My Animation Era

Paper-cut animation originated from the ancient art of paper-cutting.

The paper-cutting art that everyone is most exposed to is probably the "window grille" decoration that people stick to windows.

The person who first brought the craft of paper-cutting into the field of animation production is no longer known. The only history that can be traced back is that paper-cut animation initially had an artistic expression style that drew on traditional "shadow puppetry".

"Zhu Bajie Eats Watermelon" is the first paper-cut animation that Gu Miao has ever seen. I can't tell the exact year, but it is a very old cartoon anyway.

"Calabash Brothers" is the first or only paper-cut animation that left a deep impression on many people. It is also praised by countless people as one of the highest achievements of paper-cut animation.

You can even remove "one".

After all, the number of paper-cut animations is already very rare, and "Calabash Brothers" has reached a height that other works can hardly reach in terms of popularity and influence.

How famous exactly is it?

There is no actual data, but it can be summarized in one sentence, that is, this animation has influenced at least three generations of Chinese people in the original world!

This evaluation is not exaggerated at all.

"Calabash Brothers" is like "Black Cat Sheriff" to the Chinese animation industry. They are both great works that have extremely huge social influence and have been watched by several generations and deeply inspired.

It is no longer appropriate to compare animations like this with other animations.

It may be hard to tell for previous generations, but starting from the generation born in the 1980s, who dares to say that they have never watched the Calabash animation and comic strips?

almost none!

It may not exist that 100% of people have watched it, but 90% of people have watched it when they were children, which is already an exaggeration.

To be bolder, even people who have never seen it have heard of the animated work "Calabash Brothers"/"Calabash Brothers".

Who dares to compare with this popularity?

Gu Miao never thought that one day she would be able to witness the birth of a work like "Calabash Brothers" with her own eyes, and even have a false title of producer on the title of this work.

So cool!

However, Gu Miao was excited and regained her senses. She also understood that Wanbao's version of "Calabash Brothers" was destined not to be as brilliant as the original version.

Mainly a matter of the times...

In that era when black and white televisions were extremely rare, animated works were extremely rare. Only under such a background could "Calabash Brothers" achieve extremely brilliant achievements.

But it's different now.

Not to mention black and white TVs, even color TVs are antiques that have been out of use for who knows how many years.

There are many excellent animations nowadays, and children have a variety of entertainment methods. Even if "Calabash Brothers" maintains the standard of the original version, it is impossible to replicate the achievements of the original version.

Moreover, according to Gu Miao's observation, Wanbao's version of "Calabash Brothers" is also very different from the original version.

Mainly the way it’s made.

The times are advancing so fast that even the ancient paper-cut animation has to follow the pace of the times and innovate and iterate the production process.

It cannot be said that one generation is better than the other. At least with the support of new technologies, the painting style of the Wanbao version of "Calabash Brothers" does not look so retro, so it does not have the flavor of the original version.

But the plot is still the same.

It’s still the gourd mountain, the same two scorpion spirits and snake spirits, the same old grandfather and pangolin. They planted gourd seeds, grew gourd vines, and produced seven colorful gourds. They turned into seven gourd brothers, each with their own unique characteristics. Ability to suppress scorpion spirits and snake spirits.

What do you think of this plot...

It was hard for Gu Miao to comment, because any time traveler would probably be able to recite it all by heart.

This is a plot that is engraved in DNA. If I still remember it wrong, then Gu Miao would have no shame in saying that she is a Chinese.

Forget about the plot.

Even in the animation, Gu Miao clearly remembers the abilities of the seven Calabash Babies.

The eldest child has infinite powers but is brave and foolhardy. The second child has clairvoyance and ears, but unfortunately he was killed by a goblin.

The three babies have bronze heads and iron arms, the fourth and fifth babies spit out water and fire, the sixth baby is invisible and comes and goes without a trace, and the seventh baby holds a treasure gourd that can absorb all things...

The abilities of these seven gourd babies were the objects of Gu Miao's great admiration when she was a child. Especially Qi Wa's precious gourd, he had never been more envious of it when he was a child.

However, my thoughts as a child are different from those when I grow up.

The treasure gourd that she envied when she was a child, now Gu Miao thinks it is just like that. Liuwa's invisibility technique is still practical. If he has this, wouldn't he be invincible?

"anyway……"

Speaking of the plot, Gu Miao seemed to have thought of something and couldn't help but ask Liang Xiaodong: "Is the ending a tragedy?"

"tragedy?"

Liang Xiaodong was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and denied: "How could it be a tragedy? The theme of the animation is that evil does not suppress good. The scorpion spirit and the snake spirit will definitely be suppressed in the end."

"I know they will be suppressed, but what about the Calabash brothers? What happened to them in the end?"

Of course Gu Miao knew that evil should not prevail against good, but he still had a grudge against the ending of the original Calabash Brothers and believed that punishing evil should not be at the expense of the Calabash Brothers' disappearance.

It's just a snake spirit and a scorpion spirit. As for taking the lives of the seven gourd brothers and turning them into colorful stones to suppress them?

Why can't it be done another way?

Let the seven brothers realize the true meaning of unity, defeat the scorpion spirit and the snake spirit, and stay with the grandfather from now on?

"You mean, you want to retain the existence of the Calabash Brothers? So that they can continue to star in sequels?" Liang Xiaodong tried.

"right!"

Gu Miao nodded.

"Calabash Brothers" is a great animation, he definitely admits this, and the ending is also pretty good.

But he just felt unhappy. He just felt that the Scorpion Spirit and the Snake Spirit were not worth letting the Calabash Brothers disappear, and more than a dozen episodes of animation were not enough.

It can definitely be made longer!

The story of "Calabash Brothers" should not stop at Calabash Mountain. It is a pity that these seven calabash boys with different abilities disappeared after only appearing in more than a dozen episodes.

The seven brothers turned into colorful stones on the seven-color lotus to suppress the scorpion spirit and snake spirit. This ending made him silent even as a child.

The legend of the Calabash Brothers begins at Calabash Mountain and ends at Calabash Mountain. The animation seems to be very long, but in fact it is only about a dozen episodes.

How can this series be enough to watch?

In Gu Miao's eyes, it would be a pity for an animation like "Calabash Brothers" to end after only a dozen episodes.

Instead of talking about a few hundred episodes of a super long novel, instead of making fifty or sixty episodes, wouldn't it be nice to tell a few more stories about the Calabash brothers slaying demons?

Moreover, the ending of the original version makes it difficult for a sequel to follow. After all, the gourd brothers have turned into colorful stones to suppress the fairies, so how can they walk around the world?

"It's too short."

Gu Miao felt that the ending needed to be changed to allow the Calabash brothers to continue walking in the world and to leave enough space for the sequel.

The scorpion spirit and the snake spirit are just elite monsters at most. How can they trap the gourd brothers for a lifetime?

Calabash Baby is not dead, but the ending is no different from death. This is something I found very sad when I was a child...