The 11th Golden Week has officially opened, and many friends choose to go to the cinema for the festival.
The three giants of the National Day movie "My Motherland and Me", "Captain of China" and "The Climber" will be released simultaneously on September 30.
These three main theme tribute films almost accounted for more than 90% of the film arrangement. Taking advantage of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the motherland, the patriotic enthusiasm of the people across the country is rising, and the box office has reached a peak in an instant.
In addition to these three films, a Sino-US co-produced cartoon was also released on October 1, the National Day. Compared with the pre-screening publicity of the Big Three, this "Snowman" is much more low-key.
Nonetheless, this Hollywood cartoon with Chinese elements relies on a good story, exquisite pictures and conscientious production to make people shine, and the look and feel is very good.
"Snowman" does not have a grand and serious narrative background, nor does it need to deliberately adhere to the theme of patriotism. It is like a modern fairy tale of an ordinary Chinese girl, full of joy and moving, and can also bring people the feeling of a better life in the motherland.
01 Wonderful brain hole from Oriental DreamWorks
Seeing the name "Snowman", it is easy to think of another Hollywood cartoon "Snow Monster Adventure".
The animated anthropomorphic images at the heart of the film are all snow monsters from the legendary Himalayas. The two movies can be said to completely crash.
The 2018 Snow Monster Adventure was produced by Warner Bros. It tells the story of snow monsters and humans breaking prejudice and improving mutual understanding. After its release, it won a good reputation.
There is a peer's excellent works in front of Zhuyu, and it is actually very risky to release a film with similar settings.
"Snowman" is produced by DreamWorks and its Chinese division, Oriental DreamWorks.
DreamWorks' best original IP in recent years is "How to Train Your Dragon", while Oriental DreamWorks has participated in "Kung Fu Panda 3".
Although they all tell the story of snow monsters and people, DreamWorks has taken a completely different route from Warner in terms of conception.
In "The Snow Monster Adventure", the snow monsters have their own small society. Their relationship with people is a process from mutual hostility and fear to understanding and communication, which alludes to the issue of discrimination and estrangement between human groups.
The snowman in "Snowman Romance" is still a mysterious species. The movie tells the story of it returning home with the help of human children. Behind it is the traditional theme of family friendship and mutual help and love.
The biggest difference between the two is that "Snowman Romance" clearly places the protagonist and place of the story in China, which is obviously the creative intention of Oriental DreamWorks.
The advantage of doing this is, of course, that at this time of celebrating the National Day, the Chinese audience will have a stronger sense of substitution and emotional resonance.
02 Cute, cute and magical snowman
For cartoons with anthropomorphic images as their core characters, image design is undoubtedly the top priority.
At this point, DreamWorks, which created Kung Fu Panda and Toothless, wins this time.
Looking closely, the snowman "Big Hair" is really exactly the same as Toothless in "How to Train Your Dragon".
They all have big eyes, five short statures, can't speak, and even their teeth seem to be the same style. It looks a bit fierce, but it is extremely cute and cute, and it can also release big moves at critical moments.
Compared with the smooth skin of Toothless Boy, the furry feeling of the big white long hair is a bit like a cute long-haired collie.
The inspiration for this image of Da Mao happened to come from the director's own pet dog.
03 Exquisite presentation of the great rivers and mountains of the motherland
In "Snowman Romance", the little Chinese girl Xiaoyi accidentally discovered the snowman Da Mao who escaped from the bad guy, and soon became good friends with Da Mao.
When Xiaoyi knew that Da Mao's home was far away on Mount Everest, he resolutely wanted to protect and accompany Da Mao on his way home.
Xiaoyi's two friends, A Jun, who is a bit narcissistic, and his mischievous cousin Pengpeng, also travel together with Xiaoyi and start an adventure.
This kind of story gives this cartoon the meaning of a road movie.
Since the story is in China, you can see many familiar scenes around you in the picture.
When the signboard of the "College Entrance Examination Remedial Class", the unit door of the residential building, the small living room and the small bedroom in the home appear on the screen, you will know that this is very "Chinese".
And the real "highlight" is that after the adventure set off, Da Mao and Xiao Yi have experienced many famous scenic spots in China together.
We seem to be seeing these places we're familiar and even personally visited in an animated film for the first time:
Thousand Island Lake, Huangshan Mountain, Leshan Giant Buddha, Rapeseed Flower Field, Gobi, Bamboo Forest...
Moreover, the pictures presented in the movie are so beautiful, both real and dreamlike, that every shot can be used as a wallpaper.
Da Mao used his own magic to turn the rapeseed flower field into a yellow rapeseed flower sea. The little friends surfed and sailed in the wind, making people's hearts rippling.
Xiaoyi played the violin on the back of the Leshan Giant Buddha, accompanied by Cold Play Band's "Fix it", white flowers bloomed all over the Buddha's body, and the audio-visual enjoyment made people immersed in it.
04Pure and warm heart touching emotion
Although the film has the awareness of environmental protection and animal protection, it does not overly exaggerate in this regard. And the core of the film is still about emotion.
Xiaoyi is a girl whose father passed away early. She indulges in the thoughts of her father, but she also becomes a little withdrawn and detached from her mother and grandma.
A newly-acquainted snowman friend, an adventurous journey to accompany each other back home, not only makes Xiaoyi's relationship with her friends closer, but also allows her to re-acquaint herself with her long-lost affection with her family.
This seemingly conventional content and emotion can always bring moving power in Hollywood cartoons. Because this is the common emotion of human beings, family and family are stored in the softest place in everyone's heart.
From this point of view, "Snowman" is similar to Pixar's "Dream Travel". It's just that one is in Mexico and the other is in China.
This time, "Snowman Romance" conveys the Chinese-style family and friendship in a fairy-tale-like way, which will definitely bring more emotional resonance to the Chinese audience.
The content of the cast in Chinese dubbing of the movie is also very strong. Zhang Zifeng and Chen Feiyu who appeared in "My Motherland and Me" dubbed Xiaoyi and Ajun respectively, and Wan Qian and Cai Ming also participated in the dubbing.
The good song "A Wonderful Encounter" at the end of the film was sung by Angela Chang.
If the National Day file takes children to the cinema, then "Snowman" is undoubtedly the most suitable one.
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