Chinese Animation Star Electrifies Local Animation Industry

By Liu Dongli Translation by Liu Chang

Chinese Animation Star Electrifies Local Animation Industry

By Liu Dongli Translation by Liu Chang

Animator Zhang Shaofu has become something of a household name in the Chinese animation industry as of late.

Not long ago he was a rising star among Hollywood’s elite animators. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in film studies and production from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, AKA Hollywood of the East, his dedication and love of film took him to the Bay Area to pursue a master’s degree in animation from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Later, he worked as an animator at Sony, Disney and other big name animation studios,ultimately achieving fame in Hollywood. He was involved in the creation of eight 3D animated fi lms, three of which won Oscars.The protagonists of neoclassic animated gems like the lovely Baymax in Big Hero 6, the“fastest” three-toed sloth Flash in Zootopia and the gluttonous puppy Winston in Feast were practically created by his own hand.

It goes without saying that Shaofu’s glorious success ref l ects positively on China, and has attracted the attention of his industry cohorts in China. His family wanted him to return back to his home country to further his career while contributing to the fi lm art right in his own backyard.Shaofu dreams of starting his own business. With his peers in China thronging to offer him attractive opportunities, he still chose his hometown of Wuhan as the place to make his China dream come true.

Shaofu was born in Wuhan 30 years ago, and emigrated with his parents to America when he was only fi ve. Taking a trip down the memory lane, he recalls that Wuhan was China’s “largest farm city” of that time. The 24-story Qingchuan Hotel (now Holiday Inn Riverside Wuhan), that sat perched along the Yangtze River’s edge was the tallest building in the city. Flash forward 30 years a n d m a j e s t i c W u h a n i s n o w t h e m o s t g l a m o r o u s i n t e r n a t i o n a l m e g a l o p o l i s i n C h i n a, w i t h t h e g r e a t e s t p o t e n t i a l f o r g r o w t h i n t h e c o u n t r y. T h e w o r l d’s t h i r d t a l l e s t s k y s c r a p e r s t a n d s a l o f t b e s i d e t h e Y a n g t z e R i v e r. W i t h i t s s u p e r i o r g o v e r n a n c e, e c o n o m y a n d c u l t u r e, t h e c i t y o f W u h a n h a s b e e n u p g r a d e d f r o m t h e“G a t e w a y t o N i n e N e i g h b o r i n g P r o v i n c e s” t o t h e “G a t e w a y t o t h e W h o l e C h i n a.” M o r e i m p o r t a n t l y,t h e b u s i n e s s c l i m a t e i n W u h a n i s e s p e c i a l l y b a l m y. W i t h a n i n c r e a s i n g l y m o d e r n u r b a n l a y o u t t h e c i t y h a s b e c o m e n e a r l y u n r e c o g n i z a b l e t o S h a o f u a f t e r 30 y e a r s a w a y.

CEO張少甫

技術總監Andrew Taylor Jennings

創意導演Andrew Chesworth

技術導演Joy Johnson

動畫總監Erik Lee

藝術導演Bobby Pontillas

張少甫團隊獲奧斯卡獎Big Hero 6 made by Zhang Shaofu and his team winning the best animated film category at the 2015 Oscars

張少甫何許人，動漫界耳熟能詳。

他是美國好萊塢著名年輕動漫大咖。從美國“東部好萊塢”威明頓市北卡羅來納大學電影導演專業畢業后，對電影藝術的執著和熱愛使他又選擇舊金山藝術學院動漫專業，攻讀碩士學位。

畢業后，他先后在索尼、迪士尼等知名動畫公司擔任動畫設計，并在好萊塢動畫界成名。他參與制作的8部3D動漫影片，其中3部獲得奧斯卡獎。熱映電影中，經典角色如《超能陸戰隊》中呆萌可愛的大白、《瘋狂動物城》中慢吞吞的樹懶、《美味盛宴》中大快朵頤的小狗溫斯頓就是他主體創作的。

少甫的成功，無疑是中國人的榮耀，也引起中國同行的高度關注，家人也希望他回祖國創業，為祖國電影藝術貢獻才華，少甫本人也懷揣獨立創業的夢想。中國國內很多同行紛紛向他拋出橄欖枝。最終，少甫選擇自己的家鄉武漢。

30年前，他出生在那里，5歲時隨父母去了美國。童年記憶中的武漢被稱為當時中國“最大的農村城市”，江邊那座24層高的晴川飯店是這座城市最高的高樓。如今武漢巍然已成最有發展潛力和最有魅力的國際化大都市，世界第三高樓聳立在楊子江畔，城市功能正從“九省通衢”升級為“九州通衢”。更為重要的是，武漢的創業氛圍特別濃厚，城市布局越來越現代化。三十年，武漢變得讓少甫幾乎認不出來。

父親張漢德積極張羅少甫回家鄉創業，他說：“我們雖然有投資，但投資人的錢很快就會燒光。在武漢這樣低成本、高速發展的城市創業，才是我們初創企業最好的選擇。”他主動與武漢江通動漫等優秀動漫公司聯系，帶著少甫一家一家地參觀、拜訪。一番考察之后，少甫發現，武漢本地動漫產業人才濟濟，許多來自北上廣深甚至臺灣、香港的動漫人才也匯聚于此。

Shaofu’s doting father Zhang Hande who is very active in developing and promoting his son’s entrepreneurial endeavors,astutely noted that having obtained substantial investments,the money would burn a hole in their collective pockets overnight,“so starting a business with a minimal investment in a low-cost,and fast-growing city like Wuhan was by far the wisest course of action.”

He took the initiative to contact the top animation studios in Wuhan, like the Wuhan Jiangtong Animation Studio among others,taking Shaofu to call on them personally. After these visits,Shaofu found that animators in Wuhan are top-notch, and the cartoonists and animators from the first-tier cities of Beijing,Shanghai and Shenzhen, even the special administrative regions of Taiwan and Hong Kong also clustered here.

When the news of Wuhan’s own hometown hero, animation v e t e r a n Z h a n g S h a o f u’s auspicious return to Wuhan became widespread, people in Wuhan were hotly enthusiastic,inviting him to start his own business in the city. The atmosphere of brotherly love and the palpable air of innovation and entrepreneurship impressed Shaofu.

In December 2016, he left the Walt Disney Company and set up studios in Wuhan and Los Angeles. The Wuhan Municipal Government has offered generous policy support for Shaofu’s studio in a variety of ways.

TAIKO Animation (Wuhan)officially set up operations on March 25, 2017 in the Optics Valley Smart Industrial Park in Wuhan. In the 1,000-squaremeter off i ce space, Zhang Shaofu and his team put their all into productions with a new style of creative genius. Their first animated film, One Small Step,will be released next year.

“This city is an irrepressible boomtown,” said Shaofu, “and clearly has the determination and aspiration to surpass the leading cities to itself become a worldclass metropolis.”?

太崆武漢團隊 Taiko Wuhan team

得知好萊塢“大咖”張少甫回到家鄉，武漢方面表現出極大熱情，邀請他落戶創業。家鄉的熱情友善和濃郁的創新創業氛圍，打動了少甫。

2016年12月，少甫從迪士尼辭職，在中國武漢和美國洛杉磯同步設立工作室。武漢市政府從各方面給予少甫優厚的政策扶持。

2017年3月25日，太崆動漫（武漢）TAIKO正式落戶武漢光谷智慧園。在這個1000平米的辦公場地內，張少甫和他的武漢團隊開始緊張創作。他們的第一部動畫《沖破天際》，將于明年上映。

少甫說：“武漢這個城市有一種憋不住的爆發力，有趕超前沿城市、成為世界一流城市的決心和愿望。”?

動漫之星張少甫回鄉創業

文/劉冬莉 譯/劉暢