A page from pop-up book Havoc in Heaven (Photo/Courtesy of Lelequ)
The 1964 animated film Havoc in Heaven is considered a milestone for China's animation industry. The film even inspired Japanese animation giant Hayao Miyazaki to become an animator. The story, adapted from the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West, has made a comeback this year at the 23rd Beijing International Book Fair as the mainland's first original pop-up book.
"It is an honor and a big responsibility as well to carry on China's traditional culture with a pop-up book," said Yan Hongbing, the art designer for the book Havoc in Heaven and art director for the book's publisher Lelequ, at the book's launch ceremony on Friday.
He said he became deeply impressed with the medium of pop-up books while introducing the pop-up version of Alice in Wonderland to China.
"I got the idea to make pop-up books featuring traditional Chinese stories. We have a lot of good stories," he added.
The new book, which includes over 300 moving parts, took the team led by Yan and veteran painter Huang Li a year and a half to finish.
"Being loyal to tradition doesn't mean limiting yourself to ink wash paintings or paper-cutting. When working on Havoc in Heaven, we also took religious wall paintings into consideration, among which those from Dunhuang are the most representative," Huang said.
