Last summer's blockbuster The Avengers captivated audiences worldwide with its Marvel Comics super alliance featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk and Thor. This summer, the Shanghai Animation & Comics Museum has assembled another super alliance featuring a host of popular Chinese and Western characters.

In a three-storied space at the museum, dozens of well-known animated figures have been made from over 300,000 balloons.

Colorful balloons are made into cartoon figures and scenes. Photo: Cai Xianmin/GT

 

Familiar faces and worlds

Passing a door in a colorful balloon wall, visitors will be greeted by the Monkey King, the beloved Chinese hero of Journey to the West standing with great dignity at his beautiful home known as Huaguoshan, or Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.

Behind the monkey's balloon mountain stands several cute Doraemon figures from the classic Japanese manga series. Opposite the cute cats, visitors will see a series of famous figures from Marvel Comics and the DreamWorks hit Kung Fu Panda.

Also on the first floor are Snow White and the seven dwarfs, and a white balloon statue resembling a crystal high heel from the Cinderella fairy tale.

Meanwhile, the second floor has been divided into two pastoral-themed areas: an idyllic Dutch countryside is conjured with windmills and tulips, and a forest is imagined featuring the three main figures from Bonnie Bears, a popular Chinese cartoon series.

The third floor is decked out with an ocean-theme, with hundreds of blue balloons comprising the arched structure and various sea creatures adding a touch of liveliness to the space.

"It took nearly a week to set up the balloons in the exhibition space, but designing and creating the balloon figures took months of team work," said Zhang Guanghui, one of the exhibition's lead designers.

Colorful balloons are made into cartoon figures and scenes. Photo: Cai Xianmin/GT

 

Longtime partners

Twenty-seven-year-old Zhang and Wang Wenshan have been longtime partners in making balloon sculptures and have collaborated on many commercial balloon decoration projects for shopping malls and special ceremonies. Wang was also the only Chinese mainland balloon decoration master to be invited to the World Balloon Convention in Dallas, Texas, in 2012.

The balloon incarnations of American superheroes are the most complicated works in the exhibition, and it is the first time they have been seen on the Chinese mainland. The vividly rendered character Guangtouqiang from Bonnie Bears was also not easy to accomplish, as to produce the irregular shape of the character's head they had to insert three inflated balloons into another balloon.

According to Zhang, the balloons used in the exhibition were all imported from the US, as they decompose more easily and are safer for audiences.

Zhang's company has prepared some 1 million balloons for the maintenance of the exhibition. Every day they check the exhibition to ensure the balloons still look good.

Colorful balloons are made into cartoon figures and scenes. Photo: Cai Xianmin/GT

 

Entertainment for the kids

Every weekend Zhang performs two magic balloon shows at a theater on the third floor, in which he creates various balloon figures seemingly out of nowhere. The shows begin at 11 am and 2 pm. Each day visitors to the exhibition will be given small balloon toys to take home on the second floor of the venue. Children are encouraged to participate in a photography competition in which they don specially designed costumes made of balloons and have their photo snapped. The photos will then be ranked online for a chance to win a number of prizes. All of the photographers are from Shanghai-based photography team OnlyCan, which is led by Can Wong, former director of the Hong Kong Institute of Professional Photographers.

On the last day of the exhibition, all the balloons will be laid on the floor for kids to pop.

Colorful balloons are made into cartoon figures and scenes. Photo: Cai Xianmin/GT

Date: Until August 25, 10 am to 5 pm, admission ends at 4 pm

Venue: Shanghai Animation & Comics Museum 上海动漫博物馆

Address: 69 Zhangjiang Road

张江路69号

Ticket: 100 yuan per person on weekends, 70 yuan per person on weekdays, and free admission for children under 1.3 meters accompanied by adults

Call 5895-7998 for details

Colorful balloons are made into cartoon figures and scenes. Photo: Cai Xianmin/GT