Do you remember the first Chinese animation? Yes, Yes, it is called Princess Iron Fan (铁扇公主Tiě shàn Gōngzhǔ ). Today, I will introduce the first Chinese animation in color film to you. It named Why Is the Crow Black-Coated which is also made by Wan Laiming (万籁鸣Wàn Làimíng) and Wan Guchan (万古蟾Wàn Gǔchán)

Plot

The story is about an arrogant bird that enjoys life. He sang and dance in the forest in China, showing off his beautiful tail to everyone. Autumn would come and the other animals in the forest are busy preparing food for the winter. The bird continues to live life leisurely.

The winter would come instantly with a heavy snow storm. The bird is now homeless in the cold without preparation. To warm up, he found a random wild fire in the forest. The bird accidentally burned his tail and also lost his singing voice. From there on, the bird is no longer beautiful and is known as the black crow.

Background

Two of the Wan brothers took part in the production. The film was created right before Shanghai Animation Film Studio became a government sponsored division which would later be affected by the cultural revolution under Mao Zedong.

It has achieved many awards, for example, it was been awarded by Chian's Minsitry of Culture in 1957.