Wang Toon

He won a Golden Horse Award for Best Art Direction for Forever My Love (1976), directed by Pai Ching-jui. In 1981, Wang directed his first feature film, If I Were for Real. It won four Golden Horse Awards, including Best Narrative Feature, Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 18th Golden Horse Awards that year. Between 1981 and 2015, Wang directed 13 feature films, two animated feature films, and one documentary. For his achievements and decades-long contribution to Taiwanese cinema, he was presented the Golden Horse Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. A devout educator, Wang took a teaching position in the Department of Filmmaking at the Taipei National University of the Arts in 2007. He served as the chair from 2010 to 2013, and then from 2017 to 2019. He retired from the university in 2019 and was awarded the Art Education Contribution Award (藝術教育貢獻獎) by the Ministry of Education in 2022.

• Name — Wang Toon • Native Name — 王童 • Landscape — yes • Born — 14 April 1942 • Birthplace — Anhui, China • Occupation — * Film director • art director • production designer • Notable Works — Strawman (1987)

Wang Tong was born Wang Zhonghe in Anhui in 1942. He moved to Taiwan with his family in 1949 due to the Chinese Civil War. Wang studied at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts (國立藝術專科學校) from 1962 to 1965, under the guidance of teachers such as Long Sihliang (龍思良), Gao Yifeng and Wu Yaozong (吳耀宗). When he was young, Wang was nourished by inspiring journals, such as Juchang (劇場; Theatre Magazine) and Wenxue jikan (文學季刊; Literature Magazine), and his association with contemporary poets and painters, including Chen Yingzhen and Wei Tiancong (尉天聰), and Huang Chunming (黃春明) at Cafe Astoria (明星咖啡館). It was there that Wang Tong read the manuscript of the novel Days of Watching the Sea (看海的日子) by Huang Chun-ming, which he later adapted into a popular feature film A Flower in The Raining Night (1983). Wang received his first opportunity in 1963 after joining Yuan Qiufeng 's production of Songfest (1963) as an art assistant. Realizing that he was good at art design, and that he could earn more than his classmates who were working as art teachers, Wang decided to stay working in the film industry. Wang joined the Central Motion Picture Corporation in 1966, where he was mentored by Johnson Tsao Chuang-Sheng on various aspects of film production and production design. During this time, he gained experience working as an art director for films by Lee Hsing, Ting Shan-hsi, Pai Ching-jui, Sung Tsun-shou and Richard Chen Yao-chi. He also seized whatever opportunities he could to learn from other directors he admired, such as Li Han-hsiang and King Hu to polish his production skills. In 1981, Wang made his debut feature film, If I Were for Real, while continuing to work as an art director for his own films and for other directors. Two years later, he directed A Flower in the Rainy Night (1983), an adaptation of Huang Chun-ming's novel, Days of Watching the Sea. The film was a box office success and won two Golden Horse Awards: Lu Hsiao-fen for Best Leading Actress and Ying Ying (英英) for Best Supporting Actress. Wang's next directorial effort was the wuxia film Run Away (1984). It was praised for its realistic style, relative to similar productions from the 1960s and 1970s. His next film, Spring Daddy (1985) was about a family consisting of a mainland veteran father and a Taiwanese mother, a social phenomenon depicted in many 1980s Taiwanese films. Wang subsequently made three films about Taiwan's history from the colonial time of the 1920s to the civil war between the nationalist and communist parties in the mid 20th century: Strawman (1987), Banana Paradise (1989), and Hill of No Return (1992). These films, all realistic depictions of the life experiences of local Taiwanese and mainland immigrants, are also known as Wang's Taiwan trilogy. Red Persimmon (1995) was an autobiographical film based on his childhood memories. Wang's 12th feature A Way We Go (2002) was a contemporary dark comedy about three socially marginalized young men in globalized urban Taipei. After a 13-year hiatus from directing, Wang returned with Where the Wind Settles (2015), which told the story of a group of mainland refugees forming a new family in Taipei after 1949. Wang is also involved in the production of animated films. In 2002, he joined Wang Film Productions Co. Ltd. (宏廣股份有限公司), founded by his elder brother Wang Zhong-yuan. He directed Fire Ball (2005 film) (2005), an adaptation of Chinese novel Journey to the West. The film won Best Animated Feature at the 42nd Golden Horse Awards and Best Animated Feature at the 50th Asia-Pacific Film Festival. The other film, A Story about Grandpa Lin Wang, never came to fruition. Wang was promoted to be the director of Central Motion Picture Corporation Studio (中影製片廠) in 1997. Under his helm, the company established the first and exclusive high-tech post-production studio in Taiwan's film industry, with synchronous recording cameras, lighting equipment, and computer editing capacity. Wang also established Taiwan's first Dolby recording studio, Central Motion Pictures Corporation Dolby Recording (中影杜比錄音室). At the same time, he also worked as the chairman of the Taipei Film Festival from 1997 to 2002. In 2003, when he served as the CEO of the executive committee of the Golden Horse Awards (臺北金馬影展執行委員會), Wang established the Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (金馬創投) which brings regional and international industry professionals to Taiwan with the purpose of developing international joint ventures and cross-productions. Wang was also devoted to education. He took a teaching position in the Department of Filmmaking at the Taipei National University of the Arts in 2007 and served as the chair from 2010 to 2013 and 2017 to 2019. After retiring from the university in 2019, Wang was presented the Art Education Contribution Award (藝術教育貢獻獎) by the Ministry of Education in 2022.

Source Feature film • Year — Chinese title — English title • 1981 — 假如我是真的 — If I Were for Real • 1981 — 窗口的月亮不准看 — Don't Look at The Moon Through The Window • 1982 — 百分滿點 — One Hundred Point • 1982 — 苦戀 — Portrait of A Fanatic • 1983 — 看海的日子 — A Flower in The Raining Night • 1984 — 策馬入林 — Run Away • 1985 — 陽春老爸 — Spring Daddy • 1987 — 稻草人 — Straw Man • 1989 — 香蕉天堂 — Banana Paradise • 1992 — 無言的山丘 — Hill of No Return • 1995 — 紅柿子 — Red Persimmon • 2002 — 自由門神 — A Way We Go • 2015 — 風中家族 — Where the Wind Settles Documentary • Year — Chinese title — English title • 2007 — 童心寶貝 — Tongxin Baobei Animated feature film • Year — Chinese title — English title • 2005 — 紅孩兒：決戰火燄山 — The Fire Ball Screen play • Year — Chinese title — English title • 1995 — 紅柿子 — Red Persimmon Art director • Year — Chinese title — English title — Notes • 1976 — 楓葉情 — Forever My Love • 1976 — 追球追求 — The Chasing Game • 1976 — 翠湖寒 — The Spring Lake • 1977 — 煙水寒 — The Glory of The Sunset • 1977 — 微笑 — The Smiling Face — Corporate with Chi-Ping Chang • 1977 — 愛的賊船 — A Pirate of Love • 1978 — 煙波江上 — Love On A Foggy River • 1978 — 男孩與女孩的戰爭 — The War of the Sexes • 1979 — 昨日雨瀟瀟 — The Misty Rain of Yesterday's • 1979 — 師妹出關 — The Woman Avenger • 1979 — 結婚三級跳 — Jiehun Sanjitiao • 1979 — 悲之秋 — A Sorrowful Wedding • 1979 — 衝刺 — Chongci • 1979 — 醉拳女刁手 — No One Can Touch Her • 1979 — 忘憂草 — A Girl Without Sorrow • 1980 — 一根火柴 — Yigen Huochai • 1980 — 一對傻鳥 — Poor Chasers • 1980 — 十九新娘七歲郎 — Shijiu Xinniang Qisuilang • 1980 — 雁兒歸 — Flying Home • 1980 — 我踏浪而來 — Lover On The Wave • 1980 — 愛情躲避球 — Twin Troubles • 1981 — 怒犯天條 — Offend the Law of God • 1981 — 假如我是真的 — If I Were for Real • 1981 — 窗口的月亮不准看 — Don't Look at The Moon Through The Window • 1983 — 看海的日子 — A Flower in The Raining Night • 1983 — 天下第一 — All The King's Men • 1984 — 策馬入林 — Run Away — Corporate with Chin-Tien Ku and Shung-Man Lam • 1989 — 香蕉天堂 — Banana Paradise — Corporate with Chin-Tien Ku and Bo-Lam Lee • 1991 — 密宗威龍 — The Tantana • 1993 — 異域2孤軍 — End of The Road Producer • Year — Chinese title — English title • 1995 — 熱帶魚 — Tropical Fish • 2002 — 藍色大門 — Blue Gate Crossing

Wang Toon is recorded with the occupation film director. Recorded as actor, director, screenwriter and film producer.