Since Wu Cheng'en created the monkey "Monkey King" from the fairy stone, its story has been enduring in the Chinese world and has appeared on the screen for countless times. This time, why did a lonely "Great Sage" become "our own great hero" in the eyes of the audience?
The Return of the Great Sage is a best-seller passed down from mouth to mouth. Is it a "watershed" or a "milestone" of China's animated films and related industries, or is it just a lonely peak that is difficult to replicate?
Broadly speaking, can China movies produce more cultural heroes with global influence while creating box office?
With these questions, Xinhua News Agency interviewed the creative team and cultural scholars, trying to decode the ins and outs of the Great Sage phenomenon.
"It's time to surprise our monkey."
"It's time to surprise our monkey." Netizen @ Passerby Eita wrote in the film review of The Return of the Great Sage. One sentence comments and gains 4480 "likes".
In the film, Sun has an impressive long face. He is a hopeless hero who has lost his magic and is confused and helpless. Tang Priest became a cute baby "Jiang Liuer" in his last life; Pig Bajie has become a lovely pink pig ... The bold adaptation of the traditional image and its own distinctive oriental elements not only dazzle children, but also fascinate adult audiences.
"The film tells the story of finding a dream with love and courage, which is the core that audiences all over the world can understand." Director Tian Xiaopeng said: "I finished this story on the shoulders of giants."
This "giant" is the world-famous China classic The Journey to the West. This successful product positioning makes Return of the Great Sage not only influential overseas, but also aimed at the "family fun" market in China. For young children, they are not afraid of understanding. For the "post-80s" and older audiences, this is a tribute to their childhood memories, and they can also take their children to relax and entertain.
In addition, the adaptation of cultural classics to present life is subversive, but it is also respectful. Although not rigid, it is by no means a joke. This kind of story core is also one of the important reasons for the success of the work.
Tian Xiaopeng said that to regain the self-confidence of China's animation, we must first establish our own cultural identity and have self-confidence in cultural identity. It is this "initial heart" that makes the whole production team "sharpen a sword in eight years", insist on being a "great hero" belonging to China people and make a "big movie suitable for all ages".
During the eight years from preparation to production, Tian Xiaopeng and his team members spent more than two years "dynamically splitting the mirror". This makes the audience accustomed to the "fifty cents special effect" discover that whether it is 3D effect, picture composition, color design, detail presentation, etc. The Return of the Great Sage has the ability to compete with first-class studios such as Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks.
Of course, they also caught up with a good era-the era of "Internet plus movies". Lu Wei, the producer of the film, lamented: "If it was two years ago, the Great Sage could not have achieved this result."
The crowdfunding model under the "internet plus" has "replenished" much-needed funds for the Great Sage's return. Lu Wei raised funds in the "circle of friends" from the beginning, saying that as long as he invested 65,438+10,000 yuan, he could invest in the name of the children at the end of the film and called it "a gift for the future". But to his surprise, the original goal was10 million, but it brought more than10 investors and raised 7 million yuan.
"internet plus" also makes word-of-mouth a new channel for film promotion. On June 20 14, the music MV of this film was released for the first time on the animation barrage website gathered by the post-80s and post-90s, and the animation lovers with "domestic animation plots" formed the first batch of future audiences. Since then, the crew has won the reputation of a group of film critics, stars and industry leaders in the city of 19. Among them, the picture that Ma Yun praised for the movie "The Doll of the Great Sage" is widely circulated.
After the film was released, the spread from fans, industry leaders to ordinary audiences was also completed by word of mouth through the network, when the space for film arrangement was squeezed in the early stage. In the words of Yu Dong, president of Bona Film, the changes brought by this to the traditional "production, supply and sales" system of China films are "revolutionary".
Crowdfunding, word of mouth, etc. Must serve the content, and the core of the content is respect for the audience. The Return of the Great Sage, as an animated film of "family fun", also proves that domestic movies are not the way out. Instead of preaching, it can also convey mainstream values and achieve great box office success.
Rao Shuguang, secretary general of the China Film Association, said that there is no conflict between the market and positive energy. "A really good movie can resonate with most people and must have upward power."
Liu Zhijiang, a film investor and assistant to the president of Hengdian Group, also believes that the success of The Return of the Great Sage proves that there is no reason for "being positive" and "going to the market" to be considered contradictory. "Which real blockbuster is not positive?" He asked in return.
There is still a long way to go to build the whole industrial chain.
Animation film is actually just a branch of the film industry. However, it is one of the commanding heights that the global film powers attach great importance to, with broad market prospects and inevitable competition in the development of cultural industries.
China cultural management and filmmakers have never ignored this branch. From July 1 1 until the end of August, more than 2,000 cinemas across the country will add "Anime, good morning!" Exclusive time period of domestic animated films. The industry believes that this move will expand the market space for domestic animated films.
As early as 2006, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and other departments jointly issued "Several Opinions on Promoting the Development of China's Animation Industry". Since then, a large number of animation industrial parks have blossomed everywhere, and animation enterprises not only enjoy rent and tax relief policies, but also government subsidies.
However, behind the fact that animation production ranks first in the world, it is the lack of originality and creativity of domestic animated films, which has not created an animated image with global influence.
Before the Great Sage's return, although there were many well-made and well-received all-age animated films in China, such as Kuiba, Mingyue in Qin Dynasty and Dragon Valley, the box office and market performance were relatively dull. Even Liu Zhijiang admits that investing in animated films is risky. According to the previous market rules, it is generally believed that the box office of Return of the Great Sage will not exceed 80 million yuan.
It is generally believed that although China's animation film industry has become a new growth point, compared with the United States, Japan and other countries, China's animation industry accounts for a very low proportion of GDP, the animation film market and people have not yet fully formed, and high-level animation talents are scarce.
However, Tian Xiaopeng believes that what China's original animation industry lacks most is not talents, technology and funds, but "insufficient market space caused by prejudice", which often makes original authors "unable to bear loneliness and can't see the future".
Long production cycle and huge investment are the laws that must be respected in animated film production. "Investors must tolerate the' slowness' of the creative team, and the creative team must also have an attitude of adhering to high-quality originality." Liu Zhijiang said.
Can the return of the Great Sage be regarded as a "critical point" in the development of China animated films? The response of the industry is optimistic. Rao Shuguang believes that The Return of the Great Sage has reached the level of blockbuster in technology, imagination and affinity. "This can be said to be a breakthrough work."
Perhaps coincidentally, Monster Hunter, who was equally popular in the same period, implanted the lovely animated image "Hu Ba" into the live-action movie and became another kind of animated movie.
Zhang Hongsen, director of the National Film Bureau, said that the diversified forms of China's film works are taking shape, and multi-types and varieties have become the development trend.
This may be a regular factor in the popularity of the Great Sage and Hu Ba.
It is worth noting that "The Return of the Great Sage" also allows film practitioners to see the market potential of the animation product chain. Ma Yun's "Sheng Da Doll" has been out of stock for many times, and fans keep leaving messages asking for the development of new products such as stickers, magnets, stationery, postcards, cups, pillowcases, and mocking it as "the first crew in history to be urged to make money"
In fact, this is a common practice in the mature market of animated films: developing the whole industrial chain at the same time-animation toys, animation costumes, animation games, stage plays, theme parks ... A series of derivatives are considered as a whole. For China filmmakers, there is still a long way to go to build the whole industrial chain.
With the development of animated films in China, when can we have our own "Disneyland" and "Universal Studios" and a series of derivatives that can sell well with movies? Although this is another topic about the development of animation industry in China, I hope this dream is no longer an unreachable future.
The China Value Core of "Superhero"
Sun's rebirth not only shows the hope and path of China animation industry, but also shows us the infinite possibility of exploring cultural classics.
Only from the box office, a purely economic indicator, the development of China's film industry has emerged in the global industrial structure.
In 2003, the box office of Chinese movies was only 65.438 billion yuan, only 654.38+0% of that of the United States. Last year, the box office of Chinese films reached 29.6 billion yuan, close to 45%-47% of the North American film market. For more than ten years, the box office has maintained a compound annual growth rate of more than 35%.
However, China, which has become the second largest film market in the world, still lacks in building a "super cultural hero" with global influence.
China's anime audience, who is not familiar with Japanese Altman, Robot Cat, American Iron Man and Hulk? Most people will still think of "the Monkey King" in "Make a scene in Heaven" created more than 50 years ago.
On the other hand, the United States, the largest film country, has played one of the cards, whether it is fighting at home or expanding overseas, especially in the China market, which they attach great importance to, and made good use of China's well-known cultural image, such as the panda with pure kung fu and Mulan who speaks fluent English.
But in these films, although the elements of China are obvious, the core is American culture.
In Tian Xiaopeng's view, Po Panda is a pure American, and his body language is not available to implicit oriental figures. Mulan's depiction of China scenery and characters is quite oriental, but Mulan is no different from any princess portrayed by Disney in plot.
"China animated films need to have the entertainment attributes of the film products themselves, but also have the attitude of oriental culture itself." Tian Xiaopeng regards the return of the Great Sage as an explanation for this attitude. "In particular, the core of our story is Journey to the West, which can be fun, but not playful."
Rao Shuguang believes that there are many places to explore in China's traditional culture, and there is unlimited space for traveling to the west alone. This inexhaustible "spiritual mine" provides many valuable resources that can be transformed into image pens for the moment.
In the process of grafting traditional culture and modern communication, the return of the Great Sage is not only optimistic at home, but also overseas. It is reported that the film Return of the Great Sage has signed export agreements with many countries around Asia. Previously, the overseas sales record of China Animation in Cannes was set at $26,543,800.
In the film industry, the so-called IP (intellectual property) refers to an image or a "story core", such as Optimus Prime, Iron Man, Robot Cat and so on. Rao Shuguang said that cultural IP is a symbol rooted in the culture and values of the host country after several years of accumulation, and is often carried by a fixed image.
Traditional IP in China is quite rich, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, List of Gods, etc. , are the "super IP" that has permeated China's cultural genes and values for thousands of years.
Many people in the industry believe that when China is committed to building a big and powerful country in the film industry, we should have the dignity and character of the film culture that matches it. "In the final analysis, the spread of strong IP in various countries largely represents the cultural soft power of a country." Liu Wei, an associate researcher at the China Academy of Art, said.
The return of the Great Sage is just a movie. But think about it carefully, which country's teenagers don't have their own "grandchildren" in memory? He is a superhero in his childhood, which has enabled generations to complete the identity of life and culture.
The returning Great Sage will only become a memory with the end of the schedule. On a larger scale, it is actually just a new symbol in popular culture, although everyone expects this symbol to be more lasting and unforgettable.
For China movies, or China culture in a broader sense, the arrival of more "superheroes" is everyone's expectation.
In this regard, Staffan Lauding, president of Warsaw Film Festival, said: "For China filmmakers, you actually have/kloc-300 million stories to tell."