Hu Jinqing

Our reporter learned from Shanghai Animation Film Studio that famous Chinese animator and director, and member of the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA), Hu Jinqing, died on May 13, 2019 at Shanghai No. 6 People’s Hospital.

Hu Jinqing was born in March 1936, in Changzhou, Jiangsu, and joined the Shanghai Animation Film Studio in the 1950s as a young artist. There he established himself as a pioneer in adapting the traditional art of Chinese paper cutting to animation, a technique blending together such arts as shadow puppet play, paper cutting and window decor. In 1958, he assisted Wan Guchan, a founder of China's animation industry, in making the first-ever Chinese paper cutting animation film, “Zhu Bajie Eating Watermelons”.

“The Snipe and the Clam”

Hu directed more than 10 animated films, three of which won the Excellent Film Award from the Ministry of Culture of China, including “The Naughty Snub-nosed Monkey”, “The Fight between the Snipe and the Clam”, and “The Straw Man”. He also participated in the production of more than 30 animated films, including “The Proud General”, “The Fisher Boy”, “The Ginseng Baby”, and “The Golden Conch”. “The Fight between the Snipe and the Clam” won the Silver Bear for Best Short Film at the 1984 Berlin International Film Festival.

“Calabash Brothers”

Hu Jinqing was best known, however, for his animated television series “Calabash Brothers”, or “Gourd Brothers”, one of the most popular animations of the 1980s. The series, co-directed by himself, Ge Guiyun and Zhou Keqin, and featuring a vast amount of paper-cutting animations, was aired in 1986 and 1987. The seven super-powered brothers born out of gourds and characterized by seven different colors, were arguably the most famous animated characters in that era and many of those born between the 1970s and 1990s have fond memories of watching them.