The cat and the Peach Blossom Land
I have been following light Chaser animation for some time, because I have been following the development of domestic and foreign animation markets. I’m a humble screenwriter, self-identified, who also writes plays and stories. I have read many articles written by the Great Gods of Doosan and Zhou, which are about Chinese animation. Among them, I agree with the following:
First, technically, thanks to the development of the domestic film market and the increase of the wealth of the public, the gap between domestic and overseas animation production companies has been greatly narrowed. Personally, the level of domestic first-line animation production companies is equivalent to that of Disney in 2009. If someone doesn’t quite agree, I can only suggest that he or she go to the Jungle Book of Disney in 2016. Generally speaking, I think the gap between domestic and foreign animation is not from technology, but from people. This can be seen from our first internationally acclaimed animation, Uproar in Heaven. It is obvious that the older generation of animation makers, such as Wan Laming, were able to create such a high level of work at a time when they were very poor. The animation depended on tens of thousands of hand-drawn superimposed pieces. In this process, we can feel the dedication of that generation to the work. I dare say here that this work made more than 50 years ago is more sincere, durable and can stand the test of time than most domestic cartoons made after 2000. A good movie is not to see its current box office, but after ten, twenty, thirty years, when we look back, still think that this film with the mark of The Times is still very good, that can be considered as a good movie.
Even though, in the market, under the pressure of capital, maybe like the old generation of the time to devote to a movie has passed, but this is not a bad film to find a sense of self comfort self-existence bad excuse. Because at the moment, there’s something called contrast.
At present, Disney is the undisputed king of the animated feature film, in terms of creation, market position and financing. The decline of DreamWorks Animation has given Disney a monopoly on the Oscar for best animation, to the point where only Disney can challenge it. Alone and seeking defeat…. But many people don’t know that Disney is dedicated to animation technology; they don’t know that Disney values storytelling and screenwriting more than technology. Just a simple example: It took several teams, including Disney, to create the 2013 hit Frozen, but they were forced to put it down for a while because of the difficulty of creating it, rather than trying to ruin their reputation by forcing an animation that they knew would not be popular with the public. I think this is the biggest and most fundamental gap between foreign and domestic animation producers (applicable to all films and TV series, where there is the influence of the environment, but animation is relatively less affected by the environment, and the space is larger).
Here, to say an objective fact, that is — animation film creation is much more difficult than the creation of live-action film, is simply the limit of the imagination of the world.
It is not only domestic animation film companies that have failed, but also well-known overseas companies, to name just two examples.
The first is Studio Glibly. Glibly relies heavily on Hayat Miyazaki, and though Isao Takahata gave the studio an ineffable push, as Japan’s animators age and pass away, the industry seems to be in irreversible decline as the population ages. Plus, now that the entertainment industry is so developed, the new generation doesn’t have to stick to every issue like the old generation. Left behind are masters who prop up the industry, and geniuses such as Satoshi Kong, who leave early, aggravating what was once a land of infinite continuity for our imagination.
Some people say that the new show such as Sinai into fresh blood, I just two words, ha. I won’t comment on specifics. Like glibly in creative difficulties, talent shortage situation, reflect the animation creation is an extremely difficult thing, especially those who pay attention to their own reputation, do not easily let a young man do sloppy work to destroy half a century of reputation, rather than close the studio….. For comparison, we have two movies, one is called The Autobus and the other is called Lei Fang……
DreamWorks Animation, another big-name studio also suffering from a creative slump, was forced to sell several of its animated films, which were neither hits nor hits, under pressure from the market, such as “The Amazing Dog” and “Turbo”.
It’s worth explaining why animation companies have such a hard time…
Generally speaking, to make a live-action film, you need to find investors, organize people, and then start shooting, and then you can disband after shooting… But animated film production companies can’t…. Because it’s all technical work, you can’t make this film and fire people, you can’t make your next film…. It’s very hard to rehire…. So animated films are made one after another, released one after another, at the same time, at the same time… This means that once the previous work fails, the subsequent creation pressure and capital pressure will be particularly great. Moreover, the current 3D cartoons often cost tens of millions of dollars. Under the circumstance that the market is not open and the audience is relatively narrow, every mistake will be nearly fatal, and the market will rarely give them the opportunity to correct their mistakes……
Strong as DreamWorks Animation, also struggling, that domestic animation, by what break out?
Domestic animated films are largely driven by capital, but capital is short-sighted and profit-seeking, which makes it difficult for the industry to produce masters, which in turn restricts the healthy development of the industry. At the same time, the capital-dominated animation film market blindly pursues technology, and the story becomes secondary, resulting in countless bad films with good technology and good picture…..
To break the deadlock, it’s back to the point where passion for animation, capital needs to be more patient, and the cultivation and respect of the writers…
Among them, I would like to emphasize here that the status of scriptwriters and original stories in China is too low to receive due respect and reward. Which has seriously slowed down the animation industry?
