Favorite Children's Cartoons from China: Issue #4

Tadpoles Looking for their Mother - 蝌蚪寻找自己的母亲 (Kēdǒu xúnzhǎo zìjǐ de mǔqīn)

Plot

A school of tadpoles were born. Who is our mom? Then, an interesting and affecting mom-searching journey started. After mistaking goldfish, crab, tortoise and even a big catfish for their mother, the tadpoles eventually found their real mom- frog. The story tells that where there is a will there is a way.

Tadpoles Looking For Their Mama (also known by a variety of other names, including Tadpoles Look For Mother and Where is Mama?) is a Chinese animated short, co-directed by Te Wei and Tang Cheng, and released in 1960. This was the first film to successfully utilize brush-painting animation, which the animators at Shanghai Animation Film Studio had worked tirelessly to develop starting in the late 1950s. Although most sources credit studio director Te Wei with inventing the technique, some believe that more credit is due to animators A Da and Duan Xiaoxuan. Whatever the case, this film amazed audiences in China and around the world. It won awards at several prestigious festivals, including Locarno, Cannes, and Annecy, among others.