Introduction
Hello, fellow adventures! Blaziker is back for yet another adventure and today, we are sticking to China after a lesson on Tang Dynasty poetry, and this time, we are going way deeper and more obscure territory into an animated movie I am very certain most would have never heard of. This is a movie that is special and rare for even non-mainstream animated movie standards. It is the 2022 Chinese anthology animated movie, To the Bright Side!
To the Bright Side is a series of seven animated shorts, each based on a childhood-based story that hopes to evoke a memory of childhood. Yes, I am keeping the introduction brief, but this is meant to be a surprise.
It is not every day that I get to watch a non-mainstream animated movie that is hard to find, such as Dounia and the Princess of Aleppo, which I covered this year. However, it is even rarer when I have the opportunity to help out with the movie itself. In this case, I collaborated together with a few friends, including fellow animation fanatic PotatoOfAwesome, with the translation of the movie to English subtitles. In fact, I helped out because Potato needed a few translators who have proficiency in Mandarin, and given that Mandarin is my second language, I was happy to help.
Now that we helped to complete the subtitles together, and that I get a chance to see the movie for myself, how does this lesser known movie fare? Let’s get on with our adventure!
Key Information
- Directors: Chen Chen, Lan Xiya, Li Nianze, Liu Gaoxiang, Liu Maoning, Yu Kun and Zhao Yi
- Animation Studio: Benlai Pictures
- Country of Origin: China
- Rating: G
- Release Date: 15 January 2022 (in China)
Trailer
The Review
Story and Characters
With any anthology movie, there is often a risk that a few of the stories will not live up to expectations, which would lead to a less desirable package as a whole. This is why it is quite rare to see anthology movies these days, especially with animated anthology movies which are rarer. Thankfully, To the Bright Side manages to have most of their stories on point, which makes for a more pleasant experience.
Compared to other animated movies this year, To the Bright Side focuses on seven stories, each meant to invoke a childhood memory, whether it is a child’s curiosity, recovering from a tragedy (which is sadly common in China) or a typical weekend. Each and every story is unique in its own part, but they shared the same common theme of childhood. As such, the cohesion in these stories makes this movie a breeze in terms of its writing.
Sure, most of the stories are not complex and thought provoking, but that was not what the directors are aiming for. Rather than being pretentious with the storytelling, each story felt grounded with its storytelling, whether it is a child’s curiosity and beginner’s mind in A Bunny’s Problem, to a regrettable memory while growing up in a rural village with Grandma’s Blue Tin Cabinet Wheelchair or even a comedic story with General Hum and General Hah. Compared to a lot of animated movies that tried so hard to be grandiose, To the Bright Side went for an opposite direction with humble, down to earth stories that people can resonate with.
Just like with the story, the characters in each of the shorts are engaging and well-developed and with each story, you do not get usually the same or similar characters in terms of personality, thus making each short so distinct and likable. What is even better is the voice acting as certain characters will have distinct regional Chinese accents that pushes the level of authenticity of the movie to a whole new level. Given my half-Chinese roots as my ancestors came from the Fujian Province in China, I thought this movie really did a fantastic job being familiar, yet well-executed.
Animation
With non-mainstream animated movies like To the Bright Side, one advantage they have over mainstream ones is that the directors in charge have free rein in choosing the art style of their choice and ran with it. This movie is no exception.
Despite the presumably limited budget to work on, given this is a very independent animated movie with little to no backing, the directors behind the various shorts utilise their small budgets to the absolute limits with the animation itself, which I do have to commend the directors for it. If you ask me, this looks more like a well-crafted animated movie from experienced animation studios, not a small independent studio.
Each short are usually animated in 2D, although one of them uses rotoscoping in the animation. Not only are the various animation styles unique and distinct with each director showcasing a different animation style, but the animation quality in all of the shorts is comparable to the quality in some of the best animated movies of this year so far. Seriously, the character and background designs, the character movements, colouring, texturing and rendering are nearly flawless.
Whether it is in the style of a painting in The Firefly Girl, to a colourbook rotoscoping style in Yi Ziwai’s Sunday or a simple 2D hand-drawn style in Mr Kuai’s Sweet Soup Shop, there is a lot of substance even if these styles are not flashy, but at this stage, you do not need flashy animation to stand out anyway.
Soundtrack, Other Elements and Level of Enjoyment
Again, just like with the stories and animation, the soundtrack is nothing too grandiose, but rather a simple piano-heavy soundtrack that complements the 7 shorts in the movie.
As for my level of enjoyment, given that I have similar experiences in real life for some of these shorts, I really love this one. It is a fantastic detour from epic and sometimes weird and wacky animated movies that I am used to, and goes to show that simplicity can be great if done well.
Conclusion
Considering I helped out with the movie’s subtitles, I will be slightly biased with this movie. With that said, I really love this movie, and it could go toe to toe with other great animated movies that came out this year.
To the Bright Side is a special, one-of-a-kind animated movie that is quite hard to find, each invoking a special childhood memory from each director that hits the right notes. The unique animation styles of each short is inspired, the score helps to increase the impact of each short, and is just a well-produced animated movie despite a lot of limitations this anthology has to go through.
There is a reason why anthology movies, let alone anthology animated movies, are very rare: not all stories will hit well, but when most if not all do, they create to become a harmonised animated movie worth remembering. Fortunately, To the Bright Side is one of those anthology movies that hit the mark, and is why sometimes less is more as in this case for this hard to find anthology animated movie.
Thank you so much for joining me on this special adventure. Since October is a relatively quiet month for animation, perhaps it is time that I take a short break in preparation for the holiday season, but when we return, more animated movie adventures are coming our way! I will see you in the next adventure, and until then, k thanks bye!
Blaziker’s Hot Sauce Movie Rating
