My Animation Era

"Journey to the West" is Gu Miao's favorite novel among the four famous novels. The protagonist Sun Wukong is also his most admired hero as a child.

Therefore, when CCTV asked Wanbao if he was interested in the project, he agreed without hesitation.

He has high expectations for this animation and is mentally prepared for a big hemorrhage. He has roped in capital partners such as Mr. Bear and CCTV in advance to ensure that there will be no shortage of money during the production process.

But there is an upper limit on investment.

Even though Gu Miao was very resolute and generous with the money, if it really reached an unbearable investment limit and affected the operation of the entire company, he would still reluctantly give up the project.

After all, he is not a money printer.

And it is impossible for him to bet the entire future of Wanbao Animation on this animation.

This is a financial consideration.

In addition, there is still time. For an animated work, the production period is always an obstacle that cannot be bypassed.

Everyone knows that the more time passes, the more perfect the work will be.

Even if it is a pig, given tens of thousands of years, it can produce a masterpiece that will shock the world. This is called water droplets piercing stone, and quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes.

But the problem before us is that a pig cannot live for tens of thousands of years. A pig that can live for 20 years is considered a longevity!

So this is unrealistic.

By the same token, everyone knows that the longer the construction period is delayed, the more perfect the work will be. Do you believe that given a ten-year production period for Alienation Three-Body Problem, this well-recognized answer can be transformed into a masterpiece?

It doesn’t even take ten years, half of it is five years, which is enough.

But obviously, this is a very difficult thing to do. Five years may not sound like a long time, but for many animation production teams, this is an unimaginable construction period.

"Are you sure you want to make a perfect barrel?"

Ma Kui wanted to answer the question raised by Gu Miao, "Yes, that's what I thought," but when the words came to his lips, he found that he couldn't say them out.

The two obstacles of funds and construction period limited him, making it impossible for him to create a perfect wooden barrel.

Trade-offs are inevitable.

Since we can't get around these two hurdles, we can only find a way to make the long board as long as possible and the short board as short as possible within the constraints of these two hurdles.

"In the era of planned economy, animation was a handicraft, because at that time animators were eating from the iron rice bowl. They didn't have to worry about the future, they just immersed themselves in animation and it was done."

"So in that era, the American Film Studio was extremely brilliant and created amazing works that are still great to this day."

Rather than continue to undermine Ma Kui's self-confidence, Gu Miao turned to tell the story of Meiying Studio: "Take "Havoc in Heaven" as an example. Do you think the industry can still produce such pure hand-drawn animation now?"

"cannot……"

"Yes, times have changed."

Gu Miao nodded and said: "Today's animation is more of an industrial product than the previous handicraft."

"I understand."

Ma Kui seemed to understand what Mr. Gu meant, and sighed: "According to you, "Journey to the West 3D" cannot be a hexagonal warrior?"

"Look, you're in over your head again!"

Gu Miao shook her head and explained with a speechless face: "A wooden barrel, some boards are very long and some are very short, it seems that it can't hold too much water."

"But if its shortest piece of wood is longer than someone else's longest piece, would you still think it holds very little water?"

Be reasonable.

The current domestic animation industry is full of rotten fish and rotten shrimps?

If "Journey to the West 3D" is really produced according to strict and high standards, even if it has so-called shortcomings, it can beat all its peers, then is this a hexagonal warrior?

The picture is 10 points and the plot is 7 points. The plot is undoubtedly a shortcoming, but what if the highest score of other animations in the industry is only 5 points?

"I see."

Ma Kui, who was awakened by Gu Miao's words, suddenly realized: "I know what to do. As long as my shortcomings are higher than other people's longcomings, it is not called a shortcoming."

But……

Ma Kui, who had just realized this level, frowned again and suddenly thought of a question.

In what direction should the animation "Journey to the West 3D" take as a breakthrough, the so-called "long board"?

"Of course it's 3D!"

"Movie-level quality, vivid character modeling, and smooth and silky fighting depictions can all be used as longboards."

Gu Miao said without changing her expression: "As for being ignored and discarded, that is the shortcomings. It depends on how you choose."

Regardless of various circumstances, Gu Miao personally believes that in a project like "Journey to the West 3D", the plot is an expendable shortcoming.

Don't feel weird.

In fact, this is normal. After all, the original work of "Journey to the West" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and there is not much room for expansion.

Instead of putting more thought into this, investing a lot of time and energy to improve the plot, and create plot variations like "The Legend of Wukong", "Black Myth", and "Westward Journey", it is better to just follow the original work.

After all... the main body of Wanbao's adaptation is the original work of "Journey to the West", rather than creating derivative works based on the original work.

This is also something Gu Miao values ​​​​very much.

Please note that the goal of Wanbao and CCTV is to bring the masterpiece "Journey to the West" to the TV screen, rather than to renovate this masterpiece.

The title of the animation is "Journey to the West", not "The Legend of Wukong", "The Return of the Great Sage", "The Black Myth of Wukong"...

The title alone determined that Wanbao could not make serious magical changes to the original work.

After all, you have changed it, is it still the "Journey to the West" animation that the audience wants to watch?

"OK, the plot remains unchanged."

Ma Kui took note of this proposal and said in full agreement: "I originally thought so too. Since I am a porter of masterpieces, it would be good to reproduce them based on the original works."

This is the same as when the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" animation was produced. The plot does not require major changes.

This saves a lot of trouble.

After all, other animations require a lot of time and energy just to conceive of a wonderful plot, let alone dialogue.

"As long as you know what's going on."

Gu Miao was afraid of taking the blame, so she quickly warned: "Master Porter, the plot will not be changed word for word. It's okay for us to have a few words in private, but don't tell anyone else."

If fans heard this, they might be scolded, and they might think that Wanbao was being lazy on purpose and cut corners on the plot!

Although this is a fact, we cannot admit it so straightforwardly!

In front of outsiders, there must be all kinds of complaints and complaints, saying that the production team has gone through a lot of hardships in order to adapt the masterpiece "Journey to the West" and restore the classic as much as possible. The lights in the screenwriter's office have been on for a month...

"really!"

Ma Kui winked and said, "I said the same thing last time after the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" animation was aired."

When being interviewed by reporters, he and Koizumi looked at each other and told everyone about the difficulty of making "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" in the form of cross talk.

In order to ensure the vividness of the characters and write the plot dialogue that best suits his temperament, he flipped through a brand new "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" novel until the paper turned yellow.

This kind of bullshit is just for fooling passers-by who don't understand anything.

In fact, the most difficult thing about adapting "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is not the plot, but how to create the characters.

…

The film market in September has cooled down a lot compared to July and August.

Even the most popular "Wolf Warrior 2", which has become a social phenomenon, has experienced a sharp decline since September.

But Wolf Warrior 2 is too abstract.

Even if the box office is down, it still crushes all the new September films, vividly explaining what it means that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse.

As of today, the total domestic box office of Wolf Warrior 2 has exceeded the 5.5 billion mark and is moving steadily towards 6 billion. No one knows what kind of record this movie will eventually set.

Gu Miao couldn't understand it anyway.

If he remembered correctly, the original "Wolf Warrior 2" didn't seem to be that great, and the final box office should be about 5.6 billion.

But in this parallel world, Wolf Warrior 2's box office seems to be even more outrageous, and the sensation it caused is even more exaggerated.

It can’t really be 6 billion, right?

Gu Miao couldn't help but sigh when she thought of this possibility. It was indeed a pity that she couldn't even take a bite of such a big cake.

Just invest a little bit, and that’s a terrifying return of hundreds of millions! Moreover, the cycle is short, and the speed of making money is comparable to stock trading!

Speaking of stock trading...

Wanbao Video, the bad coward stock king, has successfully captured a group of Wanbao die-hard fans through his unremitting efforts.

Good guy, Gu Miao was so miserable when she was scolded!

Every day, people leave messages on his social account, saying that Gu Sanshui is really ruthless and does not cheat outsiders, only his true fans.

Everyone trusted him so much that they spent huge sums of money to buy shares of Wanbao Video, thinking that they would pass it on to their sons and grandsons and witness the birth of a great company with their own eyes.

As for now? Not to mention a great company, the stock price has gone up! I've been feeling gloomy all day, Gu Sanshui, when will your mother die?

"That's not true, is it?"

To be honest, Gu Miao doesn't understand why Wanbao Video's stock price has not rebounded significantly after so long?

"Wandering the Animated World" has such explosive results and dominates the new series in September. Logically speaking, this is good news, and the stock price must rise no matter what.

But even though there were major benefits, the stock price of Wanbao Video was still the same, showing no signs of rebounding, which made him confused.

"The water in the stock market is very deep. Xiao Gu, you can't control it, so you have to let me do it!"

Mr. Xiao Xiong, a veteran investor and a shareholder trapped in Wanbao Video, said that he does not believe in this evil. The more Wanbao Video falls, the more he wants to increase his position.

"Sooner or later, the price will go back up. Trust me, I have never failed in investing!"

"Really?"

Gu Miao was doubtful and said: "It's not that I don't believe you, I just think that if you continue to increase your position like this, you will be able to join the board of directors soon."

"You guys, don't you want to secretly get a seat on the board of directors under the guise of adding positions to stop losses?"

"..."

Little Bear is always angry.

Since when did he want to be on the board of directors? What on earth gave Gu Sanshui the illusion that Wanbao Video's board of directors seat was valuable?

Damn it, if he hadn't been trapped and couldn't get rid of it, he would have wanted to liquidate his position and run away. Do you really think that trading in stocks and becoming a shareholder is a good thing?

"Shut up now!"

"The thing I regret most in my life is listening to your slander and buying the tradable shares of Wanbao Video, which is a piece of shit."

Mr. Bear rolled his eyes crazily and said: "This is a rubbish company, ruining my youth! This money would have been doubled several times if I had used it to make animations."

"How many times?"

"I don't feel ashamed to say this. It's okay to make a small amount of money from the animations you invested in, but making big money is just a fool's dream." Gu Miao sneered.

The projects that Little Bear invested in were either non-mainstream or ruined the world view. They were all restricted animations that could only be broadcast in late night slots.

Expecting this kind of animation to make a lot of money is definitely overthinking.

So far, there has not been any restricted late-night animation that has achieved commercial success far beyond the "all-ages" animation.

"What do you say about "Fruit Attack 2"?"

"That's not R-rated!"

Gu Miao coughed and then said: "Besides, you didn't earn much, and most of it was taken away by our Wanbao."

"What? You've made a movie 2, do you still want to make a movie 3?"

"No?" Little Bear asked.

"Sorry, no..."

Due to the declining reputation of the second season of "Fruit Strike", Gu Miao set a test for the production team under Mr. Little Bear: design a new set of mecha that fits the background of the Three Kingdoms era!

If the design is good, the third season can be continued to be produced by them. If the design is average or even poor, then Wanbao will take back the production rights and personally produce the third season to save the reputation.

The results are clear at a glance.

The people at Fantastic Animation simply couldn't design an "ancient mecha" that suited Gu Miao's wishes, so the third season naturally came to nothing.

Unexpectedly, Little Bear still refused to give up. Even after talking about this, he still wanted to continue fighting for the production rights of the third season.

It's a pity that Gu Miao didn't give him a chance.

No matter how close Little Bear tries to get, he always adheres to his original attitude. "Fruit Attack 3" will be produced by Wanbao himself, and he is worried about leaving it to Qiqi Animation.

"This series is dying."

Gu Miao explained: "If the third season is well done, the "Fruit Attack" series will still be saved and will not decline rapidly."

Gu Miao would definitely not be at ease if such an important work was handed over to a half-hearted team like Qiqu Animation.

not to mention……

Regarding the project planning of "Fruit Attack 3", Wanbao Animation has already discussed a result internally.

Under this situation, unless Gu Miao is crazy, it is impossible to hand over "Fruit Attack 3" to Fantastic Animation. After all, the third season is different from the second season.

Seeing that Little Bear looked a little disappointed, as if he couldn't let go of the "Fruit Strike" series, Gu Miao quickly comforted him: "Fruit Strike can't do it, but Pig Man can!"

"Pigman?"

"Yes! How about the latest season of Pig Man? Are you interested?"

Gu Miao tried her best to persuade: "This is more popular and famous than "Fruit Attack"! If the company hadn't been short of people, I wouldn't have found an outsourcing team."

"It's not impossible..."

Mr. Bear, who was originally reluctant to give up on "Fruit Attack", suddenly changed his mind when he heard the name "Pig Man".

Pig Man is even more popular!

There is a more popular and famous animated IP to choose from, so why choose Fruity Attack?

AI animation really exists. Although it is based on AI painting and the technology is not very mature, the technology is progressing very quickly...