| Myth has always been an undying theme in Chinese animation films.From the birth of Chinese animation to the brilliance of the "Chinese School",to the current "revival of Chinese animation",myth has always played an indispensable role.On the one hand,myth and legend,as an important part of Chinese traditional culture,can help animation to highlight the distinctive national style;On the other hand,the rich imagination of myths and legends is exactly what animation,an art form,needs most.Audiences are happy to feel the romance and fantasy of traditional myths through animated films.In recent years,after Monkey King:Hero Is Back(2015)marked the first shot of a mythic comeback,White Snake(2019),Nezha:Birth of the Demon Child(2019),Legend of Deification(2020)and New Gods:Nezha Reborn(2021)have made the Chinese animation film market set off a hot mythic wave.Good market feedback has made animation creators understand that the revival of Chinese animation cannot be achieved without the help of traditional myths.Therefore,the modern reconstruction of traditional myths has become a key issue in the creation of animated films,and how animation creators should reasonably rewrite and restate traditional myths has also become a subject of the era that is at the same frequency as the "Renaissance of Chinese animation".So,why do traditional myths need to be reconstructed,and how do Chinese mythological animated films reconstruct traditional myths in different ways in recent years?In order to solve this problem,in the first chapter,this paper analyzes the reconstruction of traditional myths in the narrative dimension of the current mythical animated films,mainly focusing on the "growth narrative" adopted in Monkey King:Hero Is Back(2015)and Nezha:Birth of the Demon Child(2019),the exploration of grand narrative themes in Little Door Gods(2016)and Legend of Deification(2020),and the"adolescent" narrative presented in the animated films in the "New Light Chaser Animation" stage.In the second chapter,this paper focuses on the image reconstruction of mythical heroes and the different ways in the process of reconstruction.Firstly,this chapter discusses the Monkey King:Hero Is Back(2015),the most famous hero in Chinese mythological animated films,and deeply analyzes the development and growth of the Monkey King’s screen body and the inquiry of his subjectivity by national discourse.Secondly,this chapter investigates the reconstruction process of hero image from the perspective of group image,individual and gender;Finally,this chapter analyzes the Chinese-style "superheroes" shown in the mythical animated films.In the third chapter,this paper discusses the reconstruction of mythical IP system with the ColorRoom Pictures and the Light Chaser Animation as research objects.Firstly,this chapter takes the revival wave of mythical animated films in recent years as the breakthrough point,and investigates the background behind the reconstruction of mythical IP system;Secondly,this chapter analyzes the industrial structure and the overall planning of the mythical IP system in order to create the "Chinese Myth Universe",and compares it with the "Marvel Universe";Finally,this chapter analyzes the "postmodern" characteristics of the Light Chaser Animation in the process of reconstructing the mythical IP system from three dimensions:world outlook,mythological space and technocratic aesthetics.Myth theme means origin,root and soul for Chinese animated films.which has established an irreplaceable position of myth in the animation field of China since the birth of national animation,and the return of myth theme today and the revival of Chinese animated films are even more inevitable under countless coincidence.The development of Chinese animation should go its own way.The creative path and animation style of Disney and Pixar and other western animations are not suitable for the realistic context of China.The reconstruction of traditional myths is the best scheme for the development of Chinese animation films.The author thinks that the reconstruction of myth under the influence of"Neo-mythologism" presents a very diverse path:First,the traditional myth in China has a unique narrative way,and the animated film,as a modern visual medium,also has an internal narrative language,so the animated film of myth needs to find a key node between the two so that it can be perfectly integrated.For example,Monkey King:Hero Is Back(2015)and Nezha:Birth of the Demon Child(2019)successfully embedded traditional myths into the basic framework of "growth narrative",thus making the myth of Journey to the West and the myth of Naohai reconstructed into a brand-new narrative with the growth of the protagonist as the core;Secondly,as the core of myths and legends,mythical heroes are also crucial to the reconstruction of their images.Nowadays,the reconstruction of mythical heroes on the screen is becoming more and more intense:Monkey King:Hero Is Back(2015)reconstructs the Monkey King not only in the development and growth of his body,but also in the reconstruction of the spiritual identity of national myths;From a single perspective to a group perspective,from collectivism to individual identity,from male dominance to the rise of female roles,and then to the birth of Chinese superheroes,the picture of Chinese mythical hero image is more abundant;Thirdly,Chinese traditional mythology has a complex and huge pedigree,and it is difficult for a single and scattered animated film of mythology to truly show all the charm of Chinese mythology.Therefore,we must find a feasible way to show the whole picture of Chinese myth.Fortunately,with the formation of the idea of "Chinese Myth Universe" by the ColorRoom Pictures,and the release of the series of "New Legend" and "New Gods",the construction of the mythical IP system is gradually changing from ideal to reality. |
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