Techno-Nationalism and the Rise of Chinese Animation: Nezha 2 and the Evolution of CGI Blockbusters in China
Speaker: Daisy Yan Du (HKUST)
Date & Time: Mar 26, 2025 11:00 AM EST
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Description
3D CGI (computer-generated imagery) animation has long been regarded as an American innovation, pioneered by Pixar’s groundbreaking animated feature film, Toy Story (1995). For Chinese animators, mastering 3D CGI technology—a more complex and technically demanding medium compared to 2D animation—has represented an important step in advancing the country’s animation industry. The journey began with the release of China’s first 3D CGI animated feature film, Little Tiger Banban (2001), and progressed through technological milestones such as Thru the Moebius Strip (2004), marking the gradual maturation of Chinese 3D CGI animation. However, it was not until the release of blockbusters like Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015) and Nezha (2019) that Chinese CGI technology began to achieve significant commercial success domestically. The recent global acclaim for Nezha 2 (2025), with its stunning visual effects proudly touted as “made in China,” has sparked a sense of national cultural achievement. Watching the film and contributing to its record-breaking box office sales became a way for audiences to celebrate the progress of Chinese animation. As the highest-grossing animated feature film in world history, surpassing Disney and Pixar, Nezha 2 not only signifies the rise of Chinese animation on the global stage but also underscores the growing influence of Chinese CGI technology in the realms of computer graphics and the creative industries worldwide. This program is part of China Center’s “Considering China Webinar Series”, exploring important topics related to China’s many facets with the local community.
Speaker
Daisy Yan Du is an associate professor in the Division of Humanities at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She is the author of Animated Encounters: Transnational Movements of Chinese Animation, 1940s–1970s (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2019), which is her first monograph. Her refereed journal articles have appeared in the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, Discourse, positions, Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, Journal of Chinese Cinemas, Women’s Studies Quarterly, and Gender & History, among others. She is the lead editor of Chinese Animation: Multiplicities in Motion (Harvard University Press Asia Center, 2025), which is the first edited scholastic book about Chinese animation. She is also the editor of Chinese Animation and Socialism: From Animators’ Perspectives (Brill, 2021), the first of its kind that comprises essays written by renowned animators rather than scholars. She is currently working on two monographs and editing several volumes about animation and new media. She is the founder of the Association for Chinese Animation Studies (https://acas.world), established in Hong Kong in 2015 and dedicated to introducing and promoting Chinese animation studies to the English-speaking world.