In the early research of animation history theory, I traced the line of Chinese animation history. During this process. I collected some materials, such as relevant paper in the field of animation, and some related popular science video and documentaries, I also compare with some development processes of animation history in another countries. Through these studies, I roughly understood the whole processes of animation history.
After understanding all of this, I realized that as a part of culture, animation naturally possesses developmental characteristics of culture. It also exhibits features of localization, delocalization, and re-culturation in cultural development.
Regarding cultural localization, Japanese animation and American animation have considerable influence internationally. As these animations are widely disseminated, the cultural values they carry also spread through the media, influencing audiences worldwide. Today we can see the impact of cultural dissemination in various countries and regions. For example, in London, I can still see some animation and toy activities hosted by Japanese companies like Bandai.
Correspondingly, with the economic development, to meet demands of the international market, these localized animation works sometimes also introduce the process of delocalization. For example, by modifying the plot, dialogue, and scene setting to enable groups from different cultural contexts could understand the cultural content well. Take animated films with Chinese elements as an example, Disney’s ‘Mulan’ is a good example. In the films, we can see many plots with Chinese elements, but its core embodies a strong American individual rebellious spirit.
As time progresses, a considerable portion of excellent animation works will undergo the process of re- culturalization. The animators usually engage in secondary creation base on the excellent cultural connotations of the original work, making it batter adapted to the current cultural era’s context. For example, some classic literary works from the past will be re-adapted, such as “One Thousand and One Nights,” Norse mythology, and the traditional Chinese story “Journey to the West.” We can see the different version.
In addition to researching the different process of animation as culture itself, animation, as a part of culture, is also closely related to the developmental history process of a country. Culture and politics, economy are like the intertwined roots of a tree, closely influencing each other, ultimately shaping the whole history of a country.