A locally produced 3D animated short film featuring treasures from the National Palace Museum beat off competition from hundreds of other works from around the world at this year's Tokyo Anime Awards to grab the top prize, museum director Lin Mun-lee (林曼麗) said on Wednesday.
The film Adventures in the NPM, produced by the museum and Taipei-based Digimax Inc, will be awarded the prize on March 29 at the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008, Lin said.
Lin described the 12-minute film that took more than a year to complete as the fruit of the museum's efforts through its "Old is New" program to promote the spirit of innovation.
Lin said the museum teamed up with some of the top names in the entertainment production industry, including Gerard Pires, director of the 1998 comedy blockbuster Taxi, Hollywood animation director Tom Sito and Taiwanese animation and digital content firm Digimax Inc, renowned for its dazzling 3D animation technology, to tell stories surrounding ancient artworks at the museum by using the latest computer animation techniques.
The three major characters in the film are personified animated depictions of some of the museum's most valuable artefacts -- a ceramic pillow, a jade amulet and a jade duck.
"They take part in an exciting story centered around the search for a cricket that has flown away from another museum treasure, the Jadeite cabbage," Lin said.
The film, Lin continued, is only the beginning of an ambitious project to make a 90-minute commercial animated film within the next three years to "tell our stories through manifestations of Taiwan's culture."
The annual Anime Fair is organized by the Tokyo City government and Japanese animation enterprises and organizations to encourage the development of the animation industry. It is one of the world's largest animation-themed exhibitions.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators