In 1995 Chinese animated filmmaking ceased to be a state-run enterprise and was plunged into the free market. Using key animated films as his case studies, Shaopeng Chen examines new generation Chinese animation in its aesthetic and industrial contexts. He argues that, unlike its predecessors, this new generation does not have a distinctive national identity, but represents an important stage of diversity and exploration in the history of Chinese animation. Chen identifies distinct characteristics of new generation filmmaking, including an orientation towards young audiences and the recurring figure of the immortal monkey-like Sun Wukong. He explores how films such as Lotus Lantern/Baolian Deng (1999) responded to competition from American imports such as The Lion King (1994), retaining Chinese iconography while at the same time adopting Hollywood aesthetics and techniques. Addressing the series Boonie Bears/Xiong Chumo (2014-5), Chen focuses on the films' adaptation from the original TV series, and how the films were promoted across generations and by means of both online and offline channels. Discussing the series Kuiba/Kui Ba (2011, 2013, 2014), Chen examines Vasoon Animation Studio's ambitious attempt to create the first Chinese-style high fantasy fictional universe, and considers why the first film was a critical success but a failure at the box-office. He also explores the relationship between Japanese anime and new generation Chinese animation. Finally, Chen considers how word-of-mouth social media engagement lay behind the success of Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015).

In 1995 Chinese animated filmmaking ceased to be a state-run enterprise and was plunged into the free market. Using key animated films as his case studies, Shaopeng Chen examines new generation Chinese animation in its aesthetic and industrial contexts. He argues that, unlike its predecessors, this new generation does not have a distinctive national identity, but represents an important stage of diversity and exploration in the history of Chinese animation. Chen identifies distinct characteristics of new generation filmmaking, including an orientation towards young audiences and the recurring figure of the immortal monkey-like Sun Wukong. He explores how films such as Lotus Lantern/Baolian Deng (1999) responded to competition from American imports such as The Lion King (1994), retaining Chinese iconography while at the same time adopting Hollywood aesthetics and techniques. Addressing the series Boonie Bears/Xiong Chumo (2014-5), Chen focuses on the films' adaptation from the original TV series, and how the films were promoted across generations and by means of both online and offline channels. Discussing the series Kuiba/Kui Ba (2011, 2013, 2014), Chen examines Vasoon Animation Studio's ambitious attempt to create the first Chinese-style high fantasy fictional universe, and considers why the first film was a critical success but a failure at the box-office. He also explores the relationship between Japanese anime and new generation Chinese animation. Finally, Chen considers how word-of-mouth social media engagement lay behind the success of Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015).

This book explores the development of the Chinese animation film industry from the beginning of China’s reform process up to the present. It discusses above all the relationship between the communist state’s policies to stimulate "creative industries", concepts of creativity and aesthetics, and the creation and maintenance , through changing circumstances, of a national style by Chinese animators. The book also examines the relationship between Chinese animation, changing technologies including the rise first of television and then of digital media, and youth culture, demonstrating the importance of Chinese animation in Chinese youth culture in the digital age.

This is the first book in English on Chinese animation and socialism that introduces the insider viewpoints of socialist animators at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. A timely and useful reference book for researchers, students, animators, and fans interested in Chinese and even world animation.

China has been one of the first countries to develop its own aesthetic for dynamic images and to create animation films with distinctive characteristics. In recent years, however, and subject to the influence of Western and Japanese animation, the Chinese animation industry has experienced several new stages of development, prompting the question as to where animation in China is heading in the future. This book describes the history, present and future of China’s animation industry. The author divides the business’s 95-year history into six periods and analyses each of these from an historical, aesthetic, and artistic perspective. In addition, the book focuses on representative works, themes, directions, artistic styles, techniques, industrial development, government support policies, business models, the nurturing of education and talent, broadcasting systems, and animation. Scholars and students who are interested in the history of Chinese animation will benefit from this book and it will appeal additionally to readers interested in Chinese film studies.

International Convention of Asia Scholars 2019 Book Prize – Best Art Publication In the most comprehensive and authoritative source on this subject, Comics Art in China covers almost all comics art forms in mainland China, providing the history from the nineteenth century to the present as well as perspectives on both the industry and the art form. This volume encompasses political, social, and gag cartoons, lianhuanhua (picture books), comic books, humorous drawings, cartoon and humor periodicals, and donghua (animation) while exploring topics ranging from the earliest Western-influenced cartoons and the popular, often salacious, 1930s humor magazines to cartoons as wartime propaganda and comics art in the reform. Coupling a comprehensive review of secondary materials (histories, anthologies, biographies, memoirs, and more) in English and Chinese with the artists’ actual works, the result spans more than two centuries of Chinese animation. Structured chronologically, the study begins with precursors in early China and proceeds through the Republican, wartime, Communist, and market economy periods. Based primarily on interviews senior scholar John A. Lent and Xu Ying conducted with over one hundred cartoonists, animators, and other comics art figures, Comics Art in China sheds light on tumult and triumphs. Meticulously, Lent and Xu describe the evolution of Chinese comics within a global context, probing the often-tense relationship between expression and government, as well as proving that art can be a powerful force for revolution. Indeed, the authors explore Chinese comics art as it continues to grow and adapt in the twenty-first century. Enhanced with over one hundred black-and-white and color illustrations, this book stands out as not only the first such survey in English, but perhaps the most complete one in any language.