Creative history

Dozens of animated films, cartoons, comic strips, picture books and illustrations are now on display at the First Grand Exhibition of Chinese Animation and Comic Arts, reflecting the growing momentum of China's creative industry.

The collection brings together classic Chinese animated films and caricatures before the the country's animation industry got started in the late 1990s. On display are the works of many prominent people who made seminal contributions to China's comic art, including Feng Zikai, Zhang Leping, Ding Cong and Hua Junwu.

Viewers can see prize-winning films made by the prestigious Shanghai Film Studio and Shanghai Animation Film Studio, such as The Arrogant General (1956), Havoc In Heaven (1961-64), Three Monks (1980) and Adventures of Shuke and Beta (1989-92). These productions have spiced up the childhoods of several generations of Chinese.