中国动画正处于十字路口

China is now the world's biggest producer of animated work, surpassing both the United States and Japan. More amazingly, it has achieved this feat in only 7 years. Pan Deng investigates if the numbers reflect the true status of quality and the industry's bumpy road towards originality.
中国现在超过了美国和日本，成为世界上最大的动画作品制片国。更让人惊奇的是，中国只用7年就取得了这项伟业。Pan Deng将去调查数量是否反映质量的真实地位以及该行业朝创造性发展的艰难道路。

Here enters China's latest animation hero.
现在进入中国最新的动画片男主角。

Set in a fantasy world, the film "Kuiba" tells the story of how a little boy saves his world from the evil hand of a monster.
以玄幻世界为背景，电影《魁拔》讲述的是一个小男孩如何从一个怪物的魔掌中救回世界。

The film borrows Japan's "hot-blooded" style, trying to refresh audience's general views on Chinese animation.
该部电影借用了日本的“热血少年”风格，尝试刷新观众对中国卡通片的总体看法。

"Kuiba" has been critically acclaimed, but it failed commercially. After a one-week appearance in cinemas, it only took in one tenth of its cost. The 35-million yuan production can now only balance its sheet by selling its copyright overseas.
《魁拔》颇受好评，但是在商业上却是失败的。在电影院上映一周后，它只收回成本的十分之一。这部3500万元的作品现在只能通过售卖其海外版权来平衡收支。

Wu Hanqing, CEO of Vasoon Animation, said, "We knew there was demand for this kind of film, but we didn't know marketing and distribution, which remains our biggest challenge. There's a lot to learn. But, after this commercial failure, we now understand the market better. A stronger and more effective marketing campaign is on the table for our upcoming release. We need brand identity."
青青树动漫公司CEO武寒青称：“我们知道这类电影有需求，但是我们不懂营销和经销，这仍然是我们最大的挑战。有很多要学的。但是，在这个商业上的失败之后，现在我们更了解市场。一个为我们即将发行的影片准备的更强大、更有效的营销活动正被提到桌面上。我们需要品牌认同。”

The company has a grand vision for the "Kuiba" series. Four sequels are planned and one of them is in post production.
该公司对《魁拔》系类影片有一个宏伟愿景。按计划将有四集，其中一集正在进行后期制作。

Kuiba's ordeal is symbolic of the Chinese animation industry's bumpy road towards originality.
魁拔的磨难是中国动画产业往创造性发展的艰难道路的象征。

Yu Peixia has witnessed and been a part of China's animation's boom. He ran China's only national TV channel for kids for more than a decade. He's now leading the China Animation Association, the country's only industrial organization to study and promote original productions.
余培侠见证了中国动画发展，也成为其中的一部分。他在中国唯一的国家级少儿电视频道从事工作有10多年了。他现在是中国动画学会会长，该学会是国家唯一一个研究和推广原创作品的行业组织。

Yu said, "From those numbers, we could say that China is now a major animation producer in the world. But we need to see clearly that the industry and audience is not satisfied with the status quo. We need to focus on quality. So far, the industry hasn't created its own masterpieces and a world-recognized brand name. I strongly believe that in animation, if a production is not a masterpiece, then it's a waste."
余培侠表示：“从这些数字来看，我们可以说中国现在是世界上一个主要的动画制片国。但是我们必须清楚地看到，动画行业和观众并不满足于现状。我们必须专注于质量。目前为止，该行业还没有创作出名作和一个世界认可的品牌名称。我坚信，在动画片中，如果一部作品不是名作，那么它就是垃圾。”

The Chinese government initiated its national strategy of supporting the domestic animation industry in 2004. Since then, development has surged. However, as Mr. Yu sees it, the support focuses too much on post production, rather than creating a favourable environment for ideas and talents to flourish.
中国政府从2004年开始了支持国内动画产业的国家级战略。自那时起，动画产业蓬勃发展。然而，正如余先生看到的，这种支持过多关注后期制作，而不是为想法和人才的发挥创造有利环境。

So we went to one of China's leading animation schools to see how the faculty and students are coping. It looks like they have a bigger concern than how government policies are made.
所以我们前往中国一间一流的动画学校，去看看教职员和学生是如何应对的。他们的担忧似乎比政府如何制定政策大。

Liao Xiangzhong, VP of Communication Univ. of China, said, "I think there's a common and serious problem with many students. They try too hard to make their work Chinese. Therefore, many foreigners don't understand what the work wants to say. That's not right. We pay more attention to animation's universal language. Our students are required to learn elements that are comprehensible to global audiences."
中国传媒大学副校长廖祥忠表示：“我觉得许多学生都有一个共同的、严重的问题。他们太过努力将他们作品中国化。因此，许多外国人不明白他们想表达什么。那是不对的。我们更多关注的是动画片的通用语言。我们的学生被要求学习那些全球观众都能懂的元素。”

The strategy seems to have worked. One of Mr. Liao's students made this short piece, called "Happy Anniversary". It won a major prize at the Tokyo Anime Awards, the world's biggest and most competitive animation gathering. This is also a first for Chinese participants.
这种战略似乎起作用了。廖先生的一名学生制作了这个短片，叫“Happy Anniversary”。它获得世界上最大型、最有竞争力的动画盛会“东京动画奖”的一个大奖。这也是中国参与者的首个大奖。

Back in the classroom, these eager eyes are seeking knowledge and success. But it looks like that it's going take more than just passion to see their dreams fly, especially if China's animation industry sees talent as the key to its future.
回到课堂上，这些渴望的眼睛正在寻求知识和成功。但是要看到他们的梦想成真，要花费的似乎不只是激情，尤其是如果中国的动画产业将人才视为其未来的重点。