1980 My Entertainment Era

Chapter 329 The Future of Shangmei Factory
During this period, Xia Tian also met the only foreign cartoonist he "knew" - Osamu Tezuka!
He is sixty years old, wearing black-framed glasses and a beret, with gentle eyes and seems very kind.

But his cheeks are thin and he doesn't look very healthy.

Xia Tian could tell at a glance that he had serious problems with his spleen and stomach!

After asking the staff, I found out that it was true!
He was diagnosed with stomach cancer in March this year and had three-quarters of his stomach removed.

It is said that he visited the Shanghai Mei factory in 80. His face was very round at that time, but now it is all deflated!

In the summer, I just wanted to shake hands, take a group photo, and keep it as a souvenir.

I didn’t expect that when Osamu Tezuka heard that it was summer, he was actually surprised!
"Are you actually Xia Sang from China? You are even more handsome and younger than you look on TV!"

He also watched the summer show in Japan?!
"And I really like your drawings of 'Black Cat Sheriff' and 'Calabash Brothers'! I like them very much!"

Xia Tian: Wait, I don't remember the comics were licensed to Japan? Are you reading a pirated version?
Of course, Xia Tian would not say such a thing to ruin the atmosphere. Instead, he chatted with the old man about comic creation - he had learned a simple Japanese language when he corresponded with Sister Yun. He was not good at writing, but he had no problem with listening, speaking and reading.

Osamu Tezuka highly appreciated the use of cinematic camera techniques in summer comics.

He also praised that only as a director could he use movie storyboards so skillfully in comics.

When talking about the connection between Osamu Tezuka and Chinese animation, we have to mention the Wan brothers and Asia’s first animated feature film "Princess Iron Fan".

Osamu Tezuka decided to make animation after watching "Princess Iron Fan"!

At that time, it was still nearly three years before the release of Japan's first animated feature film, Momotaro: The God of the Sea.

As mentioned before, in 80, CCTV introduced the cartoon "Astro Boy" and started the translation work.

In October of the same year, Osamu Tezuka visited as a member of the Japan Animation Association.

In Yanjing, Osamu Tezuka watched some of the translated and dubbed episodes of "Astro Boy" and gave them high praise.

Then, he visited Shanghai Mei Factory in Shanghai and had a conversation with Wan Laisheng, the director of Havoc in Heaven...

Osamu Tezuka and Xiatian got along very well and even had lunch together.

He was already old, and had his stomach removed, so he was in poor health and only ate a few bites for lunch - Japanese people don't eat much to begin with.

As a result, Xia Tian was considered to be relatively restrained and still ate lunch for three people.

"I'm sorry to embarrass you." Xia Tian said while wiping his mouth.

Tezuka Osamu, on the other hand, had a look of nostalgia and envy on his face: "In this world, if you want to achieve extraordinary results, you must have an extraordinary physique. I envy Xia Sang very much~"

That's right. Those who have achieved great success in a certain industry not only need to have enough talent, but also have strong energy and a good body!

After the meal, many people in the industry continued to communicate.

In the summer, I heard Osamu Tezuka mention "Astro Boy".

He said: "Astro Boy is one of my most unsuccessful works!"

This is not the first time he has said this, although this is his masterpiece. But he thinks "Astro Boy" is too commercial and too successful.

This made it inevitable that his subsequent creations would be constrained by the market, leading to compromises.

He told Xia Tian: "Most people only regard "Astro Boy" as a novel science fiction drama, but ignore my questioning of the blind worship of technology and reflection on human nature in my work, which makes me extremely entangled when facing "Astro Boy"..."

This is understandable.

Commercial success is good, but many people pursue artistic success.

It must have been hard for him to have his artistic qualities overshadowed by his commercial achievements.

During the exchanges, Xia Tian heard a lot of praise for Chinese animation from foreign practitioners.

Now our animation creations are among the best in the world!
Not only did Osamu Tezuka visit the Shanghai Film Studio twice for exchanges, but in 84, Takahata Isao and Miyazaki Hayao, who had just completed the animated film "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind", also came to China for a visit.

The last stop is Shanghai Mei Factory!

As early as 81, the Japan Animation Association invited the Shanghai Animation Studio to hold a "Chinese Art Film Screening" in Tokyo. That was the first time that the Japanese animation industry and audiences had a comprehensive understanding of Chinese animation.

They admired their Chinese counterparts for trying new methods in every short film. Correspondingly, they were also attracted to Shanghai Animation Studio.

They presented a copy of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind to the Shanghai Animation Film Studio with great respect.

But the visit was not a pleasant experience.

Takahata and Miyazaki discovered that the top management of the Studio SAMI was not very active in exchanging artistic concepts, but instead kept asking questions related to the remuneration system.

Takahata later recalled: "They thought that a uniform wage was unreasonable and that the Japanese piece-rate pay system should be introduced. We were very disappointed... Once piece-rate pay was adopted, we would no longer be able to make films of the 'Chinese School'."

It can only be said that every family has its own troubles. At that time, the Shangmei Factory was already facing a turning point...

……

Our ink-and-wash animation "Landscape Love" won the championship at this animation festival!
The author is Te Wei, who has produced works such as "The Proud General", "The Tadpole Looking for Its Mother" and "Shepherd's Flute".

At this time, Xia Tian was in the crowd and could feel that everyone was extremely excited.

Domestic animators have never felt so close to the world stage.

Many people believe that the domestic animation industry has reached its peak, and Shanghai Animation Studio will always be the leader.

However, dreams are fragile.

Xia Tian probably knew the final outcome of the Shanghai Mei Factory...

The very next year, the economic situation of Shanghai Animation Factory fell into a difficult situation. 37 key business personnel resigned one after another and went south to join film processing companies. The number of people who left was close to three-quarters of the total number of original animation talents in the animation crew.

In the following years, the number of people leaving the company continued to increase.

During the period when the Chinese film industry as a whole was transforming towards a market economy, Shanghai Animation Studio failed to smoothly promote the industrialization process. And then nothing happened.

In fact, as early as 84, when Hayao Miyazaki came to the Shanghai Animation Studio for pilgrimage, the commercial shock waves were already roaring everywhere. The Shanghai Animation Studio was undergoing a difficult transformation, but the profits were meager and the artists' royalties were very low.

Later, an artist said: "I worked for Deer and Cow for a whole year and only earned 800 yuan more than usual. I worked for Pacific Animation, doing simple jobs that didn't require much thought, and I could earn 5000 yuan a month."

As a result, 37 key business personnel from Shanghai Animation Film Studio resigned and moved south next year, and three quarters of the animation team left - the young people who resigned jokingly called it the "Victory Escape"!
In fact, 84 years later, Shangmei Factory also tried "marketization".

It began to undertake a large amount of advertising and external processing business, and plans for co-production with foreign countries were gradually put on the agenda.

And there was an effect - in 84, the profit of Shangmei Factory was 55 yuan, and in 87 it reached 170 million yuan.

After talking to some low-level employees and painters in the summer, I was also very emotional: such a large Shanghai Film Studio has a profit of less than two million a year, which is a bit pitiful...

Those college students I found in Yenching University to help color "Journey to the West" earned several hundred dollars a month!

Overall, people’s minds are changing!
Later, as expected, people no longer pursued artistic expression or artistry, but began to embrace commercialization and the market economy.

Moreover, the unified purchase and sale of animated films in the past began to be cancelled, and original animation almost collapsed.

A large number of professional talents have joined animation processing companies to do outsourced work abroad.

The surging tide of processed films overwhelmed our independent original animation performance system. After more than ten years, the disadvantages of blindly pursuing profits gradually emerged.

If we say that the 1990s still retained some of its own characteristics in terms of subject matter and aesthetics, when the tide of processed films gradually receded in the new century, the booming domestic animation industry gradually faded.

However, when the authorities began to vigorously support the animation industry, a large number of companies took advantage of it to speculate, make money, and cash in. Shoddy cartoons appeared on the screen with impunity, and there was no place for domestic animated films on the big screen.

At that time, even the aesthetic taste began to converge with that of foreign countries. Since Disney in the United States released the animated film "Mulan", a large number of domestic animations claiming to be "Chinese style" consciously or unconsciously used the film as a template in terms of visual aesthetics. Over the past decade, a large number of "low-profile versions" of "Mulan" have been born.

There was also the later "Tang Lion Boy"...

……

The animation festival was about to close. Xia Tian stood at the door of the Shanghai Animation Studio. One step forward would lead him out, and one step back would lead him in.

But what can I do in this tide?

322 probably won't be released. So that's it.

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(End of this chapter)