On June 20, a "panda" from the United States landed on the big screen of Chinese movies. This naive and lazy guy named "A Bao" took away 38 million at the box office in just three days. , making 1.3 million viewers of all ages go crazy for it, using its fat and sturdy body to crush the curse of "animated movies cannot attract Chinese audiences". This is the "Kung Fu Panda" with "big momentum". So, what is "A Bao's" trick? What is the secret to the success of "Panda"?
Trick 1: Culture
2008 is the Year of China, and the focus of the world is still on the Beijing Olympics. Kung Fu belongs to China, and pandas belong to China. Kung Fu and pandas emphasize that this is a Chinese-themed movie. Screening Chinese-themed movies during the Chinese New Year, "Kung Fu Panda" seized the business opportunities of the Beijing Olympics.
Watching the Chinese version of "Kung Fu Panda" dubbed, many people may have the illusion that this is an authentic Chinese movie made by Chinese people. The producers of "Kung Fu Panda" did not use self-righteous inherent thinking to define Chinese Kung Fu and Pandas. Instead, they showed the world the basic and authentic Kung Fu and Pandas through painstaking study of Chinese culture, surprising European and American audiences. Astonish the Chinese audience. It is understood that the director is a complete fan of China. He not only likes traditional Chinese culture, but has also watched Chinese animated films such as "Havoc in Heaven" and "Nezha Hao Hai".
The Chinese flavor permeates every corner of the movie, and the strong Chinese cultural atmosphere is achieved from the beginning. In addition to the two major Chinese elements of kung fu and pandas, there are also the traditional carts and noodle shops of Abao's family, the four-person sedan chair, firecrackers, acupuncture and traditional temple fairs of Heping Village, the costumes of various characters, the ubiquitous Chinese characters, and the villagers Their living habits are also in line with the characteristics of ancient China. They write calligraphy with calligraphy, eat steamed buns and noodles with chopsticks in hand, and even the mantis likes to drink noodle soup, etc., which all bring a strong visual impact and fatal attraction to the audience. In terms of architectural style, there are cornices and brackets, red walls and green tiles. The temple is decorated with many landscape paintings and porcelain. The indoor walls, pillars, tables and chairs are all carefully painted. The natural beauty of China's Sichuan area is also vividly displayed in the film, with misty clouds, beautiful mountains and rivers, and quite artistic conception.
Not only that, the names of the characters also retain Chinese pronunciation. The protagonist panda "Po" is pronounced like the "宝" of "national treasure", the kung fu master "ShiFu" is "master", and the turtle master "oogway" It's "Tai Lung", and the snow leopard "Tai Lung" who was spoiled by the kung fu master and turned into a villain. Some are transliterated as "Tang Lang", some are transliterated as "Big Dragon", and the Japanese flavor of "Tai Lung" A full name is obviously more appropriate. In terms of soundtrack, the protagonists are almost exclusively Chinese folk music, including suona, flute, erhu, guzheng, wooden flute, gongs and drums, xylophone, etc., with a strong Chinese ethnic flavor.
Whether it is "Kung Fu Panda" or "The Prince of Egypt" or "Mulan", the films all have a strong national flavor, and the global box office of the three films has also become the best among animated films. "What belongs to the nation is what belongs to the world" - this truth is reflected in the subject matter selection of commercial movies.
Trick 2 Kung Fu
Why is the box office of "Kung Fu Panda" higher than that of "Mulan", which is also set in Chinese culture? Kung fu is probably the biggest factor. Chinese martial arts and kung fu movies are not only loved by Chinese people, but also by people all over the world. When Europeans and Americans talk about "Kung Fu", they always like to add "Chinese" in front of it. This Chinese cultural form brought to the world by Bruce Lee is the first sign for foreigners to understand Chinese culture through movies, and it is also a stepping stone for Chinese commercial films to go global.
The overall atmosphere of "Kung Fu Panda" is exactly the same as that described in Chinese martial arts novels, with flying over walls and acupoints, magical skills, and common moves, schools, martial arts spirit and loyalty in various martial arts novels, such as Jin Yong and Gu Long The structure of the novel and even Buddhist ideas are reflected in the film. Rather than saying "Kung Fu Panda", it is more appropriate to call it "Martial Arts Panda", but Westerners are too obsessed with the word "Kung Fu". The Chinese Kung Fu involved is dazzling, and all kinds of martial arts come in handy: Among the "Five Great Martial Arts Masters", Tigress uses Tiger Fist, with arm strength and claws as the main weapons, and is good at running, fierce and fierce; Green Snake uses Snake Fist, It is good at unexpected attacks, slides fast and quietly, and is proud and elegant; the golden monkey uses the monkey fist to jump up and down with great flexibility, and can also play with sticks and smile playfully; the red-crowned crane is the only animal that can fly and uses the crane fist to dodge freely and attack with its mouth. Many, and can be used as logistical aid, peaceful and friendly; the mantis is small and easy to hide, uses the mantis fist, transfers and strikes quickly, and the two "big knives" can accurately hit the vital point. As for the kung fu master Red Panda, the film does not explain the characteristics of his moves, but just because he can teach "the five great martial arts masters" and masters like Snow Leopard, we can infer that he is a famous master who is proficient in various martial arts.
"Kung Fu Panda" draws on the shadows of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and others: Po and Snow Leopard Taro duel, Po's moves and screams imitate Bruce Lee; the humor during the fight is Drawing on Jackie Chan's movies, the "snatching buns" scene when the kung fu master trains Po has become the most exciting fighting scene in the movie. The use of props around him such as chopsticks, bowls, etc., and the ability to fight and eat at the same time. The interpretation forms are all common routines in Jackie Chan movies; and the Shaolin stick rules in Jet Li's classic movie "Shaolin Temple" were moved to the golden monkey, one of the "Five Great Martial Arts Masters". The most surprising plot is the emergence of the acupuncture magic. When the "five great martial arts masters" and Snow Leopard were defeated in a showdown on the suspension bridge, Snow Leopard did not kill them all, but tapped their acupuncture points to make them unable to move.
Trick 3 Humor
Although the story content of the film is very simple, the funny plot is not simple at all, and it can make the audience laugh all the time. At the beginning of the film, Po went to great lengths to watch the martial arts tournament. When he finally conquered the 1888th step with all his fat, the martial arts competition just passed the entrance time, and A Bao was shut out of the door with a "bang". A Bao tried his best to enter the competition scene and peeked through the crack in the door. , climbing walls, using branches as springs, etc., they tried everything, but unfortunately they all failed. Finally, Po "flyed" to the middle of the arena through his homemade "pyrotechnic bench". When Po woke up after being knocked unconscious by the fireworks, he saw Master Oogway pointing at him and announcing that he was the "Dragon Warrior." The clumsy Po makes people laugh at the beginning of the film.
The most interesting plots are "Po secretly eats cookies" and "Po receives acupuncture". Panda Po's rich expression of treasure when he sees the food and his antics of eating a lot are used by the director as the biggest joke throughout the film. Whenever he has a mouth full of food, he makes various weird expressions. It will make the audience laugh. When Po was receiving acupuncture from the red-crowned crane, the tigress was talking to him seriously. At this time, Po made a very funny face and then fainted quickly. It turned out that the red-crowned crane acupuncture on the wrong acupuncture point caused Po's facial paralysis. Stephen Chow's nonsensical funny ways are fully reproduced in "Kung Fu Panda".
A panda who is full of fat, eats and is lazy is very funny in itself, but he also has a duck father who is N times smaller than him and walks waddlingly, and a skinny little master. The duck father wants his panda son to inherit his noodle shop. He thinks that his son dreams about noodles and will become a skilled noodle chef. Whenever the duck father looks at his son confidently with such an expression, but the panda son shows a guilty expression, the huge contrast brings out a lot of humor. His little master was a serious man, but he also had a moment of humor at the end of the film. When Po held the Kung Fu Master who was dying after being beaten by Taro and cried, "Master, please don't die," the Kung Fu Master suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "I'm not dead!"
Trick 4 Zen
The film tells the audience with a story: if you have a dream, believe in yourself and work hard, you can realize your dream. Panda Po has always had a dream and is obsessed with martial arts. When he was chosen as the "Dragon Warrior" for no reason, he did not flinch and accepted the task bravely. In the end, Po, who had no foundation in kung fu, persisted. After unremitting efforts, he finally became a hero. Of course, there were times when Po was timid. When the kung fu master finally understood what Master Oogway said: "There are never accidents" and recognized Po's identity as the "Dragon Warrior", Po was scared. "What hurts me the most is Yes, I practice hard every day, but I am still the same." When the kung fu master was struggling with how to persuade Ah Bao, he suddenly discovered that eating was Ah Bao's biggest motivation. After discovering this, the kung fu master taught Po in accordance with his aptitude, used him to compete for food to train Po, and instilled in him the idea that "as long as you believe that you are the Dragon Warrior, you will be the Dragon Warrior."
The film often presents positive and healthy classic lines, such as "Nothing is impossible", "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, only today is a gift from God", "Think you can do it" , I can really do it myself” and so on. There are also a lot of traditional Chinese theories and ideas. For example, when Po got the "Secret Book of the Dragon", he found that the "secret book" was blank. When Dad Duck taught Po the "secret book" of making noodles, he said: "My private soup." The top secret ingredient is...nothing." Master Oogway also said: "No matter what you do, the seed will still grow into a peach tree. You may want apples or oranges, but you can only get peaches, and the seed will still grow into a peach tree. It will grow into a peach tree." These points are similar to Lao Tzu's "Tao follows nature"; Master Oogway predicted that Taro was going to escape from prison, so he sent a bird messenger to notify the prison warden to strengthen defenses, but the hair that fell from the messenger's body became Taro's open door. The tool of shackles is in line with Chinese philosophical thinking, which is a combination of the Confucian thought of "nothing means something" and the Zhouyi's "Heaven's Secret" and "Destiny"; another famous saying of Master Wugui "Your thoughts are like water. My friend, when the water waves are swaying, it is difficult to see clearly, but when it calms down, the answer becomes crystal clear." and the "peace of mind" that Kung Fu masters have always pursued have a strong Zen meaning.
Trick 5 Colors
DreamWorks, which has produced animated films such as "The Prince of Egypt", "Shrek", and "Madagascar", has a strong behind-the-scenes production team, and "Kung Fu Panda" Using advanced 3D animation technology, unique visual effects are presented through the movie wide screen. The most amazing things in the film are the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers and the meticulously painted ancient buildings. They are like realistic Chinese landscape paintings and architectural art paintings. The exquisite painting skills astound the audience.
The "Jade Palace" is one of the important places in the film. It is decorated with a large number of jade bamboos, making it poetic, elegant and majestic. Another important location in the film, Heping Village, is based on the valleys of Lijiang and Guilin. The exaggerated and spectacular Guilin stone pillars have a shocking beauty, and the Heping Village, where everything is designed based on circles, has a joyful and pleasing effect. .
The overall color of "The Prince of Egypt" is mainly bright golden yellow, which is closely related to Egypt's geographical location and Egyptian culture. The desert, Pharaoh's palace, pyramids, etc. are all golden yellow, and a The azure Nile River gives the audience a visual spa, easing the visual stimulation of bright colors. "Mulan" mainly uses soft tones to set off the restrained temperament of the Chinese people. It can be seen that the art in commercial animation is not just about skills, but also needs to be able to reflect the cultural atmosphere of the film.
Trick 6 Stars
The super dubbing cast is another highlight of the film. The new generation of comedy master Jack Black takes on the great task of dubbing Po and the Kung Fu Master. Dustin Hoffman, the multiple-time Academy Award winner for dubbing, is another pillar of the dubbing lineup. In addition, the addition of big-name stars such as Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, and Lucy Liu makes the film star-studded. Veteran actor Hoffman said: "Jack is the perfect choice for Po. This is our first time cooperating with dubbing. His attitude is very serious. The best comedians take his role very seriously, so he will play the role." "It's so good." And Black said: "Red Panda is a kung fu master in the film, and Dustin is an acting master. He interprets the kung fu master very carefully and pronounces the lines in a very realistic way. He is simply a master." "
Although the dubbing cast of the Chinese version is not as strong as the English version, the superb skills of dubbing actors Liu Feng, Wang Xiaobing, Di Feifei and others have also been well received, especially the clever use of some dialogues. A buzzword among young people these days, the clever dubbing method adds a humorous touch to the film that is different from the English version.
The joining of big-name stars will undoubtedly make a commercial cartoon even better. Successful commercial films are very good at making use of the "star effect". For example, the dubbing cast of "Mulan" is also very strong. The English version is dubbed by stars such as Eddie Murphy, Ming-Na Wen, and Michael Fehr. The Chinese version is supported by big names such as Jackie Chan, Chen Peisi, Xu Qing, Kelly Chen, Coco Lee, and Wu Zongxian. In addition to the dubbing by stars such as Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, and Michelle Pfeiffer, "The Prince of Egypt" also has the theme song "The Prince of Egypt" sung by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. When You Believe" has become a classic hit.