What are the oldest cartoons in China

1. Why the Crow is Black

Why the Crow is Black is an animated short film produced by Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio in 1956. The short film was directed by Li Keqi and Qian Jiajun and written by Yifan.

The film mainly tells the story of a beautiful bird, which is full-feathered and colorful, but arrogant; it disdains to build a bird's nest in autumn, suffers from severe cold in winter, and turns into a crow after its feathers are ignited by a wildfire when it is warming up at a wildfire.

The theme song "Beautiful Crow" is composed and conducted by Chen Ge Xin and performed by Shanghai Orchestra Symphony Orchestra.

2. Little Carp Jumps Over the Dragon Gate

Little Carp Jumps Over the Dragon Gate is based on the folklore of "Carp Jumps Over the Dragon Gate", and was produced by the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio in 1958 as a domestic color animated film. It was directed by He Yumen, written by Jin Jin, and photographed by Duan Xiaoxuan.

The film mainly tells the story of Grandma Carp, who tells the little carp the story of their ancestor who jumped the Dragon Gate, and the little carp want to jump the Dragon Gate. So under the leadership of the biggest black carp, the carp set out to find the Dragon Gate without their grandmother's knowledge.

The theme song "Little Carp Jumping Dragon Gate" was composed by Zhang Yunqing and performed by the Shanghai Film Orchestra.

3. The Proud General

The Proud General is a 1956 release by Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio. The directors were Te Wei and Li Keqi, with Qian Jiajun as the chief designer and cartoonist Hua Junwu as the screenwriter.

In order to "explore the road of national forms and knock on the door of comedy style", the movie borrowed the art of Peking Opera face painting to tell the story of a victorious general who is so complacent that he neglects the art of martial arts and military tactics, and is finally captured alive by the enemy.

The theme song of the same name, composed and conducted by Chen Gexin, is performed by the Shanghai Film Orchestra.

4. The Fisherman's Boy

The Fisherman's Boy is based on the folklore of the same name collected by Zhang Shijie, which has been circulating among fishermen since the Opium War and before the Boxer Rebellion, and was filmed by Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio as an animated paper-cutting film in 1959. The short film was directed by Wan Guchan and written by Yu Hejing.

The film focuses on the story of a young fisherman boy who appears in a Chinese alabaster fish basin netted from the sea by his old fisherman grandfather to help the fishermen punish local corrupt officials and foreign clergy.

The theme song, "The Caught Grandpa," was composed by Wang Yi and Duan Shijun and performed by the SCO.

5. The Story of Avanti

The Story of Avanti is an animated puppet movie released by Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio in 1980. It was directed by Qu Jianfang.

With the legendary character Avanti as the main character, the whole animated movie is divided into a dozen short stories. Afanti's funny and humorous image of riding a donkey upside down and his jokes that make people laugh are not only well known to the Uyghur people in China, but also very familiar to people of all ethnic groups in China, and have been widely circulated in the world.

The theme song of the same name, composed by Kim Foo Jae and Zhou Ji, was performed by the Xinjiang Opera Orchestra.