| China’s animation turns to 100-year-old in 2022.From the world-renowned "the Monkey King:Uproar in Heaven" to the internationalized "Extinct",from the memorable "Little Tadpole" to the "Bonnie Bears" series that win enormous popularity among children,China’s animation has always held a significant position in the world both in terms of art and cultural uniqueness.In recent years,China’s domestic animated films have received widespread attention with its further development.In 2015,"Monkey King:Hero is Back" stood out in a crowd of movie blockbusters and became the dark horse at the box office.This film opened a new chapter of China’s domestic animated films,since then the trend of all-age and typed animated films becomes more and more obvious.From 2015 to now,many amazing domestic animated films have been made and released,such as "Ne Zha" "White Snake"“Big Fish&Begonia" and so on.However,with the gradual maturation of domestic animated film production technology,the comments on its narrative has become more polarized and even more critical.Based on the above background,this research takes the top ten domestic animated films in the global box office between 2015 and 2021 as the research object,analyzes their narrative features using the textual analysis method under the perspective of narrative communication theory,and proposes suggestions for optimizing the narratives according to narrative communication theory in order to improve the narratives of domestic animated films.The research contains six chapters.In the first chapter,the background and significance of the study are clarified,the relevant literature review is done,and the research method and theoretical framework are explained.In the second chapter,two main types of domestic animated films are outlined:the animated films deriving from well-known animation series and the animated films adapting from classic story texts.According to this classification,the animated films in the sample are categorized,and the features of the research subjects are discussed based on this classification.The third,fourth and fifth chapter analyzes the features of narrative structure,character and theme respectively.The last chapter is the conclusion of the research.The research is based on Walter Fisher’s narrative communication theory to discuss the features of structure,character and theme of China’s domestic animated film.The research found that in terms of structure,the animated films deriving from well-known animation series are dominated by cause-and-effect linear narrative structure while the narrative structure of animated films adapting from classic story texts shows a certain regularity,mostly fitting into the Syd Field three-act play structure.In terms of character,the characters of the animated films deriving from well-known animation series are distinctly straightforward and easy to understand,while animated films adapting from classic story texts pursue multidimensional characters and complex personalities.In terms of theme,the animated films deriving from well-known animation series focus on universal themes which can provide both education and entertainment for audiences while the animated films adapting from classic story texts have more grand theme,focusing on depth and discernment.However,in terms of narrative coherence,particularly in plot coherence and character coherence,domestic animated films show deficiencies,and the narrative content and themes of some films also show inconsistencies. |
