《小蝌蚪找妈妈》是中国第一部水墨动画电影，由上海美术电影制片厂于1960年制作而成，根据方慧珍、盛璐德同名童话改编。通过刚出生的小蝌蚪，生动地介绍了各种动物的习性及状态。它是为数不多的水墨动画中的精品之一。
“Little Tadpoles Looking for Mother” is China’s first ink and wash animation film, produced by Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio in 1960 and adapted from the fairy tale of the same name by Fang Huizhen and Sheng Lude. Through the newly born tadpoles, the habits and conditions of various animals are vividly introduced. It is one of the few fine works of ink and wash animation.
剧情简介
开头影片银幕上出现一本素雅的中国画画册，封面打开后，是一幅幽静的荷塘小景，镜头渐渐向画面推去，古琴和琵琶乐曲悠扬而起，把观众带进一个优美抒情的水墨画世界，池塘里的小蝌蚪慢慢蠕动起来。
春天到了，小蝌蚪孵化出来了，它们在水里快乐地游呀游，然后看到岸边的小鸡跟着它们的妈妈很亲热，小蝌蚪们十分羡慕，于是决定去寻找自己的妈妈。它们先遇到了虾公公，忙向虾公公打听妈妈的长相，虾公公告诉它们，它们的妈妈长有两只大眼睛。小蝌蚪们看到金鱼有两只大眼睛，便高兴喊金鱼“妈妈”，但金鱼说小蝌蚪的妈妈有个白肚皮。小蝌蚪们继续寻找，见到有白肚皮的螃蟹，又对螃蟹齐喊“妈妈”，但螃蟹说它们的妈妈只有四条腿儿。小蝌蚪们见乌龟正好是四条腿，又以为乌龟是自己的妈妈，但小乌龟却说这是它的妈妈，因为它与乌龟妈妈长得一样。后来，小蝌蚪们遇见鲶鱼，觉得它与自己长得很相象，应该就是妈妈，结果差一点被鲶鱼吃掉。这时，青蛙妈妈赶来相救，小蝌蚪们终于找到了自己的妈妈。过了不久，它们也终于长成了妈妈的样子。
创作背景
1959年，徐景达希望尝试制作水墨风格的动画，他找到找到摄影师段孝萱。谈到：“齐白石的画可以印在脸盆上，看上去很逼真，能不能把它做成动画”。
两人还找了时任美影厂总技师钱家骏一起研究。
1960年中国美术电影展览会上，时任国务院副总理陈毅听了汇报后说：“你们能把齐白石的画动起来就更好了。”
这个消息传回美影厂后，他们开始了水墨动画实验。
第一个实验镜头是“一只青蛙从荷叶上跳下来”。
这样，探索到基本方法后，开始了更大规模的实验。全厂所有原动画工作人员都开始制作蛙、鱼、虾、马等片段。
3个月后，《水墨动画实验》完成，描绘不同动物的多个几十秒片段组成了一个短片。
根据实验的成果和成片的需要，美影厂创作团队在原有的三四个故事环节的基础上，又加入六七个环节，丰富剧情，并加入彩色的金鱼形象。
1960年7月，时长15分钟的首部水墨动画片《小蝌蚪找妈妈》就这样诞生了。
幕后花絮
1. 《小蝌蚪找妈妈》是中国第一部水墨动画片，当时上海美术电影制片厂为创造出这部作品，用大量精力在技术加以探索，虽然国画技法的特殊性在实现连贯的动态效果方面存在很大困难，但通过拍摄技术手段解决了这个难题，并且营造出了的单纯、质朴、简洁的童话世界。
2. 影片创作源自徐景达先生提出的“齐白石的画可以印在脸盆上，看上去很逼真，能不能把它做成动画”的构想。陈毅副总理在参观上海美术电影制片厂时候了解这个构想后支持了这个想法。
3. 水墨动画《小蝌蚪找妈妈》的原型出自于白石老人的水墨名作《蛙声十里出山泉》。从根本上来说，水墨动画的诞生有着其必然性，它既是老一辈的动画工作者在中国这块传统水墨艺术的厚重土地上，数十年中国传统艺术精神的积累、沉淀，也带有着受到中国传统美学理念的启迪，而迸发出来的创作激情。
Synopsis
At the beginning of the film, a simple and elegant Chinese painting album appeared on the screen. After the cover was opened, it was a small scene of a quiet lotus pond. The lens gradually moved to the screen, and the music of the guqin and pipa rose up, bringing the audience into a beautiful and lyrical ink painting world , The little tadpoles in the pond slowly wriggled.
When spring came, the little tadpoles hatched. They swam happily in the water, and then saw the chicks on the shore follow their mother very affectionately. The little tadpoles were very envious, so they decided to look for their mother. They first met father-in-law, and hurriedly asked father-in-law about his mother’s appearance, and father-in-law told them that their mother had two big eyes. When the tadpoles saw that the goldfish had two big eyes, they happily called the goldfish “mother”, but the goldfish said that the tadpole’s mother had a white belly. The tadpoles continued to search, and they saw a crab with a white belly, and shouted “Mom” to the crabs, but the crab said that their mother had only four legs. The little tadpoles saw that the tortoise had exactly four legs, and thought the tortoise was his mother, but the little tortoise said it was his mother because it looked the same as the tortoise mother. Later, when the little tadpoles met the catfish, they felt that it looked very similar to themselves, and should be their mother, but was almost eaten by the catfish. At this time, the mother frog came to rescue, and the little tadpoles finally found their mother. After a while, they finally grew up to look like their mothers.
Creative background
In 1959, Xu Jingda wanted to try to make an ink-and-wash style animation. He found the photographer Duan Xiaoxuan. Talking about: “Qi Baishi’s painting can be printed on the basin, it looks very lifelike, can it be made into animation”.
The two also approached Qian Jiajun, the chief technician of the US Film Factory at the time, to study together.
At the 1960 China Art and Film Exhibition, Chen Yi, then Vice Premier of the State Council, heard the report and said: “It would be even better if you can move Qi Baishi’s paintings.”
After the news was passed back to the US Film Studio, they began an ink and wash animation experiment.
The first experimental shot was “a frog jumping off a lotus leaf”.
In this way, after exploring the basic method, a larger-scale experiment was started. All the original animation staff of the whole factory began to produce frogs, fish, shrimps, horses and other clips.
Three months later, “Ink and Wash Animation Experiment” was completed, and multiple tens of seconds of fragments depicting different animals formed a short film.
According to the results of the experiment and the needs of the film, the creative team of the Meiying Studio added six or seven links to the original three or four story links to enrich the plot and add a colorful goldfish image.
In July 1960, the first 15-minute ink-and-wash cartoon “Little Tadpoles Looking for Mother” was born.
Behind-the-scenes
1. “Little Tadpoles Looking for Mother” is China’s first ink-and-wash animation. At that time, Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio used a lot of energy to explore technology to create this work, although the particularity of traditional Chinese painting techniques is achieving a coherent dynamic There are great difficulties in effect, but this problem is solved by shooting technology, and a simple, simple and concise fairy tale world has been created.
2. The creation of the film originated from Mr. Xu Jingda’s idea that “Qi Baishi’s paintings can be printed on the basin and look very lifelike, can they be made into animation”. Vice Premier Chen Yi supported this idea after learning about this idea when he visited the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio.
3. The prototype of the ink and wash animation “Little Tadpoles Looking for Mother” comes from the famous ink painting “The Sound of Frogs Ten Miles Out of the Mountain Spring” by the old man Baishi. Fundamentally speaking, the birth of ink and wash animation has its inevitability. It is not only the accumulation and precipitation of traditional Chinese art spirit for decades, but also the influence of the older generation of animators on the heavy land of traditional Chinese ink art. Enlightenment of traditional Chinese aesthetics, and burst of creative passion.