“The Cowboy’s Flute” eschews dialogue completely, opting to tell its story entirely through the animation and the accompanying music, making it entirely accessible to a non-Chinese speaking audience. The melding of the aural and visual experiences is nearly flawless, and the painted settings are far more grandiose and ambitious than those in “Little Tadpole Looking for Mummy” The closing montage of visuals features great flocks of birds, all painted in different ink painting styles, while the music builds to a crescendo. The effect is so dazzling that it comes as a surprise when the boy awakens from his dream at the end of the film.

Feeling from Mountain and Water

Titled after a phrase for landscape painting, “Feeling from Mountain and Water” tells a simple tale of an impoverished and elderly scholar and a young girl who cares for him briefly in return for zither lessons. Any still from the movie would serve as a beautiful painting in its own right, but this would utterly lose the charm of the astonishingly beautiful animation and the deeply moving musical accompaniment. This last film uses no dialogue because there is no need for it. It bypasses language to tap into an emotional depth that can’t be reached through spoken words. The majority of the film features a beautiful zither accompaniment, but some of the most moving moments of the film unfold purely through the image to the sound of rushing winds or total silence. The emotional impact of the film is undeniable. This is a genuine masterpiece of animation on every level.