Xiao Xiao
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encyclopedia
Xiao Xiao (Chinese: 小小作品; pinyin: Xiǎo Xiǎo Zuò Pǐn) is an internet Flash cartoon series by Chinese animator Zhu Zhiqiang,
featuring stick-figuremen
performing choreographed fight scenes. Some of the
cartoons are interactive and game-like. All cartoons are in the Adobe Flash format, although Xiao Xiao
#1 was originally in AVI format. It has now been
converted to Flash format.
"Xiao Xiao" literally is the Chinese character for "small"
repeated twice in Mandarin Chinese;
here this reduplication connotes an affectionate
diminutive – an equivalent might be the English expression "itty
bitty" or "lil' old". Each Xiao Xiao cartoon is given a Chinese
title with the adjective "Xiao Xiao" preceding a descriptive noun
phrase. Xiao Xiao #1 was originally titled "Xiao Xiao Zuo Pin", which
translates to "A Little Bit of Creative Work". Since then each Xiao
Xiao cartoon has had a different noun succeeding "Xiao Xiao" – #4 is
titled "Little Sheriff", and #7 is titled "Little Movie".
The term has gradually shifted meaning from
the cartoons themselves to the main character, an anonymous black stick-figure
– in this context it means something akin to "little fella",
appropriate since in most perspectives Xiao Xiao and his fellow stick-people
appear tiny and childlike, with disproportionately large heads and small limbs.
Xiao Xiao is placed in various dangerous
situations to prove his martial arts prowess, often against
other stick figures who appear more or less identical to himself. Usually other
stick figures are also black, but can be other colors, and Xiao Xiao's
perpetual nemesis is the Boss, a purple stick figure who commands the enemy
sticks and appears to be Xiao Xiao's only peer in ability.
Others have seized on Xiao Xiao's popularity
to make animations exploiting the easy-to-draw style of stick figures and
minimalist backgrounds, often creating cartoons that are sequels or takeoffs of
the official Xiao Xiao cartoons, especially Xiao Xiao #3.
Episodes
·
Xiao Xiao #1 is a simple fight between two stick-figure
men, parodying the look of Hong Kong martial
arts films by taking the level of violence in the fight
to extremes.
·
Xiao Xiao #2 adds interactivity; the stick-man (Xiao
Xiao) faces a series of physical challenges, the outcomes of which depend on
the player's timing. The game contains many features that would later become a
staple of the Xiao Xiao series, including revamped animation and character
design, most notable the introduction of the series' main antagonist, "The
Boss" (although he is not referred to by name until Xiao Xiao #3), a
magenta-colored crime boss who acts as the final
challenge of the game via a boss
fight.
·
Xiao Xiao #3 is a kung-fu style fight scene in a
simple line-drawn building; Xiao Xiao faces off against a seemingly endless
series of stick-man opponents (actually around forty enemies) using fast-paced
martial arts moves; the simple background, two-dimensional movement, vanishing
corpses and regenerating enemies call to mind side-scrolling
games. The encounter ends in a final showdown between Xiao Xiao and
a purple stick-man labeled "Boss" (another video game reference) in a
fight that parodies multiple scenes from The Matrix (especially Xiao Xiao's
last move, a slow-motion air kick which resembles that of Trinity at the beginning of the
movie as well as using a sound clip straight from the movie). The visual theme
of Xiao Xiao, a plain black stick-man, fighting against a purple stick-man
Boss, remains constant throughout the series. This is the best known Xiao Xiao
animation, and has been shown on MTV. This Xiao Xiao is one of the more famous
and thought of as the one hardest worked on, and is noted to be one of
"the original stick fighting flash movies", and sets the bar for the
many stick flash movies.
·
Xiao Xiao #4 is an interactive first-person shooting game
in the style of Virtua Cop, casting
the player as Xiao Xiao in the role of a Western-style sheriff complete with cowboy hat
and six-shooter. It ends with another scripted fight scene with the purple Boss
(which parodies another scene from The Matrix).
·
Xiao Xiao #5, billed as a "Battle to the death...
and beyond" returns to the two-dimensional fighting-game-reminiscent
side-view style of #3. This time Xiao Xiao and the Boss duel using various
conventions from anime and manga, exhibiting supernatural powers such as
the use of magic spells, the ability to pull
weapons out of hammerspace and to continue their
battle through astral travel after death. It is notable
for its comedic ending, where an ambulance shows up in the middle of the fight,
taking the two character's dead bodies away. The two look at one another, then
both run after the ambulance.
·
Xiao Xiao #6 returns to Xiao Xiao #2's style but this
time with a bit more of a plot, forcing the player to button-mash Xiao-Xiao
through a barroom brawl.
·
Xiao Xiao #7 and #8 are the most elaborate of the
animations, forsaking the side-view of previous Xiao Xiaos for a fully
three-dimensional, cinematic camera view throughout. Once again riffing on
films like The Matrix, they depict Xiao Xiao's
infiltration of the Boss's mansion and his pursuit after the Boss escapes. #8
ends with a "To Be Continued" message and has yet to have a
sequel, though given that the ending is a bit of an anticlimax, and that
two more flashes unrelated to this one came out after it, the message may have
been ironic.
·
Xiao Xiao #9, a departure from the rest of the series, is
a fully interactive beat em up game in the style of Final Fight and Streets of Rage where Xiao Xiao uses Guy's moves. Rather than a plain,
pen-and-ink background, the background is this time a full-color, realistic
re-creation of a desk ostensibly intended to be Zhu's (the computer monitor has
a screenshot of Xiao Xiao #3). As with other Xiao Xiaos and the original
beat-em-ups that helped inspire them, Xiao Xiao must fight through a series of
stick-thugs before confronting the Boss.
·
Xiao Xiao #10 or Xiao Xiao: Mall Brawl
appears to have been created by Zhu as an advertisement for the CityPlaza mall in Hong Kong; it is an
altered version of Xiao Xiao #3 wherein the main character/hero is a red
stickman (to match the CityPlaza logo) and the background has been embellished
to make it resemble the inside of a shopping mall. You can also see the
original black Xiao Xiao making a cameo appearance for a short while. He is in
the background and doesn't fight, but simply rides past on a pair of ice
skates. Also, a scene from Xiao Xiao #3 is also playing on the TV during the
fight. Contrary to belief, Xiao Xiao was not initially aired on MTV, but
originally was viewed on the Flash animation super community known as
www.Newgrounds.com.
·
Xiao Xiao Beer Ad #1 appears to have been created by Zhu
as a Chinese advertisement for Heineken Beer. This one is one of
the more recent movies and also is the first to feature eyes and facial
expressions on the stick figures. The movie starts with odd coding lines moving
down the screen in a style similar to the matrix and then it zooms in on a
Heineken Beer bottle. The scene then changes to the original black Xiao Xiao
holding a Heineken Beer Bottle and a bo-staff. Suddenly some enemy stick figures
appear and try to steal his beer. Xiao Xiao fights them off with his staff in
an action packed fight scene, while keeping the bottle safe. After the second
to last grunt falls, one last one appears and attempts to shoot him with a
pistol. Xiao Xiao proceeds to skillfully dodge the bullets and then strike the
ground with his staff, causing a massive crevice to crack open in the earth and
the foe falls right in. The movie ends with Xiao Xiao holding up the bottle and
smiling, then it shifts to a Heineken advertisement saying "Get Connected,
Heineken."
·
Xiao Xiao Beer Ad #2 is the sequel to Xiao Xiao Beer Ad
#1 and uses the same style, as well as picks up immediately where the last one
left off. It also appears to be a Chinese Heineken Beer advertisement as well.
After the one enemy stick figure falls into the crevice, he then jumps out,
hinting that he must be the Boss. This one then proceeds to create physical
doubles of himself in a manner similar to Naruto's Shadow
Clone. The stick figure and his doubles then charge toward Xiao
Xiao. He then fights off the enemy stick figures with his staff and slays every
last one of them. After the last one is defeated, a car drives by him. Xiao
Xiao scratches the side of the car with his staff. A stick figure then emerges
from the back door and he slams him down immediately. After that, Xiao Xiao
proceeds to drop the staff and fly into the air, Superman style, and then lands
on top of a giant Heineken Beer bottle. At the end, the scene once again shifts
to a Heineken advertisement saying "Get Connected, Heineken," but
with Xiao Xiao standing heroically on top the bottle.
Characters
·
Xiao Xiao
Xiao Xiao is the protagonist of the series.
He is a martial arts expert, as well as an elite assassin. His skills are
unmatched, and the only person who comes close is the Boss.
·
Bad Boss
Bad Boss is another martial artist, and
appears to be some sort of a gang leader and the main antagonist of the series.
He is the only one who can give Xiao Xiao a decent fight, and has been beaten
by Xiao Xiao on multiple occasions. His name is a reference to most video
games, in which a very difficult character near the end is called a boss. The
Boss usually appears inmagenta.
·
The gangs
Various-colored stickfigures who are beat
down by Xiao in a matter of seconds.
Legal dispute
In June 2004, Zhu filed a lawsuit against Nike for plagiarizing his
cartoon stickmen in their commercials. Nike representatives denied the
accusations, claiming that the stickman figure lacks originality, and is public
domain. Zhu eventually won the lawsuit, and Nike was ordered to pay $36,000 to
the cartoonist.
