As the world's first 3D animated film with the theme of Journey to the West, The Return of the Great Sage set a record for the highest overseas sales of China animated films in Cannes.

Andrew Mei Sen, a famous Hollywood producer who has produced many business cards such as The Matrix and Silent Hill, commented: "Is there really no Hollywood participation in this? According to my understanding of the Hollywood industry, the cost of making such a film will not be less than 1 billion dollars. The Monkey King is very famous. I was already familiar with the Monkey King when I was in Australia. This story is very wonderful. You have made his image very vivid. This is a family movie that belongs to the whole world. Everyone can understand it, and it's very China. Incredible, China people are really amazing! "

If there are not many animated films that can be called "visual feast" in China, The Return of the Great Sage is an exception. The whole animation style is realistic, the scene is dreamy and mysterious, and the picture is full of beauty. In the film, you can see free dragons and flying fireflies in groups.

For example, the flowing martial arts movements make the Monkey King's freedom more obvious, and CG animation technology is very mature, which is really rare in domestic animation. Many netizens think that the fluency of movements is not inferior to Kung Fu Panda, especially in a fight in an inn. Although it is a tribute to Kung Fu, the stringed movements of pipa push the plot to a climax.

2. Different Journey to the West

The movie world view of The Return of the Great Sage is based on the original novel Journey to the West. According to the traditional myths and stories of China, this film has been expanded and explained.

The Return of the Great Sage subverts people's inherent concept of the story of Journey to the West: he is no longer the invincible and invincible the Monkey King, but appears as a former god of war and a lonely hero who has lost his magic. He is cold and manic, but he has chivalrous feelings inside.

Little Tang Priest Jiang Liuer

Every Xiong Haizi has a hero in his heart, and so do Tang Priest's children. In The Return of the Great Sage, the Tang Priest is also called "Jiang Liuer". He is an orphan and grew up listening to the story of "making trouble in heaven". His hero is called "the Monkey King", and Wukong is an invisible father to him. Before meeting the Tang Priest, the Monkey King, like all down-and-out heroes, had given up his dream, and it was this Xiong Haizi who firmly believed that he would not die that made him regain his dream.

3. China's superhero.

As early as the screening period, the Monkey King, the Great Sage of Qi Tian, was successfully promoted to a new generation of national idols, including fans making a package, spontaneously organizing fan clubs, making self-designed posters, various animation models, and the one-sided quotation of the online "Spontaneous Water Army"-"It's not Dora A's dream that accompanied me, but the Monkey King, the Great Sage of Qi Tian", "My lover is a hero in the world" and "It's time for our monkeys to amaze the world".

Director Tian Xiaopeng said, "When we were young, we watched the Monkey King grow up. We made this work because we want my son's generation to grow up with the Monkey King and watch Journey to the West together, so that adults can not forget your initiative and children can learn love and courage with the Monkey King. He is our superhero. "

4. Cool Wukong and cute little monk

The Great Sage returned not only with the cool Great Sage, the lovely Tang Priest and the two-goods Eight Rings, but also with the great demon king Chaos, the dumb father-in-law, the sexy female monster and the most handsome dragon in history.

Mengmengda little Tang Priest

The Monkey King in the movie is completely different from what everyone imagined-the thin and rigid facial contour makes people feel a little strange at first glance. Tian Xiaopeng said that the past six-year-old children played the Monkey King so beautifully that they looked like monkeys. In his view, the Monkey King should be more like a soldier: "Ling Huchong, for example, or a lone ranger in a western."

During the eight-year creative process, the image of the Monkey King in the film gradually changed from a primitive black ape to a magical gibbon, and finally became a "long-faced frustrated uncle". Tian Xiaopeng explained the reason why this image was finally frozen: "the Monkey King's personality is actually not a monkey's, but a human's, and it is a contradictory combination of human nature, Buddha nature and demon nature of adults. Although he is immortal, he has been oppressed for 500 years and can't be like a teenager. We externalized all his experiences to his appearance, so many folds just made the audience feel: Well, this uncle has a story. "

Eight commandments

There are still many netizens who think that the horse face of Dasheng is too ugly.

5, eight years to grind a sword

"White, hoof facing west, carrying Tang Sanzang and following his three disciples". If you are not familiar with the name of director Tian Xiaopeng, I believe many people still remember the animated version of The Journey to the West in 1999.

99 animated version of Journey to the West

Tian Xiaopeng is the director of the classic animated version of 1999. Because he refused the investor's request to change the script, he was temporarily divested, so Tian Xiaopeng had to pay for the film himself. The film was filmed for 8 years and finally made, but there was no money for publicity.

Tian Xiaopeng wants an oriental hero: unruly and sad, but he will never give in, let alone give up his dream. Many details in the film reveal the ultimate goal of "grinding a sword in eight years": a red cloak, crescent moon on nails, long hair and whiskers of passers-by.

There are also some viewers and film critics who criticize "the script is thin". Tian Xiaopeng said that he accepted all criticisms, because eight years ago, he was really "experimental", but he didn't expect to be here today.

"I don't like telling stories through too many dialogues and scenes. For example, why Bailong came back may take a picture and a few photos to make it clear, but I deliberately left a blank. This may be my personal style. " Tian Xiaopeng explained.