freeanimationschool

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Animations that changed me #1

Inspired by this series on Cartoon Brew, I’ve decided that I’m going to start sharing animations on this blog which were really important to me and my decision to study animation seriously.

Part 1 of this series goes to one of my favourite animations of all time: “Airy Me” by Yoko Kuno.

Video under the cut (warning for body horror and medical violence)

Like almost every creative profession, I think that a lot of animation is driven by the aesthetic tastes and preoccupations of men, especially straight, cis men. When there’s sex and violence in animation, it tends to express a fear of subjugation or a power fantasy that, while it may be done with extreme technical competence, makes me feel a bit weary. In one medium or other, we’ve seen it all before.

I found Yoko Kuno’s animation refreshing because although it is violent and disturbing, it’s also strangely tender. There is care that is twisted and warped in ways which are horrific and yet extremely beautiful. Yoko Kuno takes imagery associated with art made by or targeted towards girls and women -- flowers, bunnies, wide-eyed people -- and tilts it so that it’s deeply uncanny. It’s not a straightforward story of domination, it’s a lot messier and more colourful and ambiguous.

It’s also a technical tour de force. There are more than 3000 original drawings in Airy Me, which Yoko Kuno made for her thesis film, and each one is a masterpiece in its own right. It’s hard to imagine the amount of talent and hard work that went into creating this animation.

I saw Airy Me at an exhibition about illness and disability in art at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. Apart from The Sense of Touch by Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo, this is the only piece which I still remember from that exhibit. It made me realise properly, for the first time, the kind of vision and talent that one woman could bring to the art form of animation. And of course, although Yoko Kuno is unique, she’s part of a new generation of creators who are really changing the game of what animation means.

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So those Oscars...

I mean, I’m pleased for Windshield Wiper? I’m not the biggest Alberto Mielgo fan (I thought that his short for Love, Death and Robots was an orientalist trainwreck) but he definitely gave a classy speech:

“Animation is an art that includes every single art that you can imagine. Animation for adults is a fact. It’s happening. Let’s call it cinema. I’m very honored because this is just the beginning of what we can do with animation.”

Pity that the rest of the evening was a Disney conglomeration advertising event though

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Brilliant list here of Chinese animation for those wanting to find out more about animation beyond the USA/ Europe/ Japan!

Chinese animation recommendations

Hello! Follower and fellow heritage Mandarin-speaker here. 

This is re: the anon who asked about animation recs. Most of mine might be a bit outdated/juvenile because they’re mostly things I watched growing up, but there’s a few newer things in there too. The original answer already covers a lot of the classics (shoutout to my mans Pleasant Goat), so I’ll try to suggest ones that haven’t already been mentioned! Please also note that these will all be in Mandarin except for one of the movies.

Also, apologies in advance for the text dump. This grew from a bullet-pointed list into a monstrosity as I basically relived my childhood.

First, 2 Youtube links I’d like to recommend w/ regards to this topic:

Chinese Animation: In Search of a Style | Video Essay by Accented Cinema

This video mainly focuses on the history of animation in China, but it also is a great source of recommendations given how many titles he covers from the past to the present day.

DongHua Reviews

This is a channel that, as the name suggests, reviews donghua (or Chinese animation). He does a lot of recommendation videos, so you’ll definitely be able to find a lot of good content there. 

Now, onto my own favorites:

Movies:

The Legend of Hei (2019)

Trailer

A heartwarming story about a little cat spirit in a modern fantasy world. Hands down some of the best animation on this list, it’s absolutely gorgeous to look at and the character designs are really cute too! It’s also the prequel to a cartoon series, The Legend of Luoxiahei (Youtube link). 

New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021) (note: unrelated to the 2019 movie)

Trailer

Chinese mythology meets steampunk meets social commentary. This is a highly unique take on a classic story, and the animation looks awesome. Definitely recommend if you don’t mind thirsting after animated characters ;) I believe a sequel is also in the works (?)

Any film/show by Shanghai Animation Film Studio

This is one of China’s oldest and most famous animation studios. They produced the bulk of mainland China’s classic animated works including Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, which was recced in the original answer. The video I linked from Accented Cinema does a great deep dive on their works, which are highly distinctive and incorporate many elements of traditional Chinese art. My personal favorites are Lotus Lantern (film) and Calabash Brothers (show).

No.7 Cherry Lane (2019)

Trailer

The only work in Cantonese on this list. Full disclaimer: I’ve never actually watched this one, but it’s been on my watchlist for awhile now. The animation looks GORGEOUS. From its Wikipedia page: 

“During the rise of the materialistic comfort of life in the 1960s, there emerges an undercurrent of danger in Hong Kong.

No.7 Cherry Lane tells the tale of Ziming, a Hong Kong University undergraduate, entangled between his amorous feelings for a self-exiled mother Mrs Yu from Taiwan in the White Terror period, and her beautiful daughter Meiling. He takes them to different movies and through a series of magical moments on the big screen, forbidden passions are revealed. And the era coincides with Hong Kong’s turbulent times of 1967.”

Shows (my favorite part because most of these were a huge part of my childhood):

Journey West (1998)

Unsubbed ver on Youtube

I grew up watching this series. I was obsessed with this series. I legitimately used every stick-shaped object in our house to mimic the weapon of the main character, Sun Wukong. To this day, the opening and closing OSTs are bops. Alright I’m done.

This series, as you might guess, is an adaption of the famous novel Journey West. Tl;dr: a monk and his 3 disciples make a pilgrimage and fight a lot of demons along the way, with the chief disciple Sun Wukong/the Monkey King as the main character. This story has been adapted and retold countless times over literal centuries, to give you some idea of its cultural impact. This particular version is very much aimed at children, but it still holds a special place in my heart. 

The Legend of Nezha (2003)

Unsubbed ver on Youtube

Another gem from my childhood. This is another take on the classic Nezha legend (previously seen in my rec for the film Nezha Reborn), which tells the story of a young boy who fights the gods and also his dad. Again, the opening and closing OSTs are iconic, and the animation for this show has definitely held up to the test of time. If you ask anyone who grew up around this time in China, there’s a good chance they’ve watched this show and stan its version of Nezha and/or its original character, the Dragon princess.

A Pigsy Falls from the Sky (2004)

Unsubbed ver on Youtube

Unfortunately, I can’t find much English information on this show, but it’s yet another relic of my days as a young whippersnapper. It essentially serves as a prequel to Journey West (unrelated to the other series I recommended) with original stories about what Pigsy, another disciple of monk Tang, was up to prior to joining the pilgrimage. It has a really playful tone, and I remember it being a lot of fun to watch.

Wanderings of Sanmao (2005)

Eng subbed ep 1 on Youtube

This is based on a famous comic series that has been around since the 1930s. Perhaps due to its notably more serious content, it’s lesser-known outside of China, but I still think it’s worth a watch. It tells the story of Sanmao, a boy who grows up in abject poverty, and takes place in 1930s Shanghai against the backdrop of the second Sino-Japanese war. The tone of this show is much darker than the other recs on this list, as it explores themes such as colonization, poverty, and war, all through the eyes of a young boy. (If I recall, the cartoon lightens this a bit.) I’m not sure how much of the cartoon is actually subbed, though.

I would also recommend the original comic, which is for the most part wordless and therefore is fairly accessible even to non-Chinese speakers. 

Heaven Official’s Blessing (2020)

trailer

A name off my to-watch list, as several friends have recommended this to me. This is based on a novel series by the same author (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu) who wrote Mo Dao Zu Shi, which The Untamed is based on. From what I’ve seen, the animation features a lot of beautiful people (hehe) and the show is super popular. If you’re into BL, this is definitely a must-watch.

If you’ve made it this far, congrats — this pretty much wraps up my recommendation list for donghua (Chinese animated works). The industry as a whole has had a pretty unique development trajectory compared to its counterparts in other countries, and I believe you’ll see that reflected in the works from different eras. Chinese animation has grown a LOT in recent years especially, with domestic studios producing works of higher and higher quality; here’s to hoping they produce even more! In any case, apologies again for the wall of text, and hope this helps OP!

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Blender Donut Tutorial

Well, here I am -- attempting the famous blender donut tutorial for the first time! Blender is an amazing free and open source 3D animation tool, and its new Grease Pencil tool is a game-changer for 2D frame by frame animation as well. I decided that now was the time to finally start learning this software, and so I decided to start with the famous donut tutorial by Blender Guru (see part 1 below):

I’m on part 2, and so far it’s delivering a fun tutorial experience, starting as promised from the very basics of using the 3D animation software, e.g. how to navigate the space. I didn’t have time to get as far as I wanted in the process but I’m still happy with the experience of this tutorial so far, I will share progress updates as reblogs on this post!

If you want the list of Blender hotkeys as a pdf, Blender Guru has made it available to download here!

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Hello, world!

I’m going to try and start posting on here, sharing my work and especially my journey trying to teach myself animation and creative coding and build my portfolio. Wish me luck!