Raising Children for the Communist Party: The Shanghai Animation Film Studio’s Infantilized Style (1950s–1980s)

Abstract

Studies on Chinese animation repeatedly mention the Shanghai Animation Film Studio’s (SAFS) creative intent of ‘serving children’. However, discussions on the specific child audience the studio serves and the studio’s service methods and objectives are scarce. This article analyses the studio’s creative history and intent from the 1950s to the 1980s, incorporating China’s socio-cultural context and policy formulation. The study uses SAFS creators’ self-narratives and interviews to argue that, during this period, the studio’s creative intent was determined by the Communist Party of China’s directives. To adhere to the Party’s will, the studio’s animation artists overlooked the individuality and diversity of real children and adopted an excessively protective attitude that underestimated children’s self-awareness, cognitive abilities and aesthetic appreciation. The studio staff positioned the audience as lacking autonomy, akin to infants unable to resist ideological indoctrination.