By Xiaochang Liang In the summer of 2026, the CGI (computer-generated-imagery) animated film Niulai (牛来, dir. Xin Yumeng 信雨萌) (Figure 1) gains unexpected popularity in Chinese cinemas via a totally different trajectory compared to that of other successful Chinese animated films. It first entered the public through its overly low box office, which remains below … Continue reading When Low-Tech Becomes an Attraction: Anachronistic Technique and Glitched Spectacle in Niulai (2026) →

By Ying Zhu With a world-wide box-office of US$2,259,822,417, Ne Zha 2 (Yu Yang, 2025), a story about the mythological child-god Ne Zha, made history for Chinese animation, indeed Chinese cinema, by topping the 2025 global box-office chart.[1] The box-office victory of the film created a patriotic fervor in China, with state media touting the … Continue reading Ne Zha 2 and the Good China Story →

By Thomas William Whyke, Zhennuo Song,  Zhaoyu Zhu, and Yibo Fan  Jiao Zi’s Nezha 2 (2025) represents a watershed moment in Chinese cinema, not merely as an animated feature film but as a cultural phenomenon that has redefined global expectations for non-Western animation. Released during the Chinese New Year 2025, the film shattered box office … Continue reading Redefining Chinese Animation: A Review of Nezha 2 (2025) →

By Mihaela Mihailova Since its US release in February 2025, the Chinese computer-generated feature Ne Zha 2 (Yu Yang, aka Jiaozi, 2025) has continued to fascinate and confound the Anglophone entertainment press. Popular animation blog Cartoon Brew has been obsessively tracking the film’s impressive box office run and chronicling the various profit records it has … Continue reading Spectacular Digital Maximalism: Some Thoughts on Ne Zha 2 (2025) →

By Shaopeng Chen Historically speaking, Chinese animated films have always targeted children and ignored their entertainment appeal for adults. At the same time, the Chinese cultural authorities required animated works to be both instructive and interesting. Weihua Wu argues that animation in China is “the practice of hidden education in an appealing form,” which suggests … Continue reading Adults as Audience: A Review of The Guardian →

By Rebecca Liptay and Shannon Brownlee Feelings of Mountains and Rivers (Shanshui qing, Te Wei, 1988)[1]  is the last of the four analogue ink-painting animations (shuimo donghua) made at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. All but one of these were directed or co-directed by legendary animator Te Wei,[2] and all were filmed by Duan Xiaoxuan, the … Continue reading Feelings of Mountains and Rivers: Minimalism and Monumentalism in Motion →

By Olga Bobrowska “Look how nice it is to be Monkey King. No parents, no control. Just do as he will. And no shifts of WTO (World Trade Organization),” says Guo Binbin, a tragically passionless hero in Jia Zhangke’s film Unknown Pleasures (2002). Binbin is an unemployed 19-year-old who does not dare to kiss his … Continue reading The Ambiguous Superhero in Wan Laiming’s Havoc in Heaven →