Creation,Acceptance,and Theory:A Study On The External Influence On Chinese Animation

Animations are imported goods in China.The foreign animations have impacted all aspects of Chinese animations,generating different creation models,character designs,and mechanisms of action performance.Moreover,the impacts even have extended to the levels of audiences'acceptance and theories building,which further exerts far-reaching influences on the nationalization and localization of Chinese animations.The interaction process between Chinese animations and foreign animations can be summarized as four phases:the earlier American Cartoons and the Wans' Cartoons during the period of the Republic of China,the animation films of CPR and animations of the former Soviet Union after 1949,the Zagreb Animation School and the artistic animations during the short periods after Cultural Revolution,and the American-made and Japanese-made commercial animations and the domestic animations since 1980s.Because the American-made Cartoons and American-made commercial animations have similar characteristics,these different styles can be generalized as three categories:commercial animations,education animations,and art animations.This is the main body of the Introduction part in this paper.In Chapter 2,this paper traces the source of foreign impacts in Chinese animations.There are historical rudiments of animation concepts and folk arts and crafts in ancient China.However,the creation of modern animations cannot be separated with the historical background of Industrial Revolution and technical progress.Besides,it is closely bound up with the consumption-entertainment in the post-industrial age.These two parts have determined the destiny of animations as foreign goods in China.Firstly,the multiple changes of foreign impacts reflect the broader social and historical meanings;secondly,the inner connection between animations and "Imagination Domain" further strengthens and highlights these social meanings.Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 revolve respectively around the creation models and mechanisms of performance from the angle of production.With the limitation of cost,animation,which is called condensed art,is produced typologically.The Chinese animations in different historical phases learn and absorb diverse experiences of commercial animations,education animations,and art animations.On the other hand,the Chinese animations choose and adapt these foreign experiences based on local demands.Thus,the Chinese animations explore some production types and methods,such as Martial arts animations,off-screen sound,and "fine and delicate design(Xiqiao)" which conform to the appreciation habits and cultural demands of native audiences on the basis of the existing categories.Also,the mechanisms of performance,including characters design and actions processing,are the important references to differentiating creation models of animations.The Chinese animations can be seen as receiving the impacts of American classic mechanisms of performance and Soviet realistic mechanisms.Artists such as the Wans and Te Wei had launched the practices involving around the style of"Simple and Proper(Jiandang)" and the type of Beijing Opera performance,but the explorations of performances are limited,which are far less than the expected breakthroughs,especially compared with other art fields.Chapter 5 analyzes in detail three interactive relationships between audiences and animations under the foreign impact.Animation can be seen as a type of "mirror",which affects the emotional projection and self-identification of audiences.In different contexts,the appeals of animation production and the interactions between the works and the audiences are both different.The whole process of the impact of foreign animations on Chinese animation can be understood as the alternation of different works,which is accompanied with the change of audience acceptances.From the style of buffoonery to the education with the features of politically based Soviet animations,from the artistic aesthetics in the Zagreb animations to the role and affective commitment in the American-made and Japanese-made cartoons,the native audiences realize the appeals of entertainment,education and aesthetics for animation.Chapter 6 develops the theoretical dimension,which is an important part of researching foreign impact.The import of foreign animation and its theories directly impact the transition of local animation theories,including the evaluation of "witty and interesting" "moving cartoons"in Chat on Cartoon,the styles of fiction,realism,and nationalism after 1949,and the self-references of "modern animation languages" and "Chinese Animation School",etc.This transition further stimulates the thought of evolutionism in domestic animation creation and research at a certain extent,which makes some key questions unsettled,including the art features of animation and the relations between animation and reality.The last Chapter in this paper tries to summarize the rules of localization of Chinese animation under the foreign influence.The moment when the foreign animation exerts influences on Chinese animation marks the beginning of Chinese animation localization.This whole process of localization gradually approaches the core of animation art.One goal which can be predicted is breaking the existing rules and integrating the Chinese nationality into the whole definition of animation,which needs a long,but hopeful journey.