China's animation hit breaks sales records and comes to the West

China's animation hit breaks sales records and comes to the West

An inappropriate Chinese boy who fights against dragons and challenges his fate has made the leap to the western cinema walls after having broken records on the box office in China.

Successful debut of "Ne Zha 2"

"ne ZHA 2", an animated blockbuster based on Chinese mythology, is now the most successful film ever in a single market and has generated incredible $ 1.4 billion in ticket sales in China since its publication on January 29. In doing so, he surpasses the previous record of "Star Wars: Episode VII - the awakening of power", which recorded $ 936 million in the USA and Canada in 2015. This Chinese production is also the first non-Hollywood film that has entered the top 20 most successful films worldwide.

National enthusiasm and pride

The fantastic success of "Ne Zha 2" - a rare ray of hope in China otherwise slow cinema market in the middle of a stricken economy - has triggered a wave of national pride. Audience, state media and responsible people flocked to celebrate this milestone.

challenges for Hollywood

The Chinese film industry took the opportunity. Animations that are rooted in traditional Chinese folklore and equipped with the latest special effect technology, prove to be a profitable formula.

international success and resonance

After the record run in China, "Ne ZHA 2" found its way abroad, with broad starts in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday and in North America on Friday. At Chinese diaspora, the film immediately became a hit - many hurried to reserve tickets days in advance.

"Even those who have not been interested in anime feel attracted to this film due to the enthusiasm and positive feedback from China," said Summer Wang, a data analyst that attended the film's premiere in Los Angeles.

"It had a complete arc with deep emotions, funny moments and the combat scenes were spectacular - at a level with the epic fights in films like 'Avengers'. It was really impressive," added Stephanie Zhan, a sales manager for jewelry.

The success formula of the film

The continuation of a box office champion from 2019, all stars were favorable for "ne ZHA 2" to become a hit. The film had hardly serious competitors at the beginning of the Lunar New Year Festival, a high season for visiting the cinema in China.

based on a 16th century novel, the film offers figures that are known to many Chinese spectators of all ages. But it also offers fresh perspectives that are well received by the young generation, explains Xiaoning LU, an expert in Chinese cinema at SOAS University of London.

responsible narrative and modern topics

"It is a very successful commercial film. On the one hand, he has advanced animation technology, on the other hand he shines in narrative art. He is family -friendly, is fun and has a touch of rebellion," says Lu. "Indeed, it is a mixture of different formulas that came together and worked."

The protagonist ne ZHA, born with a demonic fate and extraordinary forces, is "ugly cute" and playful, is not afraid to challenge heavenly authority and to face the gods, who manipulated power in their own favor.

national identity and cultural resonance

The messages of the film address different classes of public and reflect many challenges of our time, including the questioning of established structures, institutions and authorities as well as topics such as family love, friendship, distrust of the system and identity confusion, according to Sabrina Qiong Yu, Professor of Film and Chinese studies at Newcastle University.

"It's like 'soul stroke' or a dash of excitement in the cloudy atmosphere of the present," she adds. The film also invites you to open interpretations, whereby some nationalist spectators refer to "Easter Eggs", which they interpret as political metaphors that mock America-like objects, the US dollar signs, the large seal of the United States, the Pentagon and the Coronavirus.

The future of the Chinese film industry

With the record break to the box office, "Ne ZHA 2" quickly became a triumph of the Chinese animation and film industry. The film was completely produced in China, in cooperation with 138 animation companies and more than 4,000 employees, as the clamping information show.

yang yu, the director of the film and originally medical student, told the state media that he initially hired international production teams for some key scenes, but did not meet the results.

"Sure, you could be a first -class studio, but you could use third -class employees for our project. After we had outsourced some scenes, many of the recordings did not become the way we wanted, so we had to get them back," he said.

Despite the fact that Chinese studios still have to catch up with as far as technologies and industrial processes are concerned, the distance is increasing.

conclusion and outlook

The Chinese animation industry has developed considerably. In a market in which generations of spectators with Disney and Pixar films and the studio Ghibli from Japan, more and more domestic animations, especially those who represent traditional culture, have made their breakthrough in recent years.

"ne ZHA 2" gradually exceeded the income of classic Hollywood films, while the Chinese cinema goers came together to support the film and drive their ticket sales to new heights.

On Chinese social media, users asked each other to go to the cinema - and even to look several times. A current trend on the Weibo microblogging platform compares the climbing of the film to the Global Boxoffice ranking with the "Hissen of the National Flag".

Despite these successes, "Ne ZHA 2" faces the challenge of gaining a foothold abroad, where it has to compete with the newly published "Captain America: Brave New World". Experts believe that the film may have difficulty having a wider international viewer.