Opinion     

Monkey King rules

Beijing Review, August 26, 2015

• Director Tian Xiaopeng (standing) in his studio in Beijing (XINHUA)

  
  
  

  Neither the director nor the producer of Monkey King: Hero Is Back ever imagined the homemade animated film would smash the box office takings in China of the universally acclaimed Kung Fu Panda 2. The American computer-animated action-comedy film recorded a box office income of 617 million yuan ($96.44 million) in 2011.

  Since its release on July 10, the film had raked in 910 million yuan ($142 million) as of August 19, becoming the highest-grossing animated film in Chinese history. Previously, it was rare for Chinese animated films to register box office earnings of more than 100 million yuan ($15.63 million).

  The film originates from Journey to the West, a classic Chinese fantasy novel dating back to the 17th century. At its beginning, the Monkey King, the main protagonist of the novel and the film, who loses his superpowers after angering the Gods, has been held captive under Wuxing Mountain for 500 years. When monsters attack a village close by, a young monk escapes to the mountain where he inadvertently frees the Monkey King from captivity and helps him overcome his immense feelings of loss. Finally, the Monkey King regains his powers and rescues the village from the clutches of monsters.

  Thinking big

  Unlike most China-produced animated films in the last few years, which took only a few months to make, this film cost director Tian Xiaopeng eight years to complete.

  Tian's interest in animation goes back to his childhood, when he enjoyed watching animated TV series and subsequently learned to draw cartoons.

  Although he majored in computer science at university, Tian's love for animation lingered and he finished several projects involving three-dimensional animated videos. After graduation, Tian decided to pursue his hobby further by entering a foreign company specializing in animation design in 1998. One year later, he founded his own company dedicated to animation development, with the ultimate goal being to produce animated full-length movies.

  With that in mind, Tian made the decision in 2007 to create a film based on Journey to the West, a story familiar to Chinese audiences.

  Despite the fact that the Chinese Government released a slew of incentive policies to support the development of the animation industry in 2004, Tian's company was too small to meet the conditions required. Since his company's shareholders' investment and his own savings still fell short of meeting what they would need, Tian had to borrow money from his family.

  Tian embarked on his ambitious project in 2011. The going was tough and because of Tian's fastidious approach, many of the original employees left. "Among those who were recruited when the company was established, today only a handful remain," Tian said in a recent interview with the media.

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