Ne Zha’s image transformation in Chinese animation cinema (1961–2019)

Abstract

This article analyses Ne Zha’s image evolution through different animated films in the PRC from 1961 to 2019. Three key Ne Zha films are Uproar in Heaven, Ne Zha Conquers the Dragon King and Ne Zha, representing the era of ‘classical Chinese animation’, ‘modern Chinese animation’ and ‘postmodern Chinese animation’, respectively. In 2019, Ne Zha became the summer hit and the highest-grossing Chinese original animation earning ¥5.035 billion at the Chinese box office. Explorations of how classical artistic traditions and legendary stories have been transposed into these films shows that Chinese animation has retreated from the peak of national style in the 1960s and undergone change with globalization’s cultural and ideological impacts. In sum, artistic techniques associated with fine arts film, traditional narrative methods and plot stylization have gradually weakened. Contemporary elements such as Hollywood classic three-act pattern and Japanese comic character relationships and images have significantly influenced Chinese animation in the twenty-first century.