Special feature of 1905 film network After sleeping for 178 days, China Cinema finally woke up on July 20th.As early as three days ago, at 5: 40 p.m. on July 17th, the first ticket for the national cinema after the awakening of the China movie "Dragon" was sold at the first time when the pre-sale was opened — — Here’s the ticket.
Coincidentally, Nezha, a little hero of the country who is "my life depends on me", is the epitome of millions of filmmakers who have persisted since they experienced the epidemic and natural disasters; This memorable movie ticket is just enough to prove — — A filmmaker is his own hero; When last year’s box office champion met the first ticket of this year, it seemed to indicate the good color of China’s film to climb the peak again … …
On the other hand, it was no accident that Ne Zha broke the box office record in China last year. In fact, China animated films, like the lotus flower in midsummer, have entered the Nezha era.
In midsummer, Huolian, a group of teenagers who are dizzy with "magic children coming to the world"
Many people’s first impression of Nezha as a child comes from Prince Nezha in the 86th edition of The Journey to the West. However, his charm is greatly reduced under the aura of the protagonist of the Westward Journey Quartet, and his play is not even as good as Hong Haier, who is more like Nezha itself.
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Four years later, in the TV series "The List of Gods", Nezha, with a handsome appearance, finally became one of the protagonists, and even the ending song of the TV series was a theme song of Nezha.
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But in fact, the real animated image of Nezha came out as early as 1961. In the landmark works of China animation jointly directed by Wan Laiming and Tang Cheng of Shanghai Animation Film Studio, the image of Nezha with traditional artistic color appeared on the big screen as one of the Monkey King’s strong rivals.
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The China animation classic, which is as famous as "Making a scene in Heaven", is the first large-scale color wide-screen animated feature film in 1979, in which young Nezha’s rebellious spirit against patriarchy is touching. For many years, the scene of Nezha, a teenager, whose eyes are bright and his eyes are white, beating snow, and committing suicide with a sword in a storm as dark as night is still vivid. This profound tragic artistic conception has disappeared with the aging and commercialization of Chinese cartoons.
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In the following decades, the two twin peaks in China’s animation film history, "Making a scene in Heaven" and "Making a scene in the sea", once encountered the dilemma of "no one came after", and Nezha’s image (even the animation images related to it) has never made a leap forward. Although this eye-catching Chun-Li version of Nezha once appeared, it is still the commercial core of patchwork and reproduction.
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The "Nezha shortage" was not solved until last year. In other words, last year was the real animation "Nezha Year". Needless to say, Ne Zha broke the box office of 5 billion yuan, and needless to say, the plot that pierced the heart and the special effects of bursting, just the successful rewriting of the inhuman break between father and son in the original book is enough to reflect the times tentacles and innovative consciousness of contemporary China animation creators.
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In the same year, the image of Nezha, a teenager, reappeared in the excellent works of word of mouth, and his "unhappy" personality and Xiao Hei’s "mindless" style were full of comedy effects.
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At the same time, the film, which was produced by director Evonne and the original team for four years, has also been completed. The film was shortlisted in the "WIP(Work in Progress)" unit of the 2020 French Anxi International Animation Film Festival, and it is expected to meet the audience this summer. Judging from the released materials at present, it should be a Cyberpunk-style Nezha animated film.
Last week, Ma Boyong’s realistic fantasy novel also released a batch of conceptual design drawings, and the steampunk Nezha story combining traditional bazaar with future technology was also expected.
At this point, we can announce that the "Nezha era" of China animation has quietly arrived with the lotus flower in midsummer. Both Ne Zha’s reasonable rewriting of classic legends and the sci-fi imagination of Nezha’s future in Rebirth of Nezha and The Legend of Nezha, Dragon and Subway are creative excavations of Nezha’s potential as a "treasure boy", which will surely inspire China animators with more creative combinations and inspiration paths.
More importantly, from the classic "What’s Noisy about the Sea" to the creative version of Ne Zha, the reason why it can truly become a landmark work is not the technological progress from 2D to 3D, but the fullness of the characters and the touching plot. Whether it is a young hero who "cuts the flesh and returns the bones to his mother" or a young hero who is resigned to my fate, Nezha’s image is the most vivid reflection of the times, and he is self-forbearing.
At the same time, the image of Nezha is essentially a rebellious teenager and an innocent child. The portrayal of this image has always been a weak link in China animation and even China movies. Starting with Nezha, a mythical juvenile image, we can not only give full play to the imagination of animators, but also fully display the features of contemporary children in freer animation creation, thus laying a good foundation for the juvenile images of China animation and China movies.
On the other hand, the "Nezha Era" of China’s animation is exactly the "Great Sage Era".
The Golden Monkey Rise and the Self-rescue Initiated by the Return of the Great Sage
The book was connected to the last time. Just as the peaks of two Chinese cartoons, The Heavenly Palace and What’s the Sea, have been difficult to surpass for more than 30 years, in 2015, it was born. When 3D technology met oriental aesthetics, when Hollywood road film structure collided with China fairy tales, it was necessary to save yourself before saving the world, and a "Great Sage" who returned with China animation was born.
In fact, the image of the Monkey King is not only the most distinctive imprint of China, but also one of the earliest animated images of China. As early as 1941, the vivid the Monkey King appeared in China’s first animated feature film directed by China animation master Wan Brothers, which absorbed the characteristics of the plastic arts of China opera and became more vivid and interesting.
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After that, the novel "Make a scene in Heaven", which was also manipulated by the Wan brothers, highlighted the Monkey King’s fearless spirit and character of struggle through the story of making a scene against the Dragon Palace and the Heaven, which was of great significance for the times. This image of the Great Sage, inspired by traditional Chinese opera, has influenced several generations of China animators in succession, and even the last classic animation of the last century, Lotus Lantern, has followed this image.
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The real image breakthrough is undoubtedly the long-faced monkey in The Return of the Great Sage — — Of course, it’s not just its shape. Its biggest breakthrough lies in the complex and humanized character shaping. As the saying goes, "One mind becomes a demon, and one mind becomes a Buddha", we finally see the Monkey King, who is the most like a "human" with both magical and Buddhist moods, sharing the dual characteristics of cowardice and bravery, and undertaking the dual tasks of saving people and saving themselves, thus truly breaking the imprisonment of traditional mythological images, allowing the Monkey King’s mission of fighting against heaven and earth to return to people’s hearts, and self-rescue has become a spiritual dilemma faced by the Monkey King and the audience at the same time, and the Great Sage has further become himself reflected by the audience in the mirror of the screen.
At the same time, the success of The Return of the Great Sage also puts forward high requirements for its sequel — — At present, its sequel has released an ink poster, and it is believed that oriental aesthetics and animation special effects will collide with each other more brilliantly after five years. The story should be a prequel to The Return of the Great Sage 500 years ago, and what breakthroughs will be made in the image of Nezha as the opponent of the Great Sage, which is undoubtedly a chapter worthy of special writing by the creator.
It is not difficult to see that the two eras of "Great Sage" and "Nezha" of China animation in the new century, which started in 2015, just correspond to the two peaks of "Making a scene in Heaven" and "What makes a scene in the sea" from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. Under the same character prototype and story framework, it is the role-building and connotation innovation that is closer to the present life and responds to the call of the times. The re-reflection of history has never brought about standing still, but ".
Looking ahead, who will open the next era after Nezha? The phrase "Jiang Ziya, do you know the crime?" It seems that the answer has been given. The half-year delay due to the epidemic has undoubtedly made too many fans look forward to it, and the retaliatory movie-watching consumption brought by this repression will surely become a signal that the next era will come early.
Judging from the bitter expression on the previously released poster, Jiang Ziya in the film is nothing more than a middle-aged man in the double dilemma of saving the whole life and saving himself — — Just as Dasheng, who returned in 2015, is the representative of the "middle-aged crisis" of domestic animation heroes, this will form a double-track domestic animation narrative line for middle-aged and teenagers together with Nezha, a rebellious young man who is "my fate depends on my nature", and go hand in hand in the endless treasure jar of traditional myths and the oriental aesthetics that is independent of the world.
