The Development of Animation Movies in China: Analyses of the Monkey King : Hero Is Back and Nezha : I Am the Destiny

Abstract

The movie of Monkey King: Hero Is Back and Nehza: I Am the Destiny were two dark horses in the year of 2015 and 2019. The success of the two films is not just the success of the box offices, to some extent, it connotes that China’s animation industry has been able to stand a world stage. Such a standing reflects not only the progress of performing animation technology in China, but also a Chinese style animation being cognized by the world. This paper tries to present and analyze how the two animation movies succeed, by comparing with the early Chinese Meishupian, the Japanese anime and the American cartoons. Additionally, the paper argues that the development of Chinese animation can be seen as a key sector for the birth of a new national identity in the new century. The analyses of the use of traditional ink painting style, character-based Peking Opera, as well as the re-structured stories of the Journey to the West, and Nezha Conquers the Dragon King would be the case in point; they are the Chinese-rooted national culture and are challenging the Western-based film cultures.