一講起中國動畫片，觀眾必定會想起受到國內外推崇備至的水墨畫風，第一部水墨動畫片要從1960年動畫先驅特偉執導的《小蝌蚪找媽媽》說起，片中的魚蝦、小雞、青蛙等造型取自國畫大師齊白石筆下，完美用水墨表現出動物惟妙惟肖的動作，到廿多年之後特偉再執導筒的《山水情》，景色柔和，筆調細緻，再起水墨風雲，依然舉世矚目。此外，1981年《九色鹿》，採用了敦煌壁畫的形式創作。這些作品曾在中國動畫發展歷史中掀起令世界矚目的浪潮。

Applying the traditional aesthetics of ink-wash painting, ink-wash animation represented a great artistic breakthrough for Chinese animation, but very few such films were ever made due to the resources required. From 1961 to 1988, Shanghai Animation Film Studio produced four ink-wash films. The first, Tadpoles Looking For Their Mother, whimsically depicts tadpoles meeting different animals while searching for their mother. The last, Feeling from Mountain and Water, is a lyrical masterpiece about an elderly zither musician and his disciple. Based on a tale from a Dunhuang Caves painting, A Deer of Nine Colors is animated in the style of ancient Buddhist paintings.