Key Animation Expo Will Bring Out the Kid in You
The National Museum of Classic Books in Zhongguancun has turned into a shrine for cartoon fans both young and old, as the wide-ranging Key Animation Expo takes over for a nostalgia-inducing two-month residency.
The exhibit features more than 400 animation scripts, drawings, and original celluloid stills from world-famous cartoons and animated films. Among the famous faces on display are classic Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Bambi, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Alice in Wonderland. Fans of Japanese cartoons AKA manga will also be excited to see Detective Conan and Dragon Ball characters, names that will instill excitement in young fans, or bring back happy childhood memories for adult visitors.
Pencil sketches and cels (transparent plastic sheets) used to be the main means of animation production, combined to create the cartoons many of us grew up watching and preserving the characters in perfect static form. Nowadays, those time-intensive techniques of filmmaking have given way to modern technology, rendering the few surviving examples as rare and precious tributes to a bygone era.
Most of the artworks have been contributed by private collectors, including Vaytch Robin, an animator who worked at Walt Disney Studios. There are two extremely rare items on display: one from Alice in Wonderland (1951), and another from Lady and the Tramp (1955), both signed by Walt Disney himself.
One section of the exhibition hall has been decorated to recreate the look of a 1930s animation studio, where visitors can try their hand at painting, after admiring the masterpieces.
The Key Animation Expo is on display at the National Museum of Classic Books until Oct 14 and costs RMB 100 on weekends and RMB 80 on weekdays.
National Museum of Classic Books
Tue-Sun 9am-5pm (last entry 4pm). 33 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Haidian District (8854 4757)
国家典籍博物馆：海淀区中关村南大街33号
This article originally appeared on our sister site beijingkids.
Photos: Artron.net
