The cartoon Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland (草原英雄小姐妹) is based on the true story of two Mongolian sisters who almost sacrificed their lives to protect the sheep of the people’s commune in a snowstorm in February 1964.  

The two sisters were immediately promoted as national models for children to emulate. Learning the heroic story of the two Mongolian sisters, animators promptly embarked on making Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland, as if making a timely documentary or news report. The images of the two sisters in this animated film were also based on their real photos, giving the film claims to corporeal authenticity enabled by photographic realism.  

Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland is the transitional film between the Seventeen Years and the Cultural Revolution in the history of Chinese animation. Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland was the first animated film that directly portrayed, praised, and deified Chairman Mao. Mao’s portrait appears in the beginning and end of the film; the theme song of this film also directly praises Mao. This film served as the model animated film for later films to emulate during the Cultural Revolution, a decade characterized by repetition of the realist film styles and revolutionary stories. 

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