Animating China: A History of Shanghai Animation Films

On July 13, 2025, “Animating China: A History of Shanghai Animation Films”, co-hosted by Taikang Art Museum, Shanghai Animation Film Studio Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum officially opened at Taikang Art Museum. As an animation documentation exhibition focusing on the development and visual archives of Chinese animation films, the Beijing edition of “Animating China” builds on the content of the 2024 inaugural exhibition at Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum. It has been localized to align with the spatial characteristics of Taikang Art Museum and the urban cultural context of Beijing, offering audiences a refreshed viewing experience. In the context of the rapid development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality, Taikang Art Museum, an institution that has established “media” as one of its core academic directions, responds to the changes in the media environment brought by technological transformation by focusing on animation as a dynamic image medium, aiming to inspire the public’s imagination about the possibilities of future image expression and artistic creation.

“Animating China: A History of Shanghai Animation Films”
Debuting at Taikang Art Museum, “Animating China: A History of Shanghai Animation Films” is a large-scale, comprehensive documentary and art touring exhibition about Shanghai Animation Film Studio (SAFS). This exhibition systematically sorts out the development history of SAFS, comprehensively presents their unique creative system, and demonstrates their influence and shaping role in social life and contemporary culture. This exhibition is organized logically, from “frontstage” to “backstage” with five sections: “Preface”, “A Tour the Classics” ,”Exploring the Media”, “Contemporary Echoes” and “An Animated Journey”. It features over 1,000 precious exhibits and more than 100 original manuscripts of classic animation characters, including signed storyboards, storyboard sketches, art design drafts, models, tools, working photos, cel animations, and audio descriptions.

Upon entering the exhibition hall, audiences will first walk through a forest of colorful classic animation posters, forming a distinctive visual prelude to the exhibition. Entering the “Prologue”, a wide-screen video greets visitors, showcasing a collection of opening credits of “Shanghai Animation Film Studio” from different periods, with dynamic silhouettes of classic animation characters projected behind it. On the walls on both sides, approximately 200 completed storyboards of animations from SAFS are neatly displayed, paying silent tribute to animation films and their creators. The “A Tour of the Classics” section, considering the popularity, artistic value, and quantity of exhibits, takes works such as Havoc in Heaven, Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, Three Monks, Monkey King Conquers the Demon, Tales about the Heavenly Book, Calabash Brothers, Inspector Black Cat, Dirty King Adventure, and Lotus Lantern as cases. Combining documents, physical objects, and interviews, it presents the production process and scenes of these animations, interpreting the exploratory and pioneering spirit of SAFS creators. The “Exploring the Media” section introduces the characteristics of hand-drawn, ink-wash, puppet, and paper-cut animations based on their respective creative methods. Meanwhile, the section also leads audiences to gain an in-depth understanding of the production techniques of animation films using different media by restoring the working scenes of various types of animation films, allowing audiences to feel the craftsmanship and passion of SAFS creators. The “Contemporary Echoes” section selects animations of various styles created by teachers and students from animation schools and contemporary independent animators, tells their creative processes, responds to the history of Chinese animation films through contemporary animation innovation and practice, and fully demonstrates the historical inheritance among animators. At the end of the exhibition hall, the “An Animated Journey” section uses a timeline to connect documents, physical objects, images, and chronological events, presenting a panoramic view of the century-long development history of SAFS.

“Returning” to Childhood
Embark on an Animated Journey through Time and Space Journey at Taikang Art Museum
In addition to the carefully presented exhibits, the exhibition also features rich and varied on-site interactive experiences, creating an immersive viewing journey that transcends generations and evokes emotional resonance. Whether it is children eager to unleash their imagination or adults hoping to revisit their childhood memories, everyone can find tailored touches and joy in this exhibition. Children can pick up brushes and graffiti freely on a 1.5-meter-high giant coloring paper to depict a colorful world of childhood fun; each ticket-holding visitor will receive a “transparent card”—a must-have for taking photos. By placing the camera in front of the “transparent card” and using different exhibition hall scenes as backgrounds, visitors can unlock intimate interactions with different classic animation characters and capture unique moments of their visit. The exhibition hall is also equipped with dozens of themed pattern stamps inspired by classic screen images, allowing visitors to collect stamps and create their own “childhood collections”. The “Childhood Screening Room” in the exhibition hall will screen more than ten classic animations produced by SAFS every week, including well-known works such as Havoc in Heaven, Where is Mama?, Tales about the Heavenly Book, and Snow Kid, bringing audiences back to the warm memories of watching TV in childhood.

During the exhibition, Taikang Art Museum will also launch a series of public activities, including handcraft workshops, themed lectures, academic forums, animation screenings, creator sharing sessions, and cross-disciplinary talks. The workshops will focus on media techniques in animation creation, allowing audiences to experience hand-drawn, ink-wash, puppet, and paper-cut techniques firsthand. The activities will invite senior animation and image creators and researchers to realize in-depth dialogues between classic animation films and contemporary independent animations, respond to hot topics of concern to the industry and audiences, and guide beginners to enter the world of animation. During the summer vacation, in particular, a series of friendly parent-child workshops and summer camps will create an educational and entertaining interactive experience at the museum for family audiences.