Golden Era of Chinese Animation (1950s-1980s)

In the period between the 1950s and the 1980s, China entered a golden era of animation. Only in the decade between 1949 and 1959, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio produced nearly 100 films. Roughly estimated, since China's animation made its debut on the world movie circle, it has won 57 international awards and more than 200 local prizes. Its unique artistic style is known as the "Chinese School" worldwide.

Here are some representative works for this period.

1. Pigsy Eats Watermelon (1958)

Pigsy Eats Watermelon (Chinese:猪八戒吃西瓜) is a chinese animation produced at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio by Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan. The main character was Zhu Bajie, the Chinese folklore character from the literature Journey to the West. The character was used, because pigs were often associated with greed in the culture. This animation film was one of the first to utilize the new paper-cut technique.