In 1995 Chinese animated filmmaking ceased to be a state-run enterprise and was plunged into the free market. Using key animated films as his case studies, Shaopeng Chen examines new generation Chinese animation in its aesthetic and industrial contexts. He argues that, unlike its predecessors, this new generation does not have a distinctive national identity, but represents an important stage of diversity and exploration in the history of Chinese animation. Chen identifies distinct characteristics of new generation filmmaking, including an orientation towards young audiences and the recurring figure of the immortal monkey-like Sun Wukong. He explores how films such as Lotus Lantern/Baolian Deng (1999) responded to competition from American imports such as The Lion King (1994), retaining Chinese iconography while at the same time adopting Hollywood aesthetics and techniques. Addressing the series Boonie Bears/Xiong Chumo (2014-5), Chen focuses on the films' adaptation from the original TV series, and how the films were promoted across generations and by means of both online and offline channels. Discussing the series Kuiba/Kui Ba (2011, 2013, 2014), Chen examines Vasoon Animation Studio's ambitious attempt to create the first Chinese-style high fantasy fictional universe, and considers why the first film was a critical success but a failure at the box-office. He also explores the relationship between Japanese anime and new generation Chinese animation. Finally, Chen considers how word-of-mouth social media engagement lay behind the success of Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015).

This book explores the development of the Chinese animation film industry from the beginning of China’s reform process up to the present. It discusses above all the relationship between the communist state’s policies to stimulate "creative industries", concepts of creativity and aesthetics, and the creation and maintenance , through changing circumstances, of a national style by Chinese animators. The book also examines the relationship between Chinese animation, changing technologies including the rise first of television and then of digital media, and youth culture, demonstrating the importance of Chinese animation in Chinese youth culture in the digital age.

In 1995 Chinese animated filmmaking ceased to be a state-run enterprise and was plunged into the free market. Using key animated films as his case studies, Shaopeng Chen examines new generation Chinese animation in its aesthetic and industrial contexts. He argues that, unlike its predecessors, this new generation does not have a distinctive national identity, but represents an important stage of diversity and exploration in the history of Chinese animation. Chen identifies distinct characteristics of new generation filmmaking, including an orientation towards young audiences and the recurring figure of the immortal monkey-like Sun Wukong. He explores how films such as Lotus Lantern/Baolian Deng (1999) responded to competition from American imports such as The Lion King (1994), retaining Chinese iconography while at the same time adopting Hollywood aesthetics and techniques. Addressing the series Boonie Bears/Xiong Chumo (2014-5), Chen focuses on the films' adaptation from the original TV series, and how the films were promoted across generations and by means of both online and offline channels. Discussing the series Kuiba/Kui Ba (2011, 2013, 2014), Chen examines Vasoon Animation Studio's ambitious attempt to create the first Chinese-style high fantasy fictional universe, and considers why the first film was a critical success but a failure at the box-office. He also explores the relationship between Japanese anime and new generation Chinese animation. Finally, Chen considers how word-of-mouth social media engagement lay behind the success of Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015).

With an output of more than 250,000 minutes annually, and with roughly 5,000 producers and production units, the Chinese are leading the field of animated films. Although it is almost impossible to completely cover 90 years of filmmaking, this book provides a comprehensible introduction to the industry's infancy, its Golden Age (Shanghai Animation Film Studio) and today's Chinese animation (in feature films, television series and student films). There are classics such as Princess Iron Fan (made at the time of the Japanese occupation) and the color Havoc in Heaven, both starring the Monkey King Sun Wukong, as well as countless TV stars (Blue Cat, Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf) and many almost unknown works by young filmmakers who are not focusing on an audience of children (like most of the industry output).

The author, who is in his twenties and fluent in Chinese, intimately examines the future of China through the lens of the Jiu Ling Hou—the generation born after 1990—exploring through personal encounters how his Chinese peers feel about everything from money and marriage to their government and the West

This is the first book in English on Chinese animation and socialism that introduces the insider viewpoints of socialist animators at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. A timely and useful reference book for researchers, students, animators, and fans interested in Chinese and even world animation.

China has been one of the first countries to develop its own aesthetic for dynamic images and to create animation films with distinctive characteristics. In recent years, however, and subject to the influence of Western and Japanese animation, the Chinese animation industry has experienced several new stages of development, prompting the question as to where animation in China is heading in the future. This book describes the history, present and future of China’s animation industry. The author divides the business’s 95-year history into six periods and analyses each of these from an historical, aesthetic, and artistic perspective. In addition, the book focuses on representative works; themes; directions; artistic styles; techniques; industrial development; government support policies; business models; the nurturing of education and talent; broadcasting systems and animation. Scholars and students who are interested in the history of Chinese animation will benefit from this book and it will appeal additionally to readers interested in Chinese film studies.