This preface by the guest editors provides a situated overview of the purpose, structure and methodologies of the contributing articles on Chinese animations in this special issue. Aiming to reconfigure Chinese film studies through historical and theoretical inquiries about the relationship between the animated and the cinematic, the special issue introduces a nascent perspective on Chinese animations by offering rigorous and stimulating studies on the forms, genres and materiality of animation, as well as on the technological and ontological conditions of animated moving images in the age of digital new media. The preface also provides a brief historical overview of Chinese animation and animation studies, generating dialogues with diverse approaches to Chinese animation at home and abroad. Whereas the socio-historical contexts of Chinese animation highlight its ideological functions, the contributing authors in this special issue present fresh visions and innovative studies of Chinese animation as a crucial cultural form with transnational popularity and unique aesthetics.