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| Xiao Xiao | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action Dark humor Surreal humor |
| Created by | Zhu Zhiqiang |
| Developed by | Zhu Zhiqiang |
| Voices of | Charlie Lehardy (#1) Zhu Zhiqiang (#9) |
| Composer | Zhu Zhiqiang |
| Country of origin | China |
| Original languages | Chinese English |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Zhu Zhiqiang |
| Running time | 1-2 minutes |
| Production company | XiaoXiao Movie.com |
| Original release | |
| Network | Newgrounds |
| Release | April 19, 2001 (2001-4-19) – February 23, 2002 (2002-2-23) |
Xiao Xiao (Chinese:小小作品;pinyin:Xiǎo Xiǎo Zuò Pǐn,lit. "Little Work") is anInternetFlash cartoon series byBeijing-basedChineseanimator Zhu Zhiqiang (simplified Chinese:朱志强;traditional Chinese:朱志強;pinyin:Zhū Zhìqiáng).
The cartoon featuresstick figures performingchoreographed fight scenes. Some of the cartoons areinteractive and game-like.[1] All cartoons are in theAdobe Flash format, with the exception of Xiao Xiao #1, which was originally inAVI format and converted to Flash format. Others have seized onXiao Xiao's popularity to make animations exploiting the easy-to-draw style of stick figures and minimalist backgrounds, creating cartoons that are sequels orparodies of the official cartoons.[2]
InMandarin Chinese; "Xiao Xiao" is theChinese character for "small" repeated twice. Here thisreduplication connotes an affectionate diminutive, an equivalent might be the English expression "itty bitty" or "lil' old".[3] EachXiao 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".
Over time, the term gradually shifted meaning from the series itself to the main character, an anonymous black stick figure.
In June 2004, Zhu filed a lawsuit againstNike for plagiarizing his cartoon stickmen in their commercials. Nike's representatives denied the accusations, claiming that the stickman figure lacks originality, and is public domain. Zhu eventually won thelawsuit, claiming his copyright on his style and not the stickman,[4] and Nike was ordered to pay $36,000 to thecartoonist.[5][6] Nike stated it would appeal the suit in theBeijing High People's Court.[7][5] Nike won the appeal in 2006, with the judge saying in the paper that the Nike stickman design was different than Zhu's stickman design.[8] After winning the suit, Nike stated "This was never a commercial issue for us. It was a matter of principle."[9]
