Mythical monkey, famed artist inspire mascot
Print Edition
OFTEN described as the Chinese equivalent of Superman, the Monkey King is one of the country’s most beloved characters. With this being the Year of the Monkey, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, it’s fitting that the mascot for this year’s China International Cartoon and Animation Festival is based on this most famous of supernatural simians.
Named Le Le, the smiling monkey is posed as if in mid-leap and carries a golden cudgel much like the one wielded by Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King. Le Le’s style accords with images of Sun found in ancient Chinese wood-block prints and paper cuttings. Red, yellow, green, peach and black are the mascot’s colors.
Le Le is also based in large part on a 2007 design by the now 80-year-old Han Meilin, an artist best known for his creation of the Fuwa mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
This year, a 28-year-old cartoonist, Shen Yifan, was assigned to make Le Le even cuter by giving it a more dramatic expression and posture.
Shen also created mascots for the first and second CICAFs while still a high-school student. He is now an animation director who has participated in international festivals such as the San Francisco International Film Festival and Athens Animefest. As part of the festival’s promotional efforts, projectors cast animated images of Le Le on walls and on the ground along the city’s main streets. Le Le can also be found in animated LED-form on the exterior of the city’s skyscrapers.
The Shanghai Daily recently interviewed Shen about his charming creation.
Q: What did you do once you accepted the task of creating Le Le?
A: I did lots of studying about master Han, Chinese traditional painting, comparisons between Chinese and Western animation, and the history of the festival. Indeed, in my notebook, words are much more than drawings.
Q: What did you do to understand Le Le as a character?
A: Le Le is a carrier of cartoon culture, one that speaks for Chinese cartooning as a whole. And after all, it is a lovely Chinese monkey. I made a profile of Le Le, including its age (12), blood type (A), values (be optimistic).
Q: Apart from different facial expressions and poses, what else did you give to your Le Le?
A: When people see the images I made, they usually say “so Chinese.” Just as master Han was inspired by Chinese paper cutting and wood-block prints, I also explored Chinese operas and other traditional arts.
Q: You made a rhyme that teaches children how to draw Le Le, why?
A: Le Le is designed for promotion, and I believe that the best means of promotion is through audience participation. With the rhyme, everyone can draw Le Le correctly.
Rhyme to draw Le Le: A reversed comma; a heart inside; add eyes and an “I” as the nose; draw two balls as its cheeks; add the ears; and finally draw a red spot on the forehead.
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