Zhang Xiaoli, Tutu's mother in the cartoon "Big Ear Tutu", is a full-time housewife with a head that often bursts into flames and a hot-tempered personality. However, she has a positive outlook on life, strong energy, and can always take good care of her family. In real life, "Tutu Mom" Suda is the winner of the Golden Rooster Award for Best Art Film, a Shanghai Model Worker, a National May 1st Labor Medal, and a National Television Art Worker with both Virtue and Art.

Suda and Big Ears Tutu

This year coincides with the 20th anniversary of the broadcast of Suda's masterpiece "Big Ear Tutu". Young viewers who grew up watching this "post-00s national animation" are looking back on nostalgia on the Internet and discover that they thought they were low-level when they were young. There are actually many rich and tender expressions from female creators hidden in the family fun.

Suda is currently the art director of Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Her office is filled with childhood memories of several generations: "Havoc in Heaven", "Calabash Brothers", "Tales from the Heavenly Book", "Black Cat Sheriff", "Big Ear Tutu" 》 and other animated images that have accompanied the growth of generations of Chinese people are lined up on the display shelves. Behind the exquisiteness and coolness of the new trendy toys, there is also the heavy historical origin of the old factory.

In 2018, Suda took over the position of director of Shanghai Art Film Studio, becoming the first female director in the history of Shanghai Art Film Studio. In the past few years, she has appeared more in the public eye, talking about creation, the history and present of Meiying Studio, and the glory and inheritance of the industry. Five years later, Suda stepped down as the director of the factory. She felt much more relaxed and her passion and love for the industry was still there. However, animation relied on cycles and capital, and many things had to be left to chance.

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So this interview is more about Suda’s own life and creation. On Women's Day, we talk to the real-life "Tutu Mom" about her experience in art and life.

An artistic family has produced a “little overlord with spirit”

Su Da was born in Nanjing in 1972. His father, Su Taixi, was a famous bookbinding designer and children's illustrator.

Although he grew up in a family environment with a strong artistic atmosphere, Suda admits that he has not received formal academic training and his painting method is "wild".

Starting from the age of four or five, Suda picked up a paintbrush to paint the world in her mind. She liked to draw beautiful fairies, and she also liked to transform the people and things she saw in life into a somewhat exaggerated look. Even sometimes when her father's friends came to the house and saw her paintings, they would jokingly say that the child's paintings were "fauvism" and "have the style of Matisse".

When Soda was in middle school, his father Su Taixi collaborated with Meiying Studio on "Cube Mansion" and served as the art and styling designer. In addition, he also collaborated with Meiying Studio on the puppet film "Little Goose and the Red House".

Su Tae Hee served as the art designer of "Cube Tower"

Suda remembers that his father "liked folk art, and he was not educated in this kind of painting in a systematic academic school, so he has always been opposed to routine training. He feels that children's nature should be free to develop, and the later they are exposed to those rules, the better." ".

Influenced by his father, Suda has been more interested in “folk, exaggerated, and unrestrained styles” since childhood. When she was a child, there were many foreign animation style books at home, which laid the foundation for her to broaden her aesthetic horizons. It wasn't until high school that Suda began to receive "systematic training" in the traditional sense. Returning to the "box" to "learn painting", Suda was a little uncomfortable for a while. After all, he was used to freedom and suddenly had various rules and paradigms. "I tell you that you must draw like this, but you still feel restricted, but I just regard it as a kind of training for myself.”

Suda and his parents in childhood

As for embarking on the road of animation, it can be regarded as some opportunities.

Suda loved watching cartoons since she was a child. Whenever cartoons were shown on TV, she would always squat in front of them intently. She is familiar with many classics from the American Film Studio. She loves "Havoc in Heaven" the most, but unlike many boys who like the magical power of Sun Wukong, she "never gets tired of" the passages in which the fairies wander around the peach garden and Lao Jun meets the peach.

The fairies in "Havoc in Heaven"

When she was in her senior year of high school, she originally planned to apply for the Nanjing Art Institute in her hometown. She happened to read in a newspaper that the Beijing Film Academy in Nanjing had an animation major in its admissions program. "I had never heard of animation in art schools before. I liked watching it since I was a child, but I never thought it was something that could be studied in college." Suda was very excited and enrolled in this major, and the next two Schools extended an olive branch to her, and she finally chose animation.

After receiving the university admission notice, his father took Suda to No. 618 Wanhangdu Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, which is the old site of Shangmei Film. For the first time, Suda saw the entire process of animation production, from line drafting, coloring, shooting... the static picture became lifelike and moving. The overjoyed joy convinced Suda that she had made the right choice.

At that time, the animation major was still very niche. The entire animation class of Beijing Film Academy only admitted students once every six years. Only 8 students were recruited nationwide. Suda was the youngest in the class.

Suda in college

Asked what kind of student she was when she was studying. Suda thought about it and couldn't remember, so she sent a message to ask the monitor and classmates in the same class. The answers she got were "the clever little overlord" and "the little witch's delivery service" . "Perhaps I was young at that time, the class was small, and everyone was very friendly and polite, so they said I was 'overbearing'," Suda said.

Chen Liaoyu, the chief director of "Chinese Stories", which has become popular in the past two years, is Suda's classmate. In his impression, Suda is the "group favorite" of the class, "good-looking", and a bit "socially afraid". Su Da agrees with this. Although she will make mistakes and have a low sense of humor after getting to know each other, most of the time, she is a person who stays quietly in her own world.

Although she is a girl, the style Suda liked to try when she was in college was not weak. For her graduation work, she chose the folklore story "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils", which was expressed in an exaggerated, humorous, concise and lively way. "Influenced by my father, I am more interested in folk styles - the more intense, silly, and silly styles."

Thirty years ago, my father drew an art design draft for Suda's graduation project "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Pests"

The years when Suda was studying animation were at the trough of China's animation industry. Not only did big companies like Meiying Company no longer have recruitment targets, they were also facing a serious brain drain.

Suda was selected by the leaders of Shanghai Keying Factory to join the animation department of the factory. In the second year after joining the factory, she encountered the "film and television convergence" and she followed her to the TV station. From original painting design, action design, executive director... At that time, the Chinese animation industry was doing a lot of processing and OEM for foreign animations. Suda personally experienced that period of time when creativity and voice were limited, but experience and technology were accumulated. .

The processed film "Duck Detective" in which Su Da participated

"At that stage, when I was working on a film in a Sino-foreign joint venture, the overseas animation company had already done all the preparations in the early stage, and all the preparations were very complete. One look would give you a lot of lip-sync movements, and a thick book of information would be given to you. You know what kind of style and action specifications this character should be expressed in." In this regard, domestic animation would appear weak at that time, "Our own animation is not so streamlined, and sometimes you may feel that some things are different because different people are doing it. There will be disunity.”

In those years, Suda, as an animator in the mid-term, participated in the production of many overseas animations, most of which would not even be broadcast in China. China only provided cheaper labor than countries such as Europe, the United States, and Japan. Although he understands that this is not the working status he wants, "But at that stage, because the requirements of each work are different, you need to adapt to the requirements of different styles. Such industrial training experience is also quite beneficial." Suda recalled that period at that time. I say this through experience.

“Tutu Mom” Creates Underrated Family Cartoon Animation

During the "accumulation of experience" period, Suda completed another upgrade in his life - becoming a mother. It was also because of this decision that she got a very important role later - Tutu's mother.

In the process of accompanying her son to grow up, Suda discovered some interesting things that often happened in life that made adults laugh or reconsider. She consciously recorded them. Every time she read those children's words, she would always be amused and laughed. Then, she came up with the idea of using her son as a prototype to create a childlike life in reality.

Suda and his son "Big Ears"

Since its launch in 2004, Tutu, who is kind-hearted, energetic, loves to eat snacks, loves to think wildly, has a pair of charming ears, and can "move the ears magically" has been loved by parents and children. In the past 20 years, this series has had 5 seasons of animated series, two major movies, and educational spin-off series. The Douban score of the animated series is above 9 points all year round. It has repeatedly won the first place in the ratings of CCTV Children's Channel and the four major children's satellite TVs. It has more than 4 billion views on the Internet and covers nearly 300 million viewers.

Ratings of the fifth season of "Big Ears Tutu" on Douban

At that time, in the evening during the children's time period, TV stations were more interested in broadcasting foreign cartoons, but the ratings of "Big Ear Tutu" could often surpass the foreign cartoons and win the championship; even in subsequent rounds of repeated broadcasts on other cartoon channels , "Tutu" is also a good way to save the ratings. "Some cartoon stations took out Tutu and played it when their ratings dropped, and the ratings went up again." This gives Suda a sense of accomplishment.

Now Tutu's prototype, Suda's son Suchang, is about to graduate from graduate school, and Tutu in the animation is still the greedy, confused and warm-hearted innocent little boy, touching the joys, sorrows and joys of generations of children and accompanying them. growing up.

"Big Ears Tutu" poster

Speaking of which, "Big Ear Tutu" is a cartoon created by three generations of a family. His son was the source of inspiration, and Su Tae Hee designed a series of images of big-eared Tutu based on his grandson’s unforgettable ear features. Many interesting things in the script really happened to Su Chang. For example, Tutu participates in "Happy Jump", or Tutu suffers from beard sores. Of course, it is more of a re-creation of interesting things happening to the children around him.

"Put down your adult pretensions and look up through the eyes of children, and you will see an unexpectedly vast world. Children's innocence and unrestrainedness make this world more interesting, more wonderful, and more interesting than the world that adults are familiar with. Rich and colorful." In so many years of growing up with Tutu, "Tutu's mother" seems to have become a mirror for Suda, observing her perspective and vision towards her children and the world.

Suda and son

Suda recalled that when he was faced with the problem of being a parent, he read a lot of books about education. “At that time, I didn’t agree with some of the traditional educational concepts that were quick and quick. I was thinking about how to raise a happy and healthy child. , I hope to export these concepts to the audience, and I also hope that parents around me can see the shining points and the most authentic things in their children."

"Big Ear Tutu" is one of the most representative animation works of Meiying Studio in the 21st century. Although the style of painting is different from traditional art films, Suda believes that it also continues and inherits the genes and core of Meiying - inheritance The creative concept of promoting traditional Chinese culture remains unchanged.

"The story of "Big Ear Tutu" is the epitome of the Chinese modernization process. The actual creation is inseparable from China's traditional culture and folk cultural soil." In terms of art design, the creative team adheres to the "rooted modernity" as its creation The concept is to design characters with different shapes but unified styles, emphasizing the "clumsy" form admired in Chinese folk art. "Clumsy" reveals wisdom and "clumsy" reveals interest. Although it is a family animation for children, in it , the cultural core of the "Chinese Animation School" and the aesthetic taste of the Chinese nation are all subtly contained in it.

Over the past 20 years, "Big Ear Tutu" has continuously enriched the story content and expanded the expression carrier with the changes of the times and the development of the market. When the young viewers grew up, looking back, they discovered that Tutu was not only a good boy from a traditional family, but also very "modern".

In the film, when faced with the in-depth question of "Where did Tutu come from?" Tutu's mother did not avoid it like most Oriental parents do, but seriously conducted a scientific sex education that was straightforward, interesting and loving; Death, the calm answer given by his parents, and Tutu's magical operation of calling friends to confirm "when they will die" dispelled the heavy sadness with childlike fun.

Tutu greets Grandpa Niu, "Is he dead?"

As a mother, when choosing animation works for her children, Suda found that there was a lack of contemporary domestic animation creations. Although classics such as "Havoc in Heaven" were something that she and her son could never tire of, works that were closer to real life were It is blank on the market. "In fact, many problems are faced by everyone, whether it is sex education or life education. For a long time, Chinese parents have been too closed-minded. They have to avoid or make a fuss about normal things, but children will not close their eyes and pretend not to see them because of this. Su Da was very frank when talking about what was considered a "breakthrough" in his creation, "Children are actually very pure. Sometimes it's the parents who trap themselves."

The sex education in Big Ears Tutu is considered by many netizens to be the best education demonstration.

A female director is paired with a female screenwriter, and the creative team's inability to hide the female perspective makes this family-themed animation less stereotyped and even contains many very advanced female expressions. For example, when talking about the quality of bravery, the children said "Police uncles are the bravest", and the brush would remind them that "there are not only police uncles, but also police aunties"; another example is that in one episode, Tutu's mother's best friend did not want to have children. , in order to persuade her best friend to give up her worries, Tutu was asked to act cute when her best friend came to visit. Although she was cute, her best friend still rationally stated at the end that she would seriously consider having children, not just because of Tutu. If the pictures are cute, just follow the crowd. At Tutu’s parent-teacher meeting, the mothers had various professions. Some reported the weather, some were basketball coaches, and some were clothing store owners. Even housewives had the confidence to say, “I can do any job.” No. Work is also an option.

In addition to the growth of children, adults in Tutu's world also have their own worries. Her mother, Zhang Xiaoli, has to face worries about her career choices and appearance, and her father, Hu Yingjun, also has the fatigue of being a working man. Different parents with different children's family backgrounds often have their own troubles in life. "Our positioning has never meant that it is only for children, but for families. Children may only see those lively and funny things, but parents should be able to see some inspiration and even comfort. Those things are the embodiment of our own ideas and values as creators. "

In recent years, on Bilibili, Weibo, Douyin and other platforms, various editing and transportation explanations about Tutu have become very popular. Many netizens lamented that they ate such "fine grains" when they were children.

In the mainstream market where most cartoons pursue spectacle scenes and heroic legends, family themes that closely follow real life have always been scarce in the market. Female creators also seem to have a more natural advantage in this regard. "Female thinking may be more It should be more delicate. As a mother, you have more contact with your children and will have more life details and feelings in it."

In real life, Suda is an artist, director, and the head of a long-established state-owned factory. In the cartoon, Tutu’s mother is a housewife who is easily angered by her husband and children.

Tutu’s mother is always “on fire” in cartoons

Asked "strong woman" Suda how she views Tutu's mother's status and choices in the two time and space, her answer is that the two are not contradictory. "When I created "Big Ears Tutu", my son was still young, and Tutu in the cartoon was also a preschooler, so I designed the identity of Tutu's mother as a full-time mother. From the child's perspective, in that At any age, what is most needed is the love and attention of parents. At that stage, it may have a great impact on him for many years to come. Giving children a sense of security is something I value very much." Suda believes that women can grow up at different stages. , the tendency to adjust the allocation of one's own energy. The realization of individual value and motherhood are not necessarily contradictory.

I used to be Tutu’s mother who spent a lot of time with her children growing up.

Obligatory responsibility and the freedom to return to creation

From being obsessed with watching cartoons on the TV as a child, to being taken to Shanghai by his father for a visit when he received a notice, which opened up a new door to knowledge, to when he was in college, Su Da Shi benefited from Qian Yunda ("Transcript of the Book of Heaven"). Masters such as "The Adventures of the Sloppy King" and "Little Sisters of the Prairie Heroes"), Pu Jiaxiang (participating in the creation of films such as "The Proud General", "Havoc in Heaven" and "Nezha Haohai"), Suda has always had " Beautiful movie gene".

Suda and his classmates from the animation class celebrated the birthday of their mentor Qian Yunda

In 2018, after working at Meiying Studio for nearly 20 years, Suda took over as the director of Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio, thus becoming the first female director in the history of Shanghai Meiying Film Studio. She resisted this at first, "My personality is not suitable for and I don't like to be a leader. A creator needs a relatively free state. Letting me run the business and do administrative management is not what I am good at. The director didn't just say that I would When it comes to creation, there are still a lot of administrative tasks, which require a macro vision and consideration.”

On the other hand, when she talked about it with her family, the whole family did not support it. "They think it's too busy, and they think girls shouldn't put themselves under so much pressure. They don't want me to be too busy, and state-owned enterprises are difficult to manage." Even his father, who had been very hands-on about Suda's freedom since he was a child, voted against this time.

But at that time, Suda also had a voice in his heart, feeling that although he was reluctant, he seemed to have a sense of responsibility to "accompany Meiying for a while."

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At that time, the American Film Studio had been in an awkward state of being out of business for a long time, and its traditional production methods and business models had long ceased to meet the needs of the market. Su Da remembers that for many years, "the creative staff were in a relatively depressed state, and they basically dispersed in the mid-term. The marketing in the later period, including the aging of the label, was also serious."

That state made Su Da, who had deep feelings for the studio, unable to ignore it. "Although I feel that I am very weak and do not have the ability to do any disruptive innovations or achieve the kind of renaissance that the seniors hope for, I think Being able to produce good works and put colleagues in a better state is also a sense of responsibility for history. These seniors of Meiying have paved so many roads for us over the years and taught us so many things in the university. , and indeed hope that I can do something for them.”

Suda knows that this is not easy. Standing on the shoulders of the giants of the past, countless eyes are staring at how she will lead the once-famous Meiying Studio out of the predicament of the past 20 years, and how she will understand and practice the requirements of Meiying. Chinese animation is responsible for "exploring the path of national style".

Shanghai Art Film Studio has many IPs

Through previous visits to Disney, including research on the domestic animation industry, Suda thought about methods worth learning from. During the five years she served as the factory director, she believed that she and the current team had done the best job of re-establishing the industrial chain of Meiying - the creative department, investment department and other departments were reactivated; in the face of the mid-term disorganization of the factory, To address the problem of aging personnel, fresh blood in the industry has been recruited, and the planning department has launched active proposals. The strengthening of awareness of copyright management has also given old IP a new lease of life; through the redesign of the label, the classic image of Meiying has gradually transformed into a familiar image for young people. The IP image has a more youthful and energetic Q version, which has received good market feedback. The new generation of beautiful film elements has become a national trend topic in the industry many times in the past few years through many co-brandings with consumer scenes. "No matter how difficult it is, Meiying has never permanently sold IP copyrights. In recent years, it has even spent a lot of money on the registration, protection and promotion of IP, laying a solid foundation for future development." Suda talked about his work in these years, "Industry The establishment of the chain is crucial to the overall vitality and future development of Meiying. Talents, works, and industrialization must be done step by step."

Q version IP image is widely welcomed by the market

For the most important treasure of the American Film Studio - the former animated classics, Su Da presided over the restoration and remake, while also standing on the shoulders of giants to start new creations. “We have also attached great importance to the protection of historical materials in recent years. In recent years, our colleagues have been organizing scanned art archives of Meiying, such as some precious celluloid negatives and paper materials, and they have to be digitized. Preservation." In the first year after taking office, she launched "Tian Shu Qi Tan 4K Commemorative Edition" and presided over and participated in the entire restoration process.

"Tian Shu Qi Tan 4K Commemorative Edition"

When the 2022 Winter Olympics is hot, in the animation "Our Winter Olympics", Bingdundun and Xuerongrong break the dimension with animated characters such as Monkey King, Snow Child, Black Cat Sheriff, Calabash Baby, Brainless and Unhappy. Dancing on the wall; "New Snow Child" with distinctive American film genes is expected to be released this year; the first Chinese ink animation feature film "Goral Flying" is also expected to be completed this year; another one brings together many American film IP characters , the animated film "Havoc in Animation City" to create the "Beautiful Film Universe" was also registered and approved three years ago. "The vitality of employees, the vitality of IP, and the vitality of labels are what we do to activate them."

Childhood memories, Winter Olympics gathering

More than three years ago, Suda's college classmate Chen Liaoyu handed over a short film collection project to Suda. Fresh contemporary young animation directors each have their own strengths. After several planning, discussions and screenings, 8 works from 10 directors were finally put into production, called "Chinese Tales", based on folklore stories and expressed in different ways. same. Shangmei Film participated in the production as one of the producers, and a number of veteran artists formed an art committee to check the quality of the eight animation works, creating a story that has been passed down from old to new.

At the beginning of 2023, this unprecedented animated series will be launched, "Summer of Little Monsters", "Goose Goose" and "Lin Lin". Each of the interesting stories looks at the past and present and looks forward to the future. The Chinese imagination carries the Chinese nation. Culture and philosophy, traditional techniques such as two-dimensional, paper-cutting, stop-motion animation, and ink painting go beyond the surface collage of elements and have also triggered out-of-circle discussions on Chinese aesthetics on the Internet.

"Chinese Tales" poster

There is no doubt that a Shanghai art film studio that is both traditional and trendy is returning with a new look. In these years, the iteration and upgrading of China's animation industry, along with the "rise of national comics" trend, have already dazzled the audience. The younger generation of animators continue to expand the boundaries of animation themes, types, and techniques, almost every year There are new topics and popular items being born. As an animator of the Mesozoic generation, Suda feels gratified, "Each generation has its own situation and mission. Our generation may just do a good job of inheriting it, and we don't have to stick to tradition. We should retain the essence of the Chinese animation school in our creations, so that Meiying can be different." Works created by people from different eras are genetically related.”

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Nowadays, Suda has relieved himself of the heavy responsibility of the director of the Meiying Studio and returned to creation as an art director. "I feel much more comfortable," Suda said of her current situation. She lamented that she had been quiet since she was a child, even a "social phobia". During her years as a factory director, she "hardened her scalp" and "showed up" on various occasions. In fact, it was never what I liked in my heart, and being the director of the factory was never just for myself, I just wanted to accompany Meiying through this difficult period."

On the afternoon of the interview, long-term dubbing directors from the factory came to her office to talk about their thoughts and prospects on the current status of the dubbing market in Shanghai. The sixth season animation of "Big Ear Tutu" has been completed, and the script for the third movie version has also been completed. The story of the Tutu family will continue to be staged in the future, becoming a good childhood partner for a new generation of children.

Su Da said: "If I hadn't become an animation director, I might have drawn children's illustrations, or done something related to small animals and children. These are what I would like."

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