The first Disney production in China, The Secret of the Magic Gourd, will open in Chinese theaters on June 29.

Walt Disney Studios announced in 2005 that they were partnering with China Film Group Corporation and Centro Digital Pictures to produce the live-action film.

The film is the second big-screen adaptation of the 1958 same-name novel by Chinese children's writer Zhang Tianyi. The first one debuted in 1963, in black-and-white, and was an instant hit among children.

Disney's version will have the same plot as the earlier version, in which the little protagonist eventually decides to bid farewell to a magic gourd which gives him anything he wants. The new version will feature a computer animated magic gourd and have popular Hong Kong actress/singer Gigi Leung starring as the boy's teacher.

(CRI.cn May 16, 2007)