The Mouse and the Frog

Dirs: Wan Laiming, Wan Guchan, Wan Chaochen
Prod Co.: Mingxing
1934 / B&W / DCP / Silent / Chinese Intertitles / 10min

One of the Wan Brothers' earliest productions starts with live-action, showing a teacher talking to her students after they play a prank on two classmates by tying their legs together with a shoelace. The animated section of the film starts when the teacher tells them a tale, about a mouse who invites his friend the frog to the carnival. After a day of fun, the frog wants to return the favor by inviting the mouse into his home in the pond, even though the mouse can’t swim. Using a rope to tie the two of them together for safety, the frog plays happily in the water while the mouse drowns and loses his consciousness. Seeing the mouse floating on the water, a hawk arrives and picks the mouse away, taking the frog with him.

Screening Courtesy of the China Film Archive

Kite

Painting: Liang Jin
Prod Co.: North China Amusement Company
1943 / B&W / DCP / No Dialogue / 8min

A dragon has wreaked havoc on the land, killing plants and animals alike. However, the people tackle the crisis head-on and do their best to survive the freezing winter. Seeing humankind’s perseverance, the young fairies descent from the heaven and disguise themselves as children. Using a simple kite, the fairies defeat the dragon and breathe life back into the land once more. Made during the second Sino-Japanese War, the short film employs traditional Chinese mythological symbols to inspire courage for the embattled Chinese people.

Screening Courtesy of the China Film Archive

The Dream to Be An Emperor

Design: You Hong
Cinematography: Chi Yong
Prod Co.: Northeast Film Studio
1947 / B&W / DCP / Mandarin / 14min

In 1938, the Communist Party formed the “Eighth Route Army Political Department Film Troupe.” After the war ended, the troupe took over the Manchukuo Film Association and formed the Northeast Film Studio. Its leader Yuan Muzhi drafted a “seven-film plan” that includes puppetry films and animated films. Directed by leftwing artist Chen Bo’er, The Dream to be an Emperor is a four-part puppetry film with a clear political stance, mocking Chiang Kai-shek for selling out to western imperialism.

Screening Courtesy of the China Film Archive

The Princess Iron-Fan

Scr: Wang Qianbai
Key Artists: Wan Laiming, Wan Guchan
Prod: Zhang Shankun
Prod Co.: China United Film Company
1941 / B&W / Mandarin / D Beta / French Subtitles / 72min

The first feature-length animated film produced in Asia and the fourth feature-length animated film ever made, The Princess Iron-Fan is based on a chapter from the epic Journey to the West saga. Seeing the potential of animated films from their success in Hollywood, producer Zhang Shankun established a new animation division and hired Wan Guchan as supervisor. All 160,000-200,000 pictures that make up the film - largely influenced by traditional Chinese paintings and Chinese opera aesthetics - are hand-drawn, taking over a year to complete. The film even reportedly inspired the legendary Osamu Tezuka to give up his studies and become a comic book artist. Special thanks to CDCC Paris (Centre de documentation sur le cinéma chinois) and Miss Marie-Claire Quiquemelle for lending a restored French print of the film to the Hong Kong Film Archive for this screening.