Shanghai Animation Film Studio

Shanghai Animation Film Studio

Industry	Entertainment
Predecessor	Animation Department
Founded	Shanghai, China (April 1957 (1957-04))
Headquarters	Shanghai, , China
Key people	Wan Brothers, Te Wei Yu Zheguang
Products	Animated feature films (anime), Motion pictures, Television, Music
Website	www.ani-sh.com

Shanghai Animation Film Studio (simplified Chinese: 上海美术电影制片厂; traditional Chinese: 上海美術電影製片廠; pinyin: Shàng Hǎi Měi Shù Diàn Yǐng Zhì Piān Chǎng) also known as SAFS (simplified Chinese: 美影厂; traditional Chinese: 美影廠; pinyin: Měi Yǐng Chǎng) is a part of the Shanghai Film Group Corporation. Founded in April 1957 in Shanghai, it is one of the oldest animation studios in China. It has produced around 500 films with over 40,000 minutes of original animation data source, covering 80% of China's domestic animation production. It has the title of "the most valuable repository of animation in China". It was probably the only animation studio in Chairman Mao's China and produced numerous classic animated films that are still popular today.

SAFS film were produced in various art forms with Chinese characteristics that has a rich and profound traditional Chinese culture, including Jianzhi, Shuimohua, Puppetoon, Zhezhi (also known as origami), Shadow puppetry, etc. It also had several international cooperations with various studios around the world.

Chinese people born after 1950 have all grown up with animations produced by SAFS. It has become an essential part of childhood memory of all generations since the 1950s.

History

Animation Department (1946-1957)

Shanghai Animation Film Studio was a former cartoon group under the art department of Northeast Film Studio. Northeast Film Studio was established in the Hegang Heilongjiang province on October 1, 1946, after the disbandment of its predecessor Manchukuo Film Association. It was the first known studio established by a communist party.

In 1948, the cartoon group was pulled out from the art department and became an individual department called animation department. It was soon divided to Shanghai Film Studio the following year, after Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China (PRC) from atop Tiananmen. By 1950, the whole department had moved to Shanghai along with the Wan Brothers as well as great artists from Central Academy of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Suzhou and other leading institutions. The studio's animators developed their unique style of rich Chinese characteristic after the success of The Conceited General and The Magical Pen in both the domestic and international markets. In 1955, they produced the first Chinese colour animation Why is the Crow Black-Coated. It was also the first Chinese animation that won international prizes.

Establishment (1957-1966)

Shanghai Animation Film Studio was finally established in April 1957 with the help of government funding. They were way behind the world technically, but were encouraged to make films by using unique Chinese techniques only. In 1958 the Wan brothers created a new technique, Jianzhi. In 1960, a new form of animation, Zhezhi (also known as origami), was created by Yu Zheguang along with his film Cōnɡmínɡ De Yāzi (The Smart Duckling). In the same year, Te Wei developed an animation technique of ink wash which was inspired by the famous ink wash artist Qi Baishi to make his film Where is Mama. He said

This type of painting was very famous and had a long history, so I thought we should do animation this way. Qi Baishi painted a lot of tadpoles and shrimp; we thought we'd make them move. We tried many ways before they moved. We made samples and showed them to the art association and got a strong positive reaction..

Where is Mama was recognized in many international film festivals, including the Locarno International Film Festival in 1961, the 4th Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 1962 and 17th Cannes Film Festival in 1964.

Cultural Revolution (1966-1975)

Chinese animation was in its golden age until the Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966. Fortunately the government did not cut Shanghai Animation Film Studio's funding. Animation was the only art form Chairman Mao allowed that artists could freely use to express ideas. Ironically, by 'freely' Chairman Mao also meant ideas that support the party. Only a few animations could be produced during this time, including Support Vietnamese to Fight Against America, Expose the Peace Negotiation Conspiracy of America, and After School. The animations were purely "red washed". This had a serious impact, and slowed the progress of Chinese animation.

Present (1975-Present)

In 1992, one of the first western companies to come in contact with the studio was "Prrfect Animation" in San Francisco, United States. They attempted to bring efficiency, dependability and quality control into the program. In 2001, the studio became part of the Shanghai Film Group Corporation.

In March 2013, the studio sued Apple Inc. for selling over 110 of their films in iTunes without authorization.

Current issue

A concern of SAFS today is brain drain. After 1965, American producers were forced to seek out cheap artist labours in less developed countries in order to cut their budget, due to the rising labour cost of domestic animation artists. Japan was their first choice. This boosted the development of animation production in Japan and Asia. As the Japanese industry matures, the cost rises. Japanese artists are no longer the first choice of American producers. The emergence of gifted young animation artists with minimum wage in China after the Chinese economic reform became their new option. High income with welfare promises has successfully attracted many young talents to work for American Companies.

See also

• History of Chinese Animation
• Chinese Animation