The 1990s ushered in a turning point in China's film industry-the style of animation shifted from traditional to nontraditional. During the decade, many highquality feature animations were produced. The Precious Lotus Lamp, which took four years to shoot, came out in 1999. It is widely believed to be the most expensive full一length animated film in Chinese history. The story adopted a Chinese ethnic
minority legend as its plot. Some of the excellent short-animated films that were also unveiled were: Donkey Bearer (1991) King Election of Sparrows (1992), Deer Girl(1993), and Musical Ship (2000). All of these productions instilled new vitality into China's animated film industry.
