摘 要

动画电影作为文化传播的重要媒介，承载着艺术性、娱乐性和功能性，在跨文化传播中起到了重要的作用。中华文明悠久的历史积淀以及独特的民族文化资源，为动画制作者提供了丰富的创作空间。将中华文明融入动画电影，有利于提升国产动画电影在国际上的竞争力，推动中国故事走出国门，让世界更好地了解中国。本文以动画电影中的中华文明为出发点，选取《花木兰》《功夫熊猫》《大圣归来》以及《哪吒之魔童降世》四部电影，就国内和国外动画电影对中华文明体现的侧重点异同进行分析；同时分析国产动画电影发展的新趋势以及其对中华文明传承的新趋势。在此基础上，归纳总结出国产动画电影的跨语境传播需要将民族化和国际化将结合，创造有民族特色的国际化符号，并且加强与不同文明的交流互鉴。

关键词：中华文明；国产动画电影；跨文化；民族文化

Abstract

As an important medium for cultural communication, animated films are artistic, entertaining, and functional, playing an important role in cross-cultural communication. The long history of Chinese civilization and the unique ethnic cultural resources provide abundant creative space for animators. The integration of Chinese civilization into animated films is conducive to enhancing the competitiveness of domestic animated films in the international arena, promoting Chinese stories to abroad and enabling the world to better understand Chinese civilization. This thesis focuses on Chinese civilization in animated films, with a selection of four films, Hua Mulan, Kung Fu Panda, Monkey King: Hero Is Back, and Ne Zha, as the research object, and analyzes the similarities and differences in the emphasis of domestic and foreign animation films on Chinese civilization. Nevertheless, this thesis also analyzes new trends of the development of domestic animated films and that of Chinese civilization embodied in animated films. On this basis, it is concluded that the cross-cultural dissemination of domestic animated films needs to combine nationalization and internationalization, create international icons with national characters and culture identity, and strengthen exchanges with different civilizations.

Key Words: Oriental Civilization; Domestic animated films; Cross-cultural; National culture

Contents

1 Introduction and Literature Review 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Research Significance 2

1.3 Research Status 3

1.4 Research Methods 4

2 Definition of Terms and Concepts 5

2.1 Chinese Animated Films 5

2.2 Civilization 6

2.3 Cross-cultural Context 7

3 Application and Influence of Chinese Civilization on Animated Films 8

3.1 Analysis of Typical Cases 8

3.2 Analysis of the Influence on the Embodiment of Chinese Civilization 10

4 The Trend of the Interpretation of Chinese Civilization in Chinese Animated Films 12

4.1 Trend of the Chinese Animation Industry 12

4.2 Trend of Chinese Civilization Embodied in Animated Films 15

5 Conclusion and Discussion 17

5.1 Combining Nationalization and Internationalization 17

5.2 Creating International Icons with National Characters and Culture Identity 17

5.3 Promoting Civilizations Exchanges 18

References 20

Acknowledgements 21

A Cross-cultural Approach to the New Interpretation of Cultural Knowledge in Contemporary Chinese Animated Films Featuring Oriental Civilization

1 Introduction and Literature Review

1.1 Research Background

With the acceleration of globalization, global communication across time and space has been moving from the economic, scientific, and technological fields to the fields of politics and culture. In the new era, Chinese civilization has spread to all parts of the world through various channels and media. As a cultural media with strong momentum, film is always transmitting cultural factors, it can bring culture to the audience's mind silently, let us appreciate the mysterious and ancient Indian scenery, wild and unruly western cowboy, superb Chinese Kong Fu imperceptibly. The communication function of film is reflected that it provides the audience with an unprecedented cultural feast, and different cultures are instilled into their minds, enabling them to understand the exotic customs. As an important branch of film art, animated film has vivid artistic expression and endless imagination space, and is popular with the public for its unique advantages. In recent years, China's animation film industry is gradually growing, making efforts to go global, attracting more and more attention.

While movies can play a role in cultural exchanges, it should be noted that there are certain distinctions between different cultures. In the process of communication, audiences from different cultural backgrounds will have different understandings of culture. We can often see the epitome of Oriental culture in the animation films of overseas countries. On the one hand, it reflects that the Chinese civilization has gone abroad and is recognized and accepted by more and more people. On the other hand, when other countries use these cultural elements, they often misinterpret Chinese civilization due to cultural differences and cultural incomprehension. For example, in early overseas animation works, Oriental civilization is always very weird and obscure.

In recent years, there have been many excellent animated films rooted in Chinese civilization, such as Monkey King: Hero Is Back, White Snake: Origin and Na Zha, these films have made a breakthrough and innovation in traditional Chinese elements, combined with the trend of the times, no longer confined to traditional forms of expression, have achieved good results in word of mouth and box office, and gradually move to the global market. In the face of different cultural contexts, cultural workers should grasp the application of Chinese civilization in animation films, innovate the forms of expression of Chinese civilization, and make new interpretations, which will be conducive to the dissemination of Chinese civilization to the international community.

1.2 Research Significance

In the 20^th century, Chinese animation, with Chinese civilization at its core, was brilliant for a time, forming a unique "Chinese school". The art style of “Chinese school” comes from the traditional Chinese paintings, murals, operas, etc., which has a unique aesthetic style of the Chinese nation and creates a series of influential animation works. Proud General, Havoc in Heaven, Ne Zha Conquers The Dragon King, The Nine-color Deer, and Feelings of Mountains and Waters are all well-known works of this period, these Chinese animated films also enjoy great fame on the international stage. The success of "Chinese school" animated film lies in the inheritance and development of the national art, and the maintenance of the unique inspiration and artistic beauty of Chinese art. At present, when domestic animation is facing development dilemmas, cultural workers should carry forward the charm of Chinese animated films and rebuild our national artistic style.

In recent years, based on traditional Chinese culture, domestic animation films have shown a booming trend. Talking about the embodiment of China in foreign animation, it is believed that many people will immediately flash through the mind of these familiar elements: two round buns, an embroidered cheongsam, a set of moves known as Chinese martial arts. But recent animated films, combined with the trend of the times and the adaptation of traditional stories, have broken the traditional impression. These animations have strong originality, distinctive national characteristics and strong artistic appeal, such as the Monkey King: Hero is Back, White Snake, and Ne Zha, we can see that films in different periods have different restatements under the framework of common traditional culture, which is the product of China's continuous participation, integration in the process of globalization. The figurative and touchable characters make the elusive Chinese culture better understood by the world, breaking the traditional stereotypes about China. This development direction has important reference significance and application value for improving China's cultural confidence and spreading Chinese culture to the world.

By comparing the different interpretations of Chinese civilization in animation works of different periods, this thesis sums up how to better interpret Chinese civilization from the perspective of cultural differences between the East and the West, which will be of great help to the creation of cultural figures with Chinese characteristics, the improvement of a more vivid and diverse image of China, and the long-term development of China's animation industry. It will help promote the overseas spread of Chinese civilization and enhance the cultural identity of Chinese civilization in the international community.

1.3 Research Status

The Animated Film is a comprehensive art, it is a collection of paintings, cartoons, film, digital media, photography, music, literature, and many other art categories as a whole of the form of artistic expression, covering a wide range. China's animation industry started early and had a brilliant moment in the last century, creating many classic animated films, such as The Princess of Iron Fan, Havoc in Heaven, Feelings of Mountains and Waters, which won numerous awards at home and abroad. This boom made many scholars turn their attention to the field of animated films. However, compared with the creative practice, the systematic theory of animated films is less researched. It was not until the 1960s that the systematic theory system appeared. Most scholars have focused on the animation industry, economic effects, and the production of animation, such as the history of animated films, animated plots, use of color, movement patterns, character design, and character styling. In China, the study of animation from the cross-cultural perspective is relatively few, and the study of the influence of Chinese civilization on animation films is even less. Therefore, with the continuous development and improvement of domestic animated films, research in this area should no longer be limited to one aspect. As an important carrier of cross-cultural communication, films play an important role in spreading values and enhancing cultural identity. Various cultural elements embodied by films will also influence different groups with the spread of films, which is of great significance for us to introduce Chinese civilization to the world. Many foreign animated films continue to flood into China, while few Chinese animated films make it to the international market. This is partly due to the lack of animation distribution and partly due to the lack of foreign understanding of Chinese animated films, so it is imperative to study domestic animation in a cross-cultural context, which will be conducive to promoting the pace of domestic animation going out and provide guidance for international dissemination.

1.4 Research Methods

This thesis uses the methods of literature research, case analysis, and contrast analysis. According to the research direction, consult relevant literature, and clarify the concepts and definitions in the research direction, such as what is Chinese civilization, and the history of animated film, etc., as well as understand the current research results and situation in the field of animated films to make further arguments on an objective basis. Secondly, case analysis. The research object is mainly focused on several representative classic animated films. This research selects two animation films adapted from traditional Chinese mythology, as well as two overseas animation films Kung Fu Panda and Hua Mulan as the research object. Based on the interpretation of Chinese civilization in these films, this thesis analyzes the application and embodiment of Chinese civilization in contemporary animation films in a cross-cultural approach, expounds the similarities and differences of Chinese civilization from both domestic and foreign perspectives, conducting an in-depth discussion. Thirdly, by summarizing the analysis of individual cases, this thesis tries to find out the current situation of the application of Chinese civilization in animated film, and discusses the feasibility of its application in different contexts, as well as how to make domestic animated films internationalization.

2 Definition of Terms and Concepts

2.1 Chinese Animated Films

The independent creation of Chinese Animated Films began to develop as early as the early 1920s. The Wan Brothers' animated short film Shu Zhendong Chinese Typewriter and the first animated feature film in Asia, The Princess of Iron Fan, made China the second-largest production country of animated films after the United States at that time. During this period, several high-quality films appeared, which even influenced contemporary Japanese manga masters such as Hayao Miyazaki and Osamu Tezuka. In 1955, the Shanghai Film Studio produced China's first color animated film, Why the Crow is Black, which was mistaken for a Soviet animation at the Venice competition. Therefore, the slogan of "Exploring the Wind of National Style" was put forward, Proud General and Magic Brush were created under the guidance of this purpose. Their distinctive "Chinese school" style had also matured, combining traditional Chinese culture with animated films to create some award-winning animated films, such as Havoc in Heaven, which won numerous awards at home and abroad. However, the development of animated films in China also experienced difficulties and confusion. The cultural revolution, which began in 1966, cut off the good momentum of the development of Chinese animation. After the end of the cultural revolution, the animation industry began to recover gradually in the 1980s, creating classic works such as Ne Zha Conquers The Dragon King, The Legend of Sealed Book, and The Nine-color Deer.

With the coming of the 21st century, foreign animation film production gradually entered the mature industrialization era, and a large number of foreign animated films have poured into China, which has had quite an impact on the development of domestic animated films. China has once again attached importance to the animation industry, began to vigorously support the animation industry, but compared with foreign industries, domestic animation industry is still in the initial stage. Due to the large investment and long cycle, few people are willing to spend time and energy to make animated films, and the domestic animated film market was once deserted. However, through the unremitting efforts of animators, the rise of cinema and the maturation of production technology, many outstanding animated films with Chinese characteristics have emerged in recent years, such as Monkey King: Hero Is Back, Big Fish amp; Begonia, and Ne Zha.

Through the development course of domestic animation films, it is not difficult to see that the animation style with unique national characteristics has become the key to the success of Chinese animated films. Therefore, in the early stage of the re-development of domestic animation film industry, animators should root in the excellent traditional Chinese culture, combine the traditional Chinese culture with the development of the times, and create more animated films with Chinese characteristics.

2.2 Civilization

What is civilization? When talking about civilization, we always feel that it is an abstract concept, giving a sense of untouchability. The explanation of civilization in the Oxford English Dictionary: the stage of human social and cultural development and organization that is considered most advanced. Chinese civilization is the brilliant fruit of the exchanges, integration, and sublimation of the three regional civilizations: the Yellow River civilization, the Yangtze River civilization, and the Northern Steppe civilization. After five thousand years of accumulation and precipitation, Chinese civilization has a profound cultural background, which is not as straightforward as western civilization, but more introverted in the way it is expressed, which requires us to appreciate the deep meaning contained in it.