Chinese animation
[1] China was relatively on pace with the rest of the world up to the mid-1960s,[2] with the Wan's brothers Havoc in Heaven earning numerous international awards.
By the 1980s, Japan would emerge as the animation powerhouse of Eastern Asia, leaving China's industry far behind in reputation and productivity.
Today China is drastically reinventing itself in the animation industry with greater influences from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
As China’s economic reform reached its height, the 1990s and early 2000s gave way to a relatively open television and film market, where Japanese and American animation powerhouses found a receptive audience among Chinese moviegoers.
These content falls along the lines of traditional 2D cartoons or modern 3D CG animated films distributed via cinemas, DVD, or broadcast on TV.
This format can be summarized as a reviving industry coming together with advanced computer technology and low cost labor.
These contents are generally flash animations ranging anywhere from amateurish to high quality, hosted publicly on various websites.
Animations were essentially an extension of other facets of Chinese arts and culture, drawing more contents from ancient folklores and manhua.
It can be said that productions are not necessarily limited to any one technique; that water ink, puppetry, computer CG are all demonstrated in the art.
[13] From 2006 to present, the Chinese government has considered animation as a key sector for the birth of a new national identity and for the cultural development in China.
The same company shot a cartoon series Music Up in 2001, and although 66% of its profits came from selling related merchandise, it lagged far behind foreign animations.
The characters were converted into cartoon forms as early as 1981, followed by numerous animation adaptations including a widescreen DVD release in 2003.
Running for 80 minutes, it is the first 3D movie fully rendered in mainland China to premiere in the Cannes Film Festival.
The film tells the story of how a boy attempts to save a fantasy world from an evil monster who, unknowingly, is inside of him.
[17] It was reported that the CEO Wu Hanqing received minority help from a venture capital fund at Tsinghua University to complete "Kuiba.
In 2015, Monkey King: Hero Is Back gained $2.85 million in the box office, making it the highest-grossing animated film in China.
[25] The division requested a total of 2,000 provinces to devote a show time of 60,000 minutes to domestically-produced animations and comic works.
[13] SARFT also have a history of taking protectionism actions such as banning foreign programming, such as the film Babe: Pig in the City.
[26][27] The Chinese government has consistently implemented censorship measures on media deemed morally objectionable, particularly those featuring graphic and violent content.
In 2021, China made a formal announcement regarding the prohibition of violent, vulgar, and bloody content in children's TV shows.
The National Radio and Television Administration issued a statement emphasizing the importance of broadcasting content that is wholesome, and progressive, and promotes values of truth, goodness, and beauty within the realm of cartoons.
[30] Besides the two major works, there are other articles and book chapters written by John Lent, Paola Voci, Mary Farquhar, and others about Chinese animation.
