Magnolia Awards Summary丨2023-2024, a new look for domestic animation

The 29th Shanghai TV Festival started soliciting films at the end of last year and ended on March 31. Nearly 1,000 works were collected, the highest in the past five film solicitation cycles. The Magnolia Award selection of each Shanghai TV Festival brings together the best works of radio, television and online audio-visual from April of the previous year to the first quarter of the current year, reflecting the style of the industry. In the near future, we will sort out the creative styles of the five major sections of Chinese dramas, overseas dramas, documentaries, cartoons, and variety shows in this cycle, and look forward to the announcement of the shortlist in May. The author of this article is Song Lei, a member of the Chinese Society of Literary and Art Critics and director of the Development Research Department of China Animation Group.

This article only represents the author’s industry observations.

Before the 29th Shanghai TV Festival, I am honored to have the opportunity to review some of the achievements and innovations of domestic animation during the 2023-2024 film collection period. This "new" is both innovative, with new themes and new styles emerging in an endless stream, and new quality, with high-tech content and blockbuster texture, which makes the audience exclaim with excitement. It can be said that domestic animation has made new progress from content to form, from theme to expression.

Original New

Originality is always the spirit of animation art. This year, we saw many original works of different themes and styles.

"Three Sons of Yunzhongju" is a web animation with a strong academic style. It uses a fresh style to tell the story of three young people representing Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, who are looking for the immortal residence Yunzhongju and growing up at the same time. The unique world view, the structure of the three protagonists and the distinct character arcs make the film different from ordinary fairy-themed works.

"The Story of Dunhuang" starts from the murals and sculptures of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, telling the historical allusions and contemporary stories contained therein, and using animation creativity to creatively transform China's excellent traditional culture. It is both philosophical and easy to understand.

"The Dream Team in the Mountains" is an original work based on realistic themes. It cleverly borrows the popularity of "Village BA" and combines the passionate theme of sports with the realistic background of rural revitalization. It not only shows the friendship, hometown feelings and team spirit among the members of the "Dream Team" of young basketball players, but also tells the story of the "Dream Team" composed of grassroots cadres from Zhejiang Province who developed the local cultural tourism industry and built beautiful villages by renovating old houses.

New in the sequel

Sequels represent the vitality of an animation. This year, we also welcomed many highly anticipated sequels.

The sixth season of "Painting Jianghu: The Bad Guys" has Li Xingyun return after bidding farewell to the Marshal and completing his journey to southern Xinjiang, defeating the usurper emperor and transforming from a chess piece in the hands of others into a chess player who can control the world. This season continues the characteristics of previous works of suspense and outstanding character personalities. The final plot reversal is fascinating, with both reflections on the righteousness of the rivers and lakes and care for the people of the country, allowing the audience to further witness the maturity of the young hero's mind and the establishment of a sense of responsibility.

The second season of "Fog Mountain Five Elements" has also arrived after much anticipation. The stunning two-dimensional animation of the previous work, especially the display of action scenes, has been maintained in the second season. The addition of more "five elements" characters has also made the film's world view system clearer and fuller, and the plot tension is more prominent.

From the character design to the screenwriter, "Time Agent" has the characteristics of Japanese special craftsman-themed animation, that is, the characters are beautiful, the personalities complement each other, and the worldview is alternative but self-consistent. In the second season, the two protagonists continue to solve human problems through the ability to go back in time. The theme of the film is more adult, with a deeper reflection on human nature, and is favored by the young people of the second dimension.

In addition, the online animation "Douluo Dalu" ended in 2023. With more than 50 billion views, this work is iconic. Whether it is Xiao Wu's sacrifice or the battle between the two gods, it brings a visual feast and a shock to the audience. We are happy to see that "Douluo Dalu 2" can take over and continue to write the story of Douluo Dalu.

At the same time, online animations such as "Battle Through the Heavens", "Perfect World" and "Devouring the Stars" have also launched annual series, which continue to attract audiences. The stable production and broadcast of sequels of these heavyweight works have played a ballast role in the Chinese online animation market, not only firmly stabilizing the basic market, but also continuously expanding the market.

New adaptation

Adaptation is a clever way for animation to gain vitality. This year, there were many outstanding performances of animations adapted from literature, comics and even games.

"Chinese Magic Paintings" adapted the stories and legends recorded in Chinese classics and history books to create the second season of three episodes of animation, "Shennong", "Yugong Moves Mountains" and "Dayu Controls Floods". The narration of the works has been carefully crafted, and the pictures are a fusion of Eastern and Western art styles. The clever setting of constantly moving the camera to the right and taking a single shot to the end conveys the traditional values of perseverance, unity and struggle, and selflessness in Chinese civilization. It is not only suitable for broadcasting on new media platforms, but also suitable for display in cultural and museum institutions.

Comics are also a popular source of adaptations. Both "The Ravages of Fire" and "The Dart" are adapted from popular comics with a personal style. They are set in the Three Kingdoms period and the late Sui and early Tang dynasties respectively. They have gained a good reputation for their vivid character portrayals, exciting battle scenes and a deep sense of historical depth.

"Honor of Kings: Glory of the Broken Moon" is adapted from the game "Honor of Kings". It recreates and mixes historical characters, with stylish design, excellent production, and cinematic quality. This chapter takes Li Bai as the protagonist, highlights elements such as Chang'an and poetry, and describes Li Bai's change in his understanding of family affection. Compared with another animated film "Chang'an 30,000 Miles" based on Li Bai and poetry, the content is very different, reflecting the tolerance and possibility of traditional cultural themes.

New form

The form is the presentation of the animation product. This year, new forms of animation works such as light comics and short film collections have emerged continuously and become a hot spot of market attention.

"Light comics" with a length of less than 5 minutes have become a new product type that consumers are keen on. Some of them are good at plot. "There Are Beasts" uses humorous character settings to explain the stories of mythical beasts in traditional Chinese culture. It is short and concise. "Monster Restaurant" is set in a restaurant that cooks for monsters. Through the color sense and painting style with a strong Chinese flavor, it tells the interesting daily stories of humans and monsters.

The other part is good at emotions. My Royal Cat launched the animated series "What's It To Do With Cats", telling warm and humorous stories between people and pets, and between pets. "Give Me a Little Fox" reflects the tolerance, understanding and love across races in the interaction between a little monk and a little fox demon, which is full of healing.

At the same time, after the hit of "Chinese Tales" on the Internet, short film collections of animation products have become a "new dish" on online video platforms. Online animations such as "Capsule Project" impress the audience with short, flat and fast content of different styles and a sense of experimentation, meeting the needs of differentiation and personalization.

It is worth noting that short film collections have the function of testing the market. Some short films with excellent performance may also get the opportunity and investment of being serialized or filmed. For example, the phenomenal "Little Monsters' Summer" in "Chinese Tales" has its animated film already in production.

The above is the new impression that domestic animation has left on me in the past year. All these works have formed a new and vigorous atmosphere for Chinese animation. We have reason to believe that in the future, we will see more domestic animation that adheres to the truth and innovates, showing the new image of Chinese animation to the world.