Double Pride is widely praised： animation inherits the chivalrous spirit of the East.

Recently, the 3D animation "Double Pride", adapted from Gu Long’s classic martial arts IP, presents the story of the twin chivalrous brothers "Little Fish and Hua Wuque" to the audience again with exquisite production and beautiful painting style, which awakens everyone’s memory and longing for the children in the Jianghu who are dressed in fresh clothes and brave in chivalry. On October 3rd, the animation of "Double Pride" rushed into the top ten of Tencent Animation Channel, which triggered a heated discussion among the audience. Many viewers praised it for its "authentic martial arts flavor of Gu Long" and "modeling intentions and aesthetic online". The popularity of "Double Pride" shows that animation, a popular expression for young audiences, is an effective way to spread martial arts culture and inherit chivalrous spirit.

Animated interpretation of Gu Long’s classic IP, innovative transmission of the chivalrous spirit of the East

As a leading writer of martial arts novels, Gu Long has created 57 works with more than 25 million words in his life. These works have created a series of chivalrous figures in the Jianghu, such as Xiaoyu, Hua Wuque, Li Xunhuan and Shen Lang, which convey the core of multiple chivalrous spirits such as "friendship, belief and transcendence". "Two Prides in a Family", which began to be serialized in 1966, is a masterpiece among them, and has been adapted into film and television works for many times, which is very popular among the audience.

The animated version of "Double Pride" mainly tells the story that Xiaoyu and Hua Wuque started their Jianghu trips from the Villain’s Valley and the Flower Palace respectively, and in the process, they never met each other and went to appreciate each other, and then joined forces to fight against the villains. The tortuous and bizarre life experience adds a "sad" background to the fate of the two brothers who were forced to separate since childhood. Because of this, the two people showed their indomitable and unyielding qualities in their respective growth processes, such as "getting out of the mud without being stained", which moved countless audiences.

In the animation, the two brothers joined hands with the heroine Tie Xinlan to fight against the five villains, the twelve astrologers and the villain Jiang Yulang. The wisdom, courage, sense of justice and the trust and mutual support between their peers are very suitable for the current context, full of praise for the truth, goodness and beauty of human nature and whipping the false, evil and ugly, which is of value guiding significance to young audiences.

As the first animated work in Gu Long’s martial arts IP, "Double Pride" also inherits the martial arts culture well — — This unique cultural element and valuable asset of China. For a long time, no matter how the external environment changes, Chinese people have always maintained a high degree of reverence and praise for chivalrous spirits such as gratitude, honesty and trustworthiness, once upon a time in america, etc., and thus many literary and film works have been born, constantly conveying the feelings and righteousness, kindness and warmth in the world. It can be said that "chivalrous spirit" has become one of the unique cultural business cards of the Chinese nation.

The new era needs new works and new expressions. How to make young people understand and love China’s traditional culture has always been a big problem in the process of literary and artistic creation. Especially with the development of the times, young people’s appreciation ability and aesthetic demand for literary and artistic works are increasing day by day. Only by constantly innovating expression forms on the basis of ensuring the content can we better attract the audience. The animation "Double Pride" not only restores all kinds of strange people in the rivers and lakes in Gu Long’s works, but also shows a strong antique charm and romantic atmosphere in scene modeling, painting style, soundtrack and action design. For example, the elegant and refined Flower Transfer Palace, the sinister villain’s valley and the magnificent Murong Mountain Villa are beautifully and freehand restored in the film, showing an all-encompassing river and lake scene; In addition, the title also presents the "Great War Seventeen Years ago" in the form of ink painting to the audience, highlighting the "romance and lofty sentiments" of Gulong Jianghu in all directions.

To sum up, With the help of 3D animation, a literary form popular with young audiences, "Two Prides in a Family" gives a vivid and vivid secondary image to the mysterious wonders of rivers and lakes and strange people with unique skills. At the same time, it also vividly displays many emotions such as friendship, affection, love and chivalry, so that the audience can gain a brand-new aesthetic experience while being subtly influenced by China’s traditional martial arts culture and spirit.

Martial arts culture links non-legacy handicrafts to make national culture glow with new vitality.

On November 21st, the animation of "Two Prides in a Family" joined hands with the national key non-legacy project "Wang’s Shadow Play in Huaxian County" to launch the activity of "The Swordsman’s Shadow Play resurfaces", and at the same time exposed the shadow play handicraft works of Xiaoyuer and Hua Wuque, in which Hua Wuque was armed with a long sword, wore a hairpin, dressed in blue, tied with a jade pendant and a fragrant bag, and the image of a gentle and elegant son came to the fore. The little fish holds a short knife in each hand, dressed in red cloth, tied with a rope and a bag around his waist, with weeds in his mouth and unruly eyes, and his lively and agile image temperament is also vivid; In addition, the overall line design of these two shadow puppetry works is also very fine. The lines and patterns on the clothes of Xiaoyuer and Hua Wuque are very clear, vivid and have ancient charm. Once they were launched, they won praise from the audience.

Shadow play originated in the Western Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago and originated in Shaanxi Province, China. In Huazhou District, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province, the hometown of shadow play in China, Wang Haiyan, the non-genetic inheritor of Wang’s shadow play, has been committed to the combination and promotion of national culture and intangible heritage for many years, and has designed many exquisite and heritage-rich handicraft works for various cultural products, including movies, cartoons and games. This time, the dream linkage between "Wang’s Shadow Play" and the animation "Two Prides in a Family" has brought the shadow play, a cultural heritage with a long history and tradition, back to the public in a younger and more dynamic way, bringing the audience beautiful enjoyment and conveying the value and charm of intangible culture to the young audience.

At the same time, martial arts culture, like shadow play, belongs to Chinese treasures, and classics need to be passed down. In this activity, the swordsman spirit carried in the classic IP of "Two Prides in a Family" was presented in a more vivid and diverse way in the combined narrative of "animation+shadow play", and the shadow play handicraft works with multiple artistic values such as aesthetics and collection were produced, which were welcomed by young audiences. This is of great significance for young audiences to feel the charm of Chinese culture and enhance their cultural self-confidence and cultural identity.

To sum up, as a Guo Man’s work adapted from the classic martial arts IP, it has both sentimental and cultural heritage value. In the cross-dimensional cooperation of "animation+martial arts", "Double Pride" shows its unique charm and is well received by young audiences, which provides a good example for how contemporary literary works can make young people better understand and accept traditional culture. (Author: Zhang Jianzhen, deputy director of Radio, Film and Television Research Center, Institute of Journalism and Communication, China Academy of Social Sciences)

China Art Newspaper (2nd edition, November 21st, 2022)