說到角色特效或其他專業技能，大學都不教授，只能在公司環境下邊工作邊學習。”美國《綜藝》雜志引述追光動畫（《白蛇：緣起》出品方）聯合創始人袁野的話說。

他繼續說道：“我們讓公司成了大學的延續。對于想源源不斷推出影片的動畫公司而言，這種內部人才儲備必不可少。”

同時，涌現出一批支持動畫產業的機構。戴的平臺Animated-China.org正在“匯集和整理中國數百家動畫企業和從業人員的相關信息。通過網站和出版物，我們會在大型動畫節和展會上把信息傳遞給國際上對中國公司感興趣的人，促進創作、制片、融資、發行、衍生品開發等方面的更多合作”。

他接下去說：“同時，我們發揮橋梁和平臺的作用，將全球動畫產業的信息同步介紹到中國，幫助中國動畫產業更好地了解世界。”

戴的網站并非唯一看到中國動畫產業存在巨大潛能的機構，濃厚的興趣和投資來自國外。加拿大的Corus娛樂公司、Nelvana動畫公司和Toon Boom動畫軟件公司攜手中國本土動畫發行商及品牌管理公司萬童互動，共同發起一項人才計劃——“中國有故事”孵化器。

“中國有故事”孵化器已在全國舉辦六場宣講會，邀請中國的創作者提交兒童動畫創意方案。勝出項目為北京繽格動畫公司的《魔法衣世界》，現已進入開發階段。

盡管像《魔法衣世界》這樣的新片帶來了樂觀前景，但是論產量，中國要真正比肩美國和日本可能尚待時日。雖說如此，20世紀后半葉卻證明了一點，即中國各個領域往往都發展迅猛。或許“中國制作”成為行業質量新標準的日子已為期不遠。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）