China Daily Global Edition (USA)
CAREER IN COMICS
Cartoonist Ao Yo-siang plans to help young aspirants. Zhang Zefeng reports.
Cartoons have been an indispensable part of Ao Yo-siang’s childhood since he can remember. In primary school, Ao created fictional storylines to sketch four-panel comics on workbooks entertaining classmates. Teachers often assigned him to draw blackboard posters.
“I get a sense of fulfillment from drawing cartoons,” says the 61-year-old renowned Taiwan cartoonist. “I was weak in athletics. Cartoons were something that I can use to draw people’s attention to me.”
Ao’s interest in cartoons altered his career path.
At the age of 25, his fourframe kung fu humor comic series, Wuloom Family, that tells stories about four monks, brought him fame. So, he quit his job in an animation company and started working as a full-time cartoonist.
Since its release in 1980, the series has sold 120 million copies and gained an enduring appeal among young readers.
“Wuloom Family is a comic cartoon that everyone can accept,” says Ao.
Between 2004 and 2007, Ao won awards in the Golden Dragon Award Original Animation and Comic Competition, one of the most significant awards in the cartoon industry on the Chinese mainland.
This year, Wuloom Family will take another monumental step.
Its motion comic adaptation, Wuloom Family: Save the Elf, which combines elements from comic books and animation, is released on Tencent video on Nov 1.
However, the process comes with many challenges.
Unlike the printed version that mainly relies on drawing and storytelling, the animation requires producers to reshape characters as well as add new elements such as motion and music.
“It took us a year for the series’ first episode,” says the chief director Rao Kunhua. “It’s challenging to keep its originality while integrating innovative elements into the show.”
Ao is one of the first batch of Taiwan cartoonists like Tsai Chih-chung and Zhu Deyong who have developed their careers on the Chinese mainland.
In 2002, he moved to Guangzhou as “I wanted more readers on the mainland to read my comics”, says Ao.
“The comics market here is also very alluring,” he says.
Over the past two decades, the Chinese cartoon and animation industry has seen tremendous growth.
In 2010, China overtook the long-established comic kingdom, Japan, as the largest producer of animated films.
Ao has witnessed all these developments.
Wuloom Family, which features traditional Chinese elements such as history and culinary traditions, has also become one of the best-sellers on the mainland.
“I was lucky to be a part of this industry,” says Ao.
“The mainland is a great platform for young talent in Taiwan. I hope the cartoon and animation industry on the mainland can maintain its growth.”
In recent years, the cartoon industry has also been greatly shaped by the internet.
Cartoonists can now publish their works online instead of going through the traditional publication process while readers can directly read, engage with, and even influence the cartoonists.
“We should keep up with the pace of change brought about by technology,” he says.
Ao says that creative ideas and appealing stories are crucial for cartoonists in this digital age.
“Cartoons must be surreal,” he says. “The more unusual the story is, the happier readers are.”
Ao encourages cartoonists to draw inspiration from voraciously reading other people’s works, and isolating themselves occasionally to think about their work.
Over the years, Ao has devoted himself to nurturing talented young artists.
Each month, he and his team spend four days visiting two remote rural schools in Taiwan to teach students.
In October, Ao set up a 1 million yuan ($152,000) scholarship in Hangzhou to support China’s young aspirants to pursue their cartoon dreams.
Students from both Taiwan and the Chinese mainland are eligible to apply, says Ao.
“The period prior to publication is usually the hardest for budding cartoonists,” he says.
“I want to provide both financial and professional aid to help them make that transition.”