ANIMATION

THE GOURD BROTHERS

a children's cartoon or social satire?

By Wenkai (Nero) Guo 

A powerful Boy

The Gourd Brothers is a cartoon that almost every Chinese child of my generation watched growing up, and at first glance, it seems to be nothing more than a simple children's show. But as we grew older and thought about it, we found that it was more of an adult fairy tale and a work of social commentary. The cartoon seems to be about the battle of wits between the gourd children and the goblins, but it is also a metaphor for the struggle between decent people and bad customs. The thirteen episodes concentrate on the social world of 1980’s China and its gradual transition from Mao’s cultural revolution to the more wide-open, morally, and ethically-complex social milieu of the Deng years. If we really look at the cartoon, its commentary and brilliance are hard to miss, as there seems to be sharp messages hidden in the traits of each Gourd brother.

Dawa: Money Corrupts The Heart

Dawa is one of the most interesting of the brothers. His special power is the ability to become bigger or smaller at will, which gives him the courage to face all hardships and dangers. In episode 4, he fights the snake goblin who tries to overpower him with a cunning scheme concerning large amounts of gold. When he can’t bribe Dawa, he offers him even more money and we see Dawa succumbing to the temptation of becoming fantastically, grossly rich. Below is a still from the cartoon that shows the overwhelming level of temptation.

That's a lot of temptation

After the cultural revolution, the temptation to get and amass large amounts of money was huge in Chinese society. In its small way, the Gourd Brothers cartoon warns us about this temptation. At first glance, it seems a joke, but when you think about it it’s actually quite a forceful statement. Nothing could be more direct than when the goblin says, "this golden treasure can be big, you can beware of being pressed by him, you can never turn over." Quite a lesson for kids.

Erwa: social evil wind charming eyes

Erwa is the scout of the seven brothers. He’s clairvoyant and has smooth ears, which allows him to see and hear from far away. He knows the goblins’ every move, and this makes him a powerful force against everything that they want to do. The snake goblin comes up with a treacherous plan to defeat him: he’s going to use an evil wind to blind his clairvoyance. The Demonic wind is an apt metaphor for the bad practices and customs that were emerging in the Deng years.

Quite a warning

Erwa knows right from wrong. His blindness implies that the bad practices can overcome good traits. In a fascinating image from the cartoon, we see Erwa with steel needles in his eyes, representing the pain of blindness. The 1990s was a turbulent era for China and it was difficult to know right from wrong. There were many cunning schemes that blinded people from true justice. This might be a simple cartoon image, but is in fact a strong critique of the problems of not seeing the world in a clear manner and quite a stunning image.

Sanwa: clean person being falsely accused

Sanwa's body is like a bronze wall, which makes him unafraid and invulnerable to all sword and spear attacks. In the second episode Sanwa battles a snake: he appears to smash the snake’s weapons one by one, but the snake finds a weakness, the use of shrinking shoes to immobilize him.

Ill-fitting shoes brings down the hero

Sanwa seems invulnerable to attack; but in the end, he is defeated by the goblin's foot-ware trickery. That is to say, even the incorruptible can fail when they take on the morals (shoes) of those who mean to do harm. The image below captures the way the series makes us aware of new dangers and problems, how corruption can constrain powerful social movements. Instead of moving forward, they inch forward in ill-fitting shoes. It’s a great metaphor for what can go wrong in a dynamic culture and society.

Wuwa: living in the social vacuum

Wuwa can spit water and suck a river dry. The way he attacks is simple: a big rush of water. In a way, his powers are a nice metaphor for what’s good and upright about society. In the second episode of the series, a goblin makes a “stinking five poisons soup’ and contaminates the water with it.

Wuwa drinks it, clutches his stomach in pain, vomits “something” black and faints. The image below gives you a good idea of the scene.

When the world becomes poisonous

When the goblin poisons Wuwa we understand the way the cartoon is commenting on the many bad customs and people in society, especially a society that is changing very fast. The poisoning shows how difficult it is to live in a world without corruption. The goblin pollutes the world and even the powerful Wuwa suffers. It is difficult to survive when the general social environment is poisonous. Wuwa can swallow the mountains and rivers, but he still needs to live in a world of shared and coordinated resources, that, of course, includes water. Here again, The Gourd Brothers, in the guise of a children’s cartoon, makes clear and direct commentary about the world. We are all in this together.

Liuwa: persecuted by small tails and big hats

Liuwa has the power of invisibility and he is the most sensitive and intelligent of the seven brothers. But despite his strength and goodness, the Goblins also defeat him in episode three. Liuwa is stealthy and also agile and flexible. He can come and go without a trace, but he has a weakness; he’s careless and lets his tail show.

Everything's a give away

What becomes clear is that no one can disappear from the world; we are all connected and, in some sense, always seen. Liuwa’s tail is his giveaway and is the cartoon’s way of warning us that we sometimes must be visible in order to fight for what’s right. What The Gourd Brothers makes clear is that no matter what we’re always responsible for the world and society around us.

Conclusion

Although The Gourd Brothers is a children’s cartoon its educational significance is profound, and it is worth thinking about and savoring. In particular, the satire and metaphors in each of the thirteen episodes are based on real world troubles, attacking the bad practices and customs that hurt people. It may be for children, but it requires an adult to appreciate it.

©Wenkai Guo and the CCA Arts Review