The Contemporary Expression of Nationalized Comedy: Observing the Innovative Practices of the Chinese Animation School through Nobody

Abstract

Taking the latest production of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio (hereafter referred to as SAFS), Nobody, as a case study, this paper explores the innovative practice of nationalized comedy within the contemporary Chinese animation school. Building upon the creative experience of Yao-Chinese Folktales, the film employs a combination of two-dimensional ink wash hand-drawing and digital craftsmanship. Narratively, it deconstructs the classic Journey to the West motif from the perspective of “small demons,” transforming the grand narrative into a humorous expression of grassroots experience through the structural device of “pretending to join the pilgrimage—repeatedly being exposed.” The film’s comedic mechanisms emerge from a fusion of identity dislocation, trick deconstruction, and self-ridicule, where the humor relies not only on semantics but also on the interplay of audiovisual rhythm and the audience’s shared knowledge. On the aesthetic level, the integration of ink-wash blank space, rich color schemes, and operatic music turns nationalized style into an intrinsic emotional resource for narration. From a vertical comparative perspective, the film shifts the “hero-centered” focus toward the “ordinary condition,” thereby moving from “deification” to “humanization.” From a horizontal comparative perspective, it demonstrates how the SAFS comedy tradition is inherited while simultaneously infused with modern terms and social metaphors to enhance audience resonance. Furthermore, by paying tribute to SAFS’s own classics, the film links stylistic memory with contemporary sentiment. This study argues that Nobody continues the creative ethos of “neither repeating oneself nor imitating others,” and illustrates that the integration of national aesthetics with contemporary terms and comedic strategies represents a feasible pathway for the Chinese animation school to move toward a “new classic.”