2016年CRI Monkey Mascot under Criticism

 

The mascot¹, Kangkang, debuted² on Thursday.

It's based on a colored ink prototype painted by well-known Chinese artist Han Meilin.

The 80-year-old is the man behind the famous "fuwa," the mascots³ for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

For the Spring Festival mascot, his design is a smiling monkey with only its round, hairy head in view, with his face in yellow, emerald green and rose.

Upon its release, criticism was almost immediate⁴.

Numerous people have criticized the 3-D image for being either ugly or in bad taste.

Others say the body that has since been added to the original has also ruined Han Meilin's original idea.

And others have taken issue with the design itself, particularly the puffy areas below each of the monkey's ears which, Han says, is how a monkey's cheeks swell⁵ up when chewing.

3-D animation⁶ designers, including Zhao Xiansheng, are suggesting the monkey's design has gone against certain principles.

"A popular face is important for a cartoon figure, which can make the artwork itself more attractive to audiences. But obviously, this thing is not like that."

Han Meilin began working on the design of the monkey after being commissioned by China Central Television in November.

He says his design is inspired by the Monkey King of Chinese legend to create the image, and says he decided⁷ on the colors for its face based on Chinese cultural tradition.

Han Meilin says he was not shown the 3-D model before it was made public.

3-D designer Zhao Xiansheng is suggesting traditional painting isn't normally useful when it comes to 3-D designs.

"Creating a 3-D work is quite different from painting a 2-D picture. It requires a lot more thought when it comes to shading, color schemes and motion design. It would have been better if the monkey was animated⁸ first."

With more than a decade of experience in the sector⁹, Zhao Xiansheng admits Chinese 3-D animators still need to hone their skills when it comes to the artistic¹⁰ side of things.

"China has some of the leading 3-D animation techniques in the world. However, Chinese 3-D designers are still somewhat weak when it comes to imagination and artistic expression."

The monkey's name, Kang Kang, means health in Chinese.

It's the first mascot ever produced for China Central Televisions's annual Spring Festival Gala.

This year's gala will be aired on February 7th, which is the eve of this year's Spring Festival.

CCTV has yet to respond to the criticism about Kang Kang's look.

For CRI, this is Liu Yuanhui.

1 mascot   

n.福神，吉祥的东西

参考例句：

• The football team's mascot is a goat.足球队的吉祥物是山羊。
• We had a panda as our mascot.我们把熊猫作为吉详物。

2 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

3 mascots   

n.吉祥物( mascot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the mascots was the platypus. 吉祥物一是鸭嘴兽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Information on all things Olympic, including logos, mascots, venues,and bid candidates. 所有事情奥林匹克，包括的标识语，吉祥物，地点，和出价候选人的信息。 来自互联网

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

6 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。