When I think of cool works of art from the early internet days, I always think back to the 2001 Xiao Xiao animation series. They were simplistic, well choreographed, and just really badass. I never really cared for his interactive animations, personally. I thought they were just a bit too stilted and forced for me. When Zhu Zhiqiang had the chance to really dictate the pacing of the experience, I think that's when he really shines.
Some may say that the series has aged quite poorly and that many animators since then have long since surpassed him. But I still think it's worth taking a look at for the sake of preserving history.
The first animation is a choreographed fight between 2 stickmen. It takes a lot of inspiration from classic martial arts films. I think what I appreciate most about it is how comprehensible the orientation of the characters are despite not having any shading or depth perception of any kind. They don't move within the third dimension, but it's still clear when they turn or spin around and stuff.
The animation is also served well by the use of well-timed sound samples and blood spurts to give every hit have a greater impact.
I know none of this is particularly special nowadays, but that was a time when I didn't understand how amazing animation could look in pure black and white. My mental concept of animation was still along the lines of pokemon that actually have really sub-par action. Seeing this fast, fluid, ruthless action was a magical experience for me.
The other Xiao Xiao animation that I remember as being particularly memorable is Xiao Xiao 3. Rather than the smaller scale 1v1 fight of Xiao Xiao 1, Xiao Xiao 3 opts for having its protagonist infiltrating an enemy base and smashing every skull that moves. The animation is a lot more ambitious here with a lot more moving parts, and a lot more bodies to keep track of. The blood splatter from Xiao Xiao 1 is absent here, but that was probably for the best.
One flaw that did become very apparent after watching this all the way through is that these characters don't actually have a sense of fatigue, endurance, or pain threshold. When they get hit, their movements don't dull. It's like they have "Skyrim-style" health bars. They are as physically capable from full health to 1% health, but once it reaches 0%, they instantly turn into ragdolls.
The third animation that I like out of the series is Xiao Xiao 5. While the other two animations had influence from stuff like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, this one had more influence from otaku culture. There are a lot of fantastical elements and exaggerated animations. Particularly, there were a lot of Dragon Ball references.
They were teleporting around and throwing punches from a million directions, shooting kamehamehas, and I'm pretty sure Goku's Power Pole was also in there.
But this was also the only Xiao Xiao animation that doesn't have any closure. The ending is a gag where the two rivals stop fighting for the sake of a joke. I do appreciate that he did something different for once, though.
The rest of the Xiao Xiao library is either interactive experiences like a beat-em-up and a rail shooter, or more narrative-focused 3-d stick figure animations. I'm not really a fan of those, to be honest.
Xiao Xiao also got the attention of some advertising agencies, so he made some advertisements for Heineken Beer and the CityPlaza Mall in Hong Kong. I'm glad that his hard work eventually opened some doors to advance his career.
There's very little information after that point as to what Zhu Zhiqiang has been up to since his advertisement work, unfortunately. I can only hope that things worked out for him.
