Wan brothers

The Wan Brothers (Chinese: 萬氏兄弟) were 20th century animators born in Nanjing, China.^[1] They became the founders and pioneers of the Chinese animation industry^[2] and made the first Asian animation feature-length film, Princess Iron Fan in 1941.^[3]

This is the earliest known photo of 3 of the Wan brothers: Laiming, GuChan and ChaoChen. The pamphlet is made after 1941, since the cartoon character on the front is from Princess Iron Fan. They are promoted as 卡通作家 or "Cartoon Creators"

Background

The era in which the Wan brothers operated was a rather challenging one for building an industry.^[4] The brothers lived through the Second Sino-Japanese War,^[5] World War II and the Cultural Revolution. They also made the famous cartoon animation, Havoc in Heaven.

The brothers

English Name	Chinese Name	Born	Died
Wan Laiming	萬籟鳴	January 18, 1900	October 7, 1997
Wan Guchan	萬古蟾		November 19, 1995
Wan Chaochen	萬超塵	1906	October 28, 1992
Wan Dihuan	萬滌寰	1907	1990

Parents

Their father was in the silk business. Their mother was a seamstress.

See also

• Chinese animation
• History of Chinese animation