Aardman director Will Boettcher said during a panel discussion at the Shanghai International Film Festival that Shaun the Sheep could be shown in Chinese cinemas in October, where he co-chairs the animation jury along with Indian filmmaker Gitanjali Rao and Chinese animator Yu Shui.
Boettcher, who co-directed Farmageddon with Richard Phelan, also revealed during the conversation that he is currently developing a feature film that combines equal parts live-action and animation, and is currently seeking financing. He estimated that production would take about two years if funding was secured.
“At the studio, we just finished making the new Shaun movie,” Boettcher said, referring to “The Beast of the Mossy Bottom.” “It’s a Halloween-themed movie with hairy monsters.”
Director Rao, whose debut film Bombay Rose opened at the 2019 Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week, said he is also in the fundraising stage for his next film, a live-action/animation hybrid project. The director noted that India’s animation industry remains at a structural disadvantage compared to the country’s commercial film sector, with independent animators routinely forced to seek international co-production partners, primarily in France, to finance their original work.
“I’m not trying to be very intentional, but I’m going to stay honest and authentic and authentic,” Rao said of his approach to filmmaking for a global audience.
Yu Shui, whose short story “Nobody”, which is part of the anthology series “Chinese Fables”, received a large audience and critical attention upon its original release, said that his immediate priority is to develop the work into a full-length feature. He pointed out that China’s domestic market presents a structural advantage not available to most animation industries, given its ability to maintain domestic production without the need for overseas distribution.
On the question of whether animators should tailor their work toward global understanding from the beginning, all three jurors opposed overt calculations. Citing the observation that jokes written for British audiences were received by German audiences at a screening of Farmageddon as satire specifically aimed at Germany, Boettcher explained that Aardman’s approach was to make the film make the filmmakers laugh first. Rao argued that modern audiences can pursue context independently, and that the filmmaker’s job is to build the work in layers so that viewers everywhere have access to at least one layer.
Yu, who screened Boettcher’s “Nobody” at SIFF, said the feedback from overseas audiences has sharpened his awareness of the challenges facing the global expansion of Chinese animation, and he plans to more actively incorporate cross-cultural readability into his future works.
