by Ryan Koh Most people would not consider Taiwan to be a major player in the world of animation. However, Taiwanese animation studios have long been involved in creating beloved titles like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Aladdin, among many others. As it turns out, Taiwanese animation has a richer past (and present and hopefully future) than most people are led to believe. Not only has Taiwan been a prominent force in the international animation scene as subcontractors, but they have also had a handful of domestic hits recognised within film circles which may hopefully garner mainstream international attention in the future.
Wang Film Productions, on the other hand, was responsible for the Western side of things. It was founded in 1978 by James Wang after his return from studying animation in the USA. The studio had relatively modest beginnings, comprising just 50 employees and tasked with subcontracting orders from Hanna-Barbera. However, they gained much experience from their work with Disney and other studios, and by the 1990s had expanded to become an animation juggernaut with over 1000 employees responsible for 70% of the world’s animation. It became the largest animation studio not just in Asia, but the entire world. They worked with the likes of Disney, Nickelodeon, Warner Brothers, and produced many beloved works such as those mentioned earlier. However, local studios also aspired to produce their own films in addition to their subcontracting work for international studios. Several Taiwanese studios, including Wang Film Productions, did attempt to produce some domestic animation such as Dragon Animation’s Messy Temple (1987), but many ended up being box-office failures. The oversaturation and widespread popularity of both Japanese and American animation was simply too much for domestic works to compete with. The Present: Domestic Taiwanese Animation However, this is not to say that Taiwanese animation is incapable of producing quality domestic animation infused with local flavours. There were a handful of films that achieved relative success, albeit not to the same level of international mainstream attention compared to the likes of Disney or Studio Ghibli. Wang Shaudi and Richard Metson’s Grandma and Her Ghosts (1998) is set in a small Taiwanese town, and tells a heart-warming and emotional story of a young boy’s relationship with his grandmother portrayed through a unique animation style. It won a best picture award at the 1998 Taiwan Film Festival, a Certificate of Merit from Animated Feature Films and Videos at the 1999 Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, and was well received across film festivals throughout Europe and Japan. Nearly 20 years later, Sung Hsin-Yin’s On Happiness Road (2017) would achieve similar plaudits with its story of Lin Hsu Chi: a Taiwanese-born woman living in America, who returns to her hometown of Xinzhuang and reminisces on all the memories and experiences that shaped her into the person she is today. The film won the Golden Horse Award for Best Animation Feature, probably among the highest honours one can achieve for an animated film in Taiwan. Even more recently, just this year at the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market, one of the biggest animation film festivals in the world, Taiwanese animations have been making waves. Notable inclusions are Black Hole Museum + Body Browser and Red Tail, which were both finalists in the VR Works category, as well as Bei Ke Dao (The Island of Shells), Compound Eyes of Tropical, and A Night with Moosina.All these tell compelling Taiwanese stories in a distinct animation styles. The Future? It is evident from these examples that the talent is clearly there. So what are the hurdles Taiwanese animation is facing? Several artists point to the lack of structural and governmental support provided within the industry. Metson has voiced his concerns that Taiwan’s animation industry is driving talents away by not giving them opportunities to create further projects after completing their first. Vick Wang of Engine Studios has also criticised a lack of proper organisation of the creative process in the industry. According to him, a successful film involves many steps and moving parts: from “conception, the assembly of a management team, budgeting, story development, design, production, and postproduction.” This is all in addition to marketing and acquiring the capital to create the film in the first place. Animators are often required to perform all these tasks by themselves, not to mention marketing and acquiring the budget to create the film in the first place. The lack of experience in the Taiwanese animation industry means that a proper, efficient system has yet to be established, as opposed to well-oiled machines like Hollywood which has been at it for decades. Thankfully, it appears some steps have been taken to alleviate these issues. In 2018, the Ministry of Culture’s (MoC) Office of Professional Assistance in Cultural Investment and Financing began aiding animators in acquiring capital from banks through a commissioning contract feature. Creators previously faced the problems of banks not seeing them as worthwhile investments, but this feature assures that banks will at least break even should they decide to fund these artists, thus guaranteeing creators capital to begin their projects. The MoC has also begun working with the Ministry of Science and Technology to create the Taiwan Digital Asset library which includes digital models of Taiwanese visual culture such as the Taipei 101, buses, and street food carts. This not only saves creators time and money on scouting and studying locations, but also establishes a unique Taiwanese aesthetic for future works.
Conclusion Things are looking cautiously optimistic for Taiwanese animation. It certainly seems to be at least recognised within animation and film circles, evident from the numerous awards and nominations received by Taiwanese animated productions in recent festivals. There also appears to be growing encouragement and support from the government. Hopefully, things will continue in this direction and Taiwanese animation will be able to transcend their historical status as merely good subcontractors and have their domestic, original productions rub shoulders with the likes of Japan and the USA on the world stage. Bibliography Chen, Chun-fang. “Sketching a Future for Animation in Taiwan: Filmmakers Join Hands with Government and Academia.” Taiwan Panorama, January 2019. https://www.taiwanpanorama.com/en-us/Articles/Details?Guid=9ecd5699-5f13-4f0c-986b-93581b207d47&CatId=8 IMDb. “Animation, Taiwan.” Accessed September 14, 2023. https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?genres=animation&countries=tw Lee, Daw-Ming. “A Brief History of Animated Film in Taiwan.” In Historical Dictionary of Taiwan Cinema. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2013. Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. “On Happiness Road.” Accessed September 14, 2023. https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/1590?r=en Taiwan Creative Content Agency. “TAICCA’s 1st Taiwan Pavilion & Spotlight on Taiwan Make Pitch at 2023 Mifa.” News. Last modified June 14, 2023. https://en.taicca.tw/article/b9ba021f Teng, Cathy. “Original Animation from Taiwan: Telling Our Own Stories.” Taiwan Panorama, January 2019.https://www.taiwan-panorama.com/en/Articles/Details?Guid=b6797b77-3c25-4f3c-869c-9f3d1b3f8cdd&CatId=8&postname=Original%20Animation%20from%20Taiwan-Telling%20Our%20Own%20Stories a
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May 2024
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