Dalton speech

[Page 1]
Distinguished guests, friends of the animation industry, good morning/afternoon. My name is
Dalton Grant Jr, an animation director working in China by way of Hollywood and west
Burbank. I am honored and blessed to have been invited to this event and speak in front of all of
you today. I have been attending several animation summits in China and each time I am more
excited and impressed as I’m always seeing faces old and new, which gives me a sense of home
and hope. I’d also just like to express my great fondness of the city of Hangzhou. This is my
second time here and I hope to be back more often.

[page 2]
Before I dive into my story and understanding of Chinese animation and animation co-
productions, I’d like to briefly introduce myself. I was a very lucky young man when I met Jo
Ranft, my mentor, and the greatest storyteller in my opinion, to work on Cars as my first ever
animation project. Yes, that’s 25 years ago. I was a determined student in college, making every
effort possible to learn and practice. That’s when Jo said, come on Dalton, what’s a better place
to learn animation than at Pixar.

[page 3]
From there, I challenged myself every step of the way by breaking out of my comfort zone to go
on various projects. I storyboarded Shrek 2, SpongeBob: Sponge out of Water ( hai Mian bao
bao, as I’ve learned since I came to China), My Little Pony: Equestrian Girls, Emmy winning
stop motion project Tumble Leaf, and Disney’s DuckTale, to name a few. Through all these
experiences, I grew not just as an animator, but someone who appreciates the power of story.
I’ve been a disciple since.

My story with China started with a 3D short I made in 2008, that won at the Austin Film
Festival. It’s the folklore of the Elephant Trunk Hill in Guilin city, Guangxi province. The story
planted a seed. Since then, I managed to come to China for short project consulting gigs or judge
duties. In 2018, I decided to give China a real chance, to be in a market that is going uphill and
really lend my skill set and knowledge of the animation industry in the west, to marry it with the
Chinese aesthetics and philosophy to see what chemistry may come.

The decision has opened my eyes to a world I can say today that I’m happy to be a part of. It’s
beyond money, more than trophies. I’d like to share my perception of the Chinese animation, and
what makes a co-production, especially with the U.S. doable, profitable, or maybe even
enjoyable. I’m sure we’ve all had our share of hard times working with people from different
cultures.

[page 4]
See, I am now working as a director and story consultant on a few series projects. But it didn’t
start easy here. I’ve also terminated quite a few collaborations because I couldn’t get my ideas
across. The frustration was real. But that wasn’t to say I was the only righteous one in the story. I
never asked but I’m pretty sure my Chinese counterparts were as frustrated. I’ve talked to many
US artists working here in China. The stories were always similar. Some left. Some, like me,
decided to take a step back and think what it meant to work with a Chinese team or studio and
how do we join forces, so they multiply instead of diminishing one another. As someone who
grew up in the Pixar story room, or what we call “the war room”, I know that good stories don’t
come from agreements and blind compliments. Pointed questions and relentless discussions are
the pressure that makes a beautiful diamond called “story”.

[page 5]
But I realized what stood in between US animation and Chinese animation wasn’t that they
didn’t want diamond. It’s about what the diamond goes on. The method of making the diamond
is meant to be different if the rock is going on a ring vs going on a vinyl player.

I recently had a talk with one Chinese animation studio owner, who explained the thinking
behind his producing directions. He has a few projects going on. Some are already on air for a
few seasons. Some are new. When I heard about the production schedule for one of his new
shows, from a very stereotypical production perspective, it didn’t make sense to rush it. But
when he explained the business model, it made sense that the important aspect of this very
project is the animation character design. They are making a good story. But they don’t need the
story to be as fine-tuned as a feature film, or a series that gears towards winning the day-time
Emmy.

[PAGE 6]
That’s what the first point I want to touch on, which is the importance of communication in a co-
production. Imagine the project I just mentioned. If the US artist didn’t know about the bigger
context of the project, the collaboration probably won’t last, or even happen to begin with. In my
experience here in China, I’ve seen western clients making requests without understanding the
pipeline of the studios here, or Chinese studios asking western artists to be “flexible”. This is not
about whose method is right.

[PAGE 7]
Co-production is a conversation between two people who don’t speak the same language,
literally and figuratively speaking. The pre-requisite is to first acknowledge that we are speaking
two different languages, which means the two sides are deploying different logics when it comes
to production. For animation, we are lucky as we already don’t have to worry about a lot of the
jargons for both sides. That really doesn’t mean we don’t have hurdles to overcome. Contexts of
projects are more important than we give it credits for. The survival tip I’d like for everyone to
have is that having too many questions you need to ask or answer, is definitely a good thing.
[page 8]
On this topic, I’d like to share my experience working with a local studio here, You Nuo
animation studio, on the current project Hey, Toma. It’s a cute show that teaches kids how to
understand this world through colors.

[page 9]
The special thing is, it’s the colors themselves that are teaching kids about not just colors, but
friendship, teamwork, how to share, and how to view the world they are about to enjoy and
change.
- introduce the project. Describe its theme [turn to page 10]
- why you particularly love the story
- how you work with the writers
- how you work with different studios

I think this project truly represents how Chinese studios are passionate about exploring stories
with universal values with home teams and foreign partners. I’m really glad that I could be part
of the creative process and I hope Hey, Toma could win the affection of kids here and all over
the world.

[page 11]
Another message I’d like to put out there is more for my western peers over at Burbank. If you
search for “Chinese animation” on the internet, there’s still results like “lack of originality” that
pop us first. China is a country with 1.5 billion people. It’s so modernized beyond a lot of
people’s imagination. If you didn’t know, China just celebrated the 100-year anniversary of
animation last year. You probably also didn’t know that animation programs in Chinese colleges
explore animation styles utilizing ink painting, paper cutting, Chinese shadow puppetry, clay
sculpture. The list goes on. It’s an incredible market with potential that can’t be overlooked. I’d
like to give you some stats. According to a report done by Century Cultural Consultation, by
2023, over 80percent of audiences think that quality of top Chinese animation movies is on par
with Hollywood movies, if not better. That includes a lot of young people with great purchasing
powers in first tier cities. If you’ve lived here, you know that’s great news.

[page 12]
Chinese animations are making its transitions as well. If we look at 15 years ago, there would be
a lot of talks of animation being only for kids. Look at it now. There are animation films and
series that are original IPs like Deep Sea, Oh My School. There are adaptations of ancient stories
and legends like Ne Zha and Jiang Ziya. There are spin offs of gaming IPs like Arcane. Stories
that are retold like Chang An, and stories that are true to people around me like Oh My School.
These products are designed for all ages. For example, the movie Oh My School, an animation
that talks about school kids in China, can be enjoyed by kids, or kids with parents, or better,
people who are in their late 20s and early thirties, to have that nostalgic feeling. It’s a story that
comes out of the northeast of China. I can imagine all of my Dongbei friends loving that movie
to no end. And my friends, we are talking about a country with 5000 years of history. They
invented paper. If you think people from this country don’t know how to tell good stories, then
you probably have some rethinking to do.

But just like any other country, the development and advancement of animation in China is going
through its phases as well. I feel incredibly encouraged as I talk to more animation studios and
watch amazing films and series coming out of China. I think the table has turned. It’s not that
China needs the expertise and help desperately. It’s the days of talented Chinese artists wanting
to co-create with world artists who can provide a different perspective. Or dare I say, it’s going
into the age where international artists should want to jump in more projects with China to
experience the great beginning of another animation force that will soon enough wow the world.

[page 13]
Let’s create together (pause)

Thank you.