Mr Dong Guo and The Wolf of Zhongshan

1955 Animation 10 minutes Directed by Yu Zheguang

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About Mr Dong Guo and The Wolf of Zhongshan

Mr. Dongguo hides a wolf that hunters are chasing, and the wolf then turns and tries to eat him. An old farmer tricks the wolf back into the bag and beats it to death. He tells Dongguo not to be merciful to a villain.

Cast & crew

More about Mr Dong Guo and The Wolf of Zhongshan

Yu Zheguang and Xu Bingduo directed Jin Xi's script from Ma Zhongxi's Ming tale Zhongshan Lang Zhuan. Gao Chao wrote the music and Huang Yijun conducted. Shanghai Film Studio released the 10-minute puppet short in 1955.

Themes

  • A scholar who hides the wolf
  • The wolf's thanks is an attack
  • A farmer who puts it back in the bag
  • Dongguo
  • Zhongshan wolf
  • bag
  • farmer
  • puppet
  • Ma Zhongxi

Making

Zheguang and Xu staged Ma Zhongxi's fable with puppets rather than drawings, at the Shanghai studio's animation unit.

Technique

The figures are puppets moved between frames, in the manner of a Chinese puppet stage.

Music

Gao Chao wrote the score. Huang Yijun conducted.

Notes

  • Chinese title: Dongguo xiansheng.
  • The wolf begs for shelter while the hunt is on, then drops the plea once the hunters leave.
  • The farmer's trick is to get the wolf back into the bag.
  • Baidu pairs the film with The Magical Pen (1955) as the two shorts that showed Chinese puppet animation had settled its technique.
  • Yu Zheguang was a puppet-theater artist. This is one of his early film jobs.

Scenes

  • Dongguo hides the hunted wolf.
  • The wolf turns on him after the hunters pass.
  • The farmer gets the wolf into the bag and beats it.

Influenced by

  • Zhongshan Lang Zhuan (Ma Zhongxi)