The ongoing first Beijing Animation Week starting from Thursday is bringing a selection of China's finest homegrown animated works onto the big screen. 

During the five-day event, 20 acclaimed animated films will be screened at five cinemas in the Chinese capital, showcasing the country's animation industry that has been growing in style, storyline and format over the past few decades.

They include classics like China's first animated feature film "Princess Iron Fan", which was released in 1941, the first animated feature film in color "Havoc in Heaven", the first animation based on Chinese traditional water-color paintings "Little Tadpoles Look for Their Mom", the first animation adapted from picture book stories "To The Bright Side", the first animated film nominated for the Cannes Film Festival "The Rooster Crows at Midnight", and the first animated film inspired by China's paper cutting folk tradition "Pigsy Eats Watermelon", as well as newly produced works like the computer animation fantasy film series "The White Snake", which was premiered in 2019, and the 3D animated fantasy action film "New Gods: Yang Jian", which was released last year.

Additionally, the first feature-length film from the popular animation series "Martin Morning", which tells an ordinary boy's daily adventures and has amassed a large fan base since 2003, was premiered on Friday.

"This year's screening will include 19 domestic animated films. It will feature a collection of China's finest original animations during the Animation Week," said Wang Yijun, head of the Publicity Administration Department of the Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau.