Source: @Tencent Comics, World Style Feature

Introduction

When Japanese people talk about Japanese animation, they will proudly talk about Ghibli, talk about "Princess Mononoke" and "Spirited Away", and feel that they represent a kind of oriental hand-drawn tradition, a kind of romantic humanistic care; When Americans talk about American animation, they will proudly talk about Pixar, "Toy Story" and "Flying House Globe", and feel that they have opened the 3D animation revolution and led the world animation trend; When Chinese people talk about Chinese animation, they will think of "Pleasant Goat" and "Bear Infested", and come to the conclusion that domestic animation is only suitable for children to watch.

Since domestic animation at this stage can only attract children's audiences, domestic animated films are often released in clusters on Children's Day, summer vacation, and winter vacation every year, and as a result, 90% of the films have become cannon fodder. Those parents who are forced to accompany their children to watch the movie have no inconvenience to complain that the animation plot is childish and cannot get the fun of watching the movie. There is no shortage of jokes on the Internet that ridicule domestic animation, such as "Do you know what films are not suitable for children?" Love action movie! Do you know what films are not suitable for adults? Domestic cartoons! ”

The young age of domestic animation has become a stubborn disease that restricts the development of the industry. Including the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, major media and industry insiders, repeated calls for domestic animation to move towards all ages, towards family carnival, but so far there has been little effect, and 95% of domestic animation on the market is still positioned at a young age. So what is hindering the process of domestic animation for all ages? Could it really be that as some anime fans say, those animals who play the protagonists of animation, only "de-animalization" can make domestic animation move towards all-age? In this regard, the author borrowed a foreign proverb "the clumsy craftsman complains about his tools" as a response to the above arguments, and in this issue of "World Wind", let's discuss in depth why domestic animation can't get out of the younger age.

Animals carry the banner, reasonable and inevitable

The German philosopher Hegel once said that "existence must be reasonable", in other words, all things in the real world must conform to a certain law or law, so the animalization wind blown by domestic animation has been blowing vigorously for decades, which objective law and law is this in line with?

First of all, we must admit that no matter at home or abroad, animals have always been big names in the animation world, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Garfield, My Neighbor Totoro, Doraemon, Kitty Cat, Pikachu, **Rabbit...... There are so many animal stars in anime that it's definitely more than enough to put them together to build a zoo.

Walt Disney, the "father of Mickey Mouse", believes that animals that are good at expressing themselves in body language are better suited to be the main characters of animation

So why do animals dominate the animated world? Walt Disney, the "father of Mickey Mouse", explained it this way: because animals express any stimulus through their bodies. Take, for example, a happy dog that wags its tail, shakes its body, and flapps its ears. It may greet you in the form of jumping on your lap or going around the house without missing a chair and couch.

That's right, this kind of body expression that tends to be instinctive is abundant in animals, and human beings infinitely cover up this instinct with the growth of age, and call it sedation, and animation is an art that needs to be exaggerated, and in many books it is interpreted as a "picture of movement", so the straightforward and good at expressing themselves with body language animals are far more suitable for being the protagonist than those who are good at using calm and good at disguising themselves with expressions.

Speaking of which, will there be any readers who suddenly realize and sigh that this is the truth! If there are readers who think like this, I must remind you that the above conclusion is only for mainstream animation in the United States, and has nothing to do with the prevalence of domestic animation animals. As a practitioner in the animation industry, the author dares to say that more than 95% of the animation companies in China will never think about whether the protagonist of the animation chooses humans or animals on the basis of artistic theory, but simply chooses from the commercial operation and promotion, and this has to start from the profit model of domestic animation.

The way in which cartoons make money is fundamentally different from that of TV dramas, and popular TV dramas can pay for themselves by relying on the broadcast rights purchased by TV stations and video websites, not to mention that they will also attract major advertisers. Compared with TV dramas, cartoons are definitely raised by mothers, and they are not treated by TV stations at all, even if there are really TV stations willing to buy them in the end, the price given is so low that ordinary people can't imagine, hundreds of yuan per episode, don't talk about it if you don't sell it. There are even some animation companies that will even post their own money on TV.

Therefore, derivative development and brand licensing have become the only reliable profit model for animation, and animals have a great advantage over humans in these two points.

First of all, compared with humans with complex structures, the lines of animals are relatively simple, so the production costs of toy manufacturers will be reduced, and cost control is one of the winning factors in enterprise competition. Secondly, animals are more recognizable than humans and have a wider audience, so they are naturally favored by various manufacturers in terms of brand authorization. It is not for nothing that large-scale sports events, including the World Cup and the Olympic Games, have repeatedly introduced animalized mascots.

"The world is bustling, all for profit; The world is crowded, all for profit", the ancestors have long told the world, there is no businessman in the world who does not pursue profits, and animation companies are no exception. In this extremely competitive industry, only by ensuring the maximization of profits can we continue to survive and develop. For Chinese animation to develop, it is necessary to emerge animal animation stars such as "Pleasant Goat, Big Big Wolf, Xiong Da, Xiong Er", which represent domestic animation, heroes and hopes.

There are two heavens inside and outside, innocence and naivety

As the saying goes, beating is love, scolding is love, and ignoring it is the worst. Every time I see anime fans angrily accusing domestic animation of being naïve and superficial, the author feels that everyone is full of "love" for domestic animation, which is not the awakening of the Shake M attribute, but empathy from the heart.

Once upon a time, the author was also like these anime fans, comparing domestic animation with Japanese and American animation, labeling domestic animation as only suitable for children to watch, and also believed that the animals in domestic animation were the culprits, and it was they who led the domestic animation to be limited to children's themes in terms of plot, and there was no way to improve the depth of content, but when the author was in the animation industry for several years, he found that he had really wronged animals, and it was really superficial to equate them with young age.

Not to mention the audience of a large number of Hollywood animated films such as "The Lion King", "Ice Age", "Finding Nemo" and "Kung Fu Panda", which cover all ages, just look at the TV animation in the United States and Japan with animals as the protagonists, and see how they attract adult audiences other than children.

☆ "My Little Pony" is not the preserve of human beings

Loren Faust uses his imagination to build a fantasy realm that belongs only to ponies

In the field of film and television animation, there has always been a phenomenon that sequels are not as good as the former, and a big reason for this is that the creator's thinking is imprisoned by the previous work and cannot give full play to his imagination. The audience felt that the setting was quite novel in the first work, but in the sequel, it was just a regular step and lacked sincerity.

The first three parts of "My Little Pony" are quite in line with the phenomenon that the sequel is not as good as the former, the original "My Little Pony" is a kind of girls' toy developed by the American toy giant "Kid's Treasure" in 1983, in order to continue the influence and vitality of the toy ponies, "Kid's Treasure" in the next 20 years, respectively, launched three "My Little Pony" TV animations, from the first part of the amazing to the third part of the mediocrity, the "Pony" series opened high and low, and it was about to be lost to everyone.

Fortunately, in 2009, when "Kid Bao" was preparing to make the fourth part of the series, he hired Loren Faust as the creative director, this beautiful animator is not an idle person, who has participated in the creation of the well-known animated series "Powerpuff Girls" and "Kiss Magie" (PS: her lover is Craig McCracken, the main producer of "Dexter's Real Yàn Room" and "Powerpuff Girls"), but more importantly, she is a big fan of the "Pony" series. In order to regroup the animated series she loves so much, and to create a cartoon that girls really like, she uses her imagination to build a dream country that belongs only to ponies. In addition, the film is detached from the hypocrisy of traditional girl animation and baby-like clichés in terms of story and character portrayal, each pony has a different side, and is very good at playing treasure and selling cuteness, and the richness of facial expressions makes the audience endure more than laughter, and even adult audiences can't resist the attraction of ponies.

According to a survey conducted by the Tongguò network, the average viewer of the film is in their 20s, and most of them are male viewers. A girl-oriented animation can get the attention of men, especially the otaku group known for their critical eyes, in the author's impression, in addition to "Sailor Moon", it is also "My Little Pony", and what is even more precious is that the latter was originally an animal animation that was only made for elementary school girls, in the face of its success, who can equate animals with childishness?

☆ "Pokemon" Nintendo's gold-sucking monster

There may be readers who will object, instead of discussing animal animation, why did "Pokemon" (also translated as "Pokémon" and "Pokemon") suddenly appear, isn't this an anime with humans as the protagonists? So when you first watched "Pokemon", was it to see the protagonist trio who were not as strong as Team Rocket, or to see hundreds of Pokemon with different appearances and skills, and who were very good at selling cute and juggling treasures?

That's right, the highlight of "Pokemon" is undoubtedly the Pokemon such as Pikachu, Wonderful Frog Seed, and Little Fire Dragon, and the human characters act as just a carrier, taking these pokemon around the world to meet more strange elves, so in essence, "Pokemon" is also an animal animation.

The charm of Pokemon has long transcended ages and borders, and Pikachu has become one of the most popular anime characters in the world

In 1990, as the president of the game development company GAMEFREAK, Tajiri decided to create a game based on the collection of animal characters with rich personalities, remembering his childhood of catching insects and fishing for frogs. However, at that time, GAMEFREAK was just a small company with a lack of R&D capabilities, and when it saw that the game was about to be difficult to deliver, I didn't want the game project to win the favor of Nintendo's top management. With Nintendo's assistance, Pokemon was launched in the Japanese market in 1996 as an exclusive game for the handheld GB. At first, Tajiri thought that the game would be the most successful if it could sell 230,000 units, but the enthusiasm of players for the game exceeded everyone's imagination, 1 million, 2 million, 3 million...... Seeing that the game's sales were rising, Nintendo immediately decided to make an animated version of the game to add fuel to the already boiling and noisy pocket fever.

In 1998, "Pokemon" entered the United States, and 111 TV stations in the United States simultaneously broadcast the English version of "Pokemon", which set a new ratings record on the first day, and even the well-known American animation "South Park" half-joked that the United States was suffering from Japan's cultural "invasion" through the mouth of the protagonist.

Nowadays, the charm of "Pokemon" has long crossed gender, age and national boundaries, and its representative Elf Pikachu has become one of the most popular anime characters in the world, worth nearly $1 billion, and big-name stars including Nicholas Tse and Kwon Zhilong are all fans of Pikachu. The success of "Pokemon" tells us that in fact, everyone has a childlike heart in their hearts, which is not naïve, but a positive attitude towards life, a mature and free expression.

Animation is difficult to recruit, and talents are shortcoming

Since animals are not a stumbling block for domestic animation to move towards "all-age", who is the culprit? Is it a vetting system that is often criticized?

Writing this, the author suddenly remembered that some time ago, Gao Xiaosong sprayed the news of the original ability of the domestic game industry, and he said that some people in the game industry only emphasize objective reasons and find many excuses, either to blame the government's strict review or to blame players for playing piracy, but the fact is that these makers still can't make good games in Switzerland.

Although Gao Xiaosong is talking about domestic games, in the author's opinion, he is not talking about domestic animation. In fact, the key to whether an animation is good or not lies in the quality of production, and the key to grasping the quality lies in whether there are enough excellent talents in each production process.

The box office success of "Pleasant Goat" has made people believe that domestic animation will become the next growth point of the film and television box office

Just like the glory of domestic animation in the last century, it is because of the emergence of a large number of animation masters such as the three Wan brothers, Tewei, Xu Jingda, etc., and the subsequent ** is also due to the emergence of a strict zhòng in the animation talent reserve. Although the major art academies in China have successively opened animation departments, in fact, 90% of the students in the animation department will be shunted to high-paying industries such as online games, film and television, and advertising after graduation.

Without the right talents, and to catch up with the work schedule, many animation companies have to sacrifice the quality of animation and let a group of newcomers take the lead. A Taiwanese animation director once complained to the author, saying that the screenwriter of his animation company had not even mastered the most basic script format, and every time he revised the script, he changed it until he vomited blood. In fact, not to mention this animation company, most of the domestic animation screenwriters are not from professional backgrounds, and lack professional screenwriting theories and skills. This is why many domestic animation plots flow smoothly and have no ups and downs.

Is it possible that we can create good animation as long as we solve the script problem? Again, the answer is no. This is just like when the raw materials are the same, some chefs can use their own skills to make "signature dishes" and "special dishes", which cause many repeat customers, while some chefs make dishes with the same taste as chewing wax, and there are few diners.

Director, storyboard, character, soundtrack, rendering...... In every aspect of the animation system, we are extremely short of professionals, in the barrel principle, the length of any board still determines how much water the barrel can hold, and the domestic animation process only sees the short board, how much water can be filled in the end, do you still need to see?

Some people may say that they can't recruit people because the salary is not high, as long as the money is given more, are you afraid that there will be no talent? It is true that domestic animation companies cannot afford high salaries, but the shortage of animation talents is not a problem that can be solved with money alone. Hollywood animation and special effects companies, including Weta Studios (which used to make special effects for The Lord of the Rings), have wanted to set up a branch in China, but the plan has been delayed because they can't hire people. It's not because they can't afford high salaries, but they need people who can not only operate software, but also be able to tell stories and be creative. But at present, there are too few people in China who have such conditions.

Without a strong talent reserve, we can't compete with the United States and Japan for animation quality, and even if we are lucky enough to make a blockbuster film, we will never lead the world animation trend and become an industry leader like Pixar and Ghibli.

epilogue

Whenever I see some animation fans saying that we have seen enough "Pleasant Goat" and "Bear Infested", the author is singing the opposite tone in my heart, domestic animation needs works like "Pleasant Goat" and "Bear Infested" that can inject a shot in the arm for the entire industry, only when investors, producers, and participants in the entire animation industry chain are profitable, domestic animation will take off. Fortunately, after "Pleasant Goat" and "Bear Infested" have achieved box office successes, more and more people believe that domestic animation will become the next growth point of the film and television box office. With the investment of funds, in the past two years, all-age animated films such as "Qin Shi Mingyue", "Dragon Nest" and "Kuiba" have begun to appear on the Chinese animation screen, although they are still far from the Hollywood level, but we have seen hope. As a Chinese animator, the author can proudly say that we are already on the way!