Behind-the-scenes Production of Princess Iron Fan

In the 1920s, China gave birth to his own cartoon, and the Wan brothers created an animated film with national characteristics, "Studio Noisy", which announced the birth of China fine arts films. The Wan Brothers' truly great work is their 80-minute animated feature film Princess of the Iron Fan, which was completed at 194 1. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, they carried out anti-Japanese propaganda activities with the belief of "using animation as a weapon" and drew many anti-Japanese slogans, cartoons and anti-Japanese songs in the "Chinese system". However, when 1940 Kuomintang's passive anti-Japanese war policy was introduced, all films with anti-Japanese war content were rejected, and the Wan brothers returned to the "isolated island" Shanghai.

In the mid-20th century, the animated film Snow White was released in Shanghai, which had a great impact on all brothers. They are determined to make a high-quality animated feature film. Because of the high risk, Princess Tiefan almost died, but Wan Laiming patted her chest and promised not to lose money, which made the film not give up halfway. Results 100 people worked hard for a year and a half, and finally completed this 80-minute animated feature film, which was shown in three cinemas in Shanghai at the same time. Its box office income exceeded all feature films released at that time, and Princess Iron Fan became a masterpiece of animated films that kept pace with the world at that time.

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When people look back, the popularity of Snow White in Shanghai has greatly touched ten thousand brothers, who are determined to make a high-quality animated feature film. Because of the high risk, Princess Tiefan almost died, but Wan Laiming patted her chest and promised not to lose money, which made the film not give up halfway. As a result, after more than one and a half years' efforts by 100 people, this 80-minute animated feature film finally shocked Shanghai again. Its box office income exceeded all feature films released at that time, and Princess Iron Fan became the representative work of the world animated films at that time. It is worth mentioning that the Wan brothers, after careful consideration, chose a piece of banana fan borrowed from the Monkey King in The Journey to the West, which is quite meaningful. In the film, the words of "the people rose up to win the final victory" inspired the anti-Japanese struggle, and the scissors of the electric inspection organ were encountered during the screening, which further explained the problem. Compared with Princess Iron Fan, Snow White's starting point is much simpler. Disney chose Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a famous western fairy tale, as its pioneering work, in order to ask the truth, goodness and beauty. The "iron fan" to extinguish the blazing flame and the "magic mirror" to map the truth may inadvertently predict the completely different development paths of animation between China and the United States.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Monkey King's unique and meaningful image is unique. Princess Iron Fan and Make a scene in Heaven are the two most stylized works in silence, both of which are centered on shaping the unique image of the Monkey King. A full understanding of the Monkey King's role and representative significance in silent animation will help us better understand the intention of silent animation creation and the ultimate artistic pursuit. Under the background of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression at that time, the image of the Monkey King, which is deeply rooted in people's hearts, undoubtedly conveyed the author's intention to resist aggression. Injecting the spirit that meets the needs of the times into an animation shows that the creative pattern of silence has already surpassed the boundaries of ordinary cartoons.

What is even more rare is that the Monkey King's image has been continued and grown in the creation of silence. Wan Lai changed the ending of the Monkey King's recovery in the original Journey to the West into the ending of the Monkey King's final victory, which also showed Wan Lai's consciousness of pursuing free expression as an artist.

Wan Laiming once said in reviewing the creation process of "Making a scene in Heaven": "the Monkey King's appearance and inner quality include his monkey, god and human characteristics, and they are indispensable." Wan Laiming, with his unique animation creation, endowed China people with a humanized interpretation and a brand-new fate of the Monkey King, which has been familiar for thousands of years, thus winning strong applause from several generations of China audiences.