Animated Canons: The Canons of Animation between the East and the West

This paper explores the evolution of animation canons in the East and the West, examining how distinct aesthetic, cultural, and ideological frameworks have shaped the medium from its early industrial modernity to the contemporary global era.The study revisits the formation of the Western canon, built on naturalism and narrative individualism, and the Eastern canon, founded on stylization, emotional abstraction, and symbolic resonance.Against this backdrop, Chinese animation emerges as a unique intermediary field, constantly negotiating between imported models and local traditions.Through a historical and theoretical lens, the article analyzes the hybrid nature of Chinese animation, from the Wan Brothers and the Shanghai Animation Studio to contemporary co-productions such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms.The argument concludes that animation today is entering a polycentric phase in which the boundaries between East and West are increasingly fluid, creating new global canons that reflect both cultural diversity and technological convergence.