Ne Zha： a new height of domestic animated films.

　　Planning human language

　　Animated films have always been the "hot players" in summer movies. Among a number of works at home and abroad, Ne Zha stands out as the most dazzling "star". This domestic animated film quickly topped the list with its high reputation and box office from the screening, and reached the top of the box office in China Film History eight days after its release. As an animated film adapted from traditional stories, why did Ne Zha succeed? In addition to the smooth and complete story, exquisite visual effects and beautiful Chinese style, the film shocked the audience with its humanistic and spiritual connotation. Behind this, it is the ingenuity and sincerity of the filmmakers.

　　Ne Zha, a domestic animated film that gained a high reputation in the screening, broke through 100 million yuan at the box office in just one and a half hours after it was officially released on July 26th, setting a record for the fastest animated film to break through 100 million yuan. The box office was as high as 180 million yuan on the first day, and the total box office exceeded 900 million yuan in four days. At present, the douban score of this film is 8.6, and the cat’s eye score is 9.7, and its reputation is bursting.

　　As a domestic animation, Ne Zha has made great breakthroughs in characterization and conception, visual effects, fluency and completion of works, entertainment and innovation of films, and has become the star of the summer movie in 2019.

　　

　　Ne Zha film poster

　　The unexpected joy of adaptation

　　Ne Zha adapted the plot of the classic story, deconstructed and reshaped the binary opposition. There was no "skinning and cramping to kill Ao Bing" or "eviscerating bones and cutting meat to return to parents", which was no longer the routine of "What a sea" and "The Legend of Nezha" many years ago, nor the mode of resisting the tragedy of power. Instead, Nezha’s friendship with Ao Bing and his parents’ affection were taken as the backbone of the story.

　　As a well-known mythical figure, the image of Nezha has been deeply rooted in people’s hearts. However, the film did not repeat the simple and solidified image of Nezha, but reshaped a person who is both good and evil, with flesh and blood. Perhaps it is because of the "self-humiliation" of wanting to promote first, dark circles, shark teeth, disdainful eyes and smiles, branches in his mouth, and his hands in his trouser pockets … The new version of Nezha’s juvenile image is an ugly, "sad" and naughty "little rascal". However, when he was held in his mother’s arms, his round eyes looked innocent and lovely again; When he became friends with Ao Bing, he would also blush with shame. He was moved to tears when he knew that his father was going to give himself up to save him. After letting go of the stereotype of the perfect hero, we will find that this Nezha is not only a "Xiong Haizi" and a "little devil", nor a "problem child" who is full of rage and personality defects, but a child with innocence and kindness, eager for companionship and friendship, and a little hero who seeks identity and self-growth, justice and super ability.

　　Ao Bing, the third prince of the Dragon King, who was a villain before, is transformed into a gentle and polite gentleman in this film. Ao Bing, who is reserved and restrained, and Nezha, who is uninhibited, form a subtle and complementary character relationship. The scene of them kicking shuttlecock at the seaside in the sunset is harmonious and beautiful. Their friendship returns to blood and moving after the collision of fire and water. In cooperation and confrontation, friendship and disputes, they have played a legend of changing their lives.

　　Some supporting roles in the film have also undergone new changes. Mrs. Yin, who is gentle and virtuous, turned into a "Mulan" wearing armor and killing demons, and the real Taiyi, who is a sage, turned into a fat fairy who is addicted to alcohol, funny and speaks Sichuan dialect. This is not only the innovation of character modeling, personality and relationship, but also the challenge and subversion of public stereotypes.

　　It is worth mentioning that modern concepts such as fingerprint unlocking, holographic projection, scene playback and game copy are applied to the film, which is quite contemporary and brings the fairy tale closer to the audience. Younger context, networked expression, modern ideas, some nonsense comedy elements and jokes have enhanced the humor and visibility of the film.

　　Implication of intention

　　Ne Zha is profound in that it not only tells a story about the growth of a hero, but also arouses people’s questions and thoughts. Will the magic boy in the eyes of the world grow into the devil who kills people without blinking an eye? Are the demon families from different backgrounds destined to be the demons of conan the destroyer? Maybe not.

　　In the works of facial makeup, the evil of the wicked is painted on the face and engraved in the bones, and it seems as if they have original sin when they appear. But there is no real villain in this film, and every evil has its reasons. This is not to excuse the wicked, but to express an idea that good and evil lie in people’s choice, and the good and evil of people’s hearts can also change when the environment changes. Just like Nezha and Ao Bing, whose mental processes have changed many times in the film, they may doubt, discriminate and abuse once, which will make people lose heart and start doing evil. On the contrary, once they are recognized, affirmed and loved, they will have the power to continue to do good. Under the appearance of good and evil, the concern and exploration of the inner root of human heart make the film have humanistic care.

　　Whether it’s Nezha’s "if fate is unfair, fight it to the end" or Taiyi’s "if you don’t accept your fate, it’s Nezha’s life", whether it’s Shen Gongbao’s "prejudice in people’s hearts is a mountain that you can’t move no matter how hard you try" or Li Jing’s "Don’t care about other people’s opinions, who you are is only what you say", these lines are thought-provoking. How to face people’s prejudice and unfair fate? Don’t bow to fate easily, but change your destiny through your own efforts, break the secular definition and be yourself bravely.

　　Today’s audience’s expectation of heroes is not a perfect model of "Gao Daquan", but a grounded and more real person. Nezha’s growth after rebellion is more believable and moving. From being mischievous and blaming his parents to thanking them and kneeling down to worship, from being possessed and "running away" and killing people to saving the people, Nezha proved with his own actions that he is not only a magic pill bred in heaven and earth, but also has human nature in reincarnation, and will make great achievements in the future. The awakening of self-awareness and positive attitude make the characters full.

　　As the children or parents of the audience, they can more or less see their own shadows and even life difficulties from this film. Through old bottles and new wine, the film reflects some practical problems with traditional stories, such as left-behind children, bullying on campus and so on. "People’s Daily" Weibo commented on the film: "It is also a salvage of ancient myths and legends. It is not easy to change the freshness, and it is even more difficult to integrate into contemporary value concerns."

　　The beauty of audio-visual national style

　　Ne Zha tells a story with a modern core under the cloak of traditional stories, but it has strong national characteristics in visual effect. The film production team uses China elements and modern technology to interpret the traditional culture beautifully. It is not difficult to find that the film does not rely solely on showmanship, but wins with ingenuity and sincerity.

　　The picture of the film is beautiful and the texture is outstanding. There are as many as 1318 special effects shots in the whole film, accounting for 80%. When Nezha became a young man, her hair danced in the air and burned on the fire, making her look heroic. Aobing wore a robe and had a delicate brow. It is said that the classic "Map of Mountains and Rivers" in the film was "dead" for two months just by sketching, and it took more than four months to complete. As the most imaginative and beautiful part of the film, the world in the Landscape of Mountains and Rivers highlights the Zen beauty of China’s classical philosophy of "one flower and one world", and also presents the artistic beauty of ancient landscape paintings. The two scenes of Taiyi real person taking Nezha to roam the fairyland in the painting, and master and apprentice grabbing brushes in the painting are particularly ingenious and smooth in design.

　　The music setting of the film is also quite exquisite. Sometimes majestic, sometimes lively and lively, which plays an important role in promoting the plot and rendering emotions. In terms of music, in addition to the commonly used symphonies, some fragments are accompanied by ethnic instruments such as erhu, pipa, suona, bamboo flute and dulcimer, with unique effects. In addition, the voice actor only practiced for dozens of times before recording to find the most natural state. Nezha’s lazy Beijing dialect, Ao Bing’s delicate voice, Shen Gongbao’s stuttering and Taiyi’s dialect are all vivid and distinctive.

　　As the saying goes, "what is national is the world", Ne Zha’s national characteristics are also reflected in many settings and details. Nezha’s careless doggerel is a representative of folk culture, and the shuttlecock, a toy to maintain feelings, is a national sports project. The image of Pisces, in which Lingzhu and Magic Pill coexist, is based on Taiji Yin and Yang in China’s classical philosophy. The film shows a strong Chinese style on the whole.

　　The light of the revival of the country

　　At one time, a series of works, such as art animation represented by Making a scene in Heaven, shadow play animation represented by Pig Eating Watermelon, ink animation represented by Little Tadpole Looking for Mom, and paper-cut animation represented by Huluwa, had national characteristics and traditional culture, which pushed China animated films to a peak and won awards frequently at home and abroad. After that, a large number of "younger" works have occupied the market for a long time, and high-quality masterpieces are lacking.

　　The slogan of "the rise of the country" has been shouted for many years, but the road is tortuous. Fortunately, in recent ten years, works such as Queba, The Return of the Great Sage on the Journey to the West, The Big Fish Begonia, The Little Door God, The Great Protector, The Wind Curse, The White Snake, etc. have gradually led the "domestic animation" from "young age" to full age, from nostalgia to new life, and from single work to system. Nowadays, Ne Zha has been born, and the audience has given many comments such as "the light of the country" and "the best domestic animation". From the preview of the egg-Legend of Deification, we can see that an "anime universe with national characteristics" is about to open slowly on the contemporary screen.

　　According to the 2018 China Animation Industry Research Report released by iResearch, the total output value of animation industry in China exceeded 150 billion yuan in 2018, and the online content market scale was nearly 15 billion yuan. The scale of users has also increased greatly, with the scale of pan-secondary users reaching nearly 350 million yuan and the number of online animation users reaching 219 million yuan. This output value is quite high, but compared with the mature animation industry chain abroad, the commercial value of China animation industry still has great potential.

　　Previously, the top three animated films in China were Hollywood’s Zootopia (1.522 billion yuan), Journey to the Dream Ring (1.212 billion yuan) and Kung Fu Panda 3 (1 billion yuan), followed by the domestic animated film The Return of the Great Sage to the Journey to the West (957 million yuan). Since the release of Ne Zha, the box office has surpassed the Return of the Great Sage on the Journey to the West in five days, surpassed Zootopia in eight days, and topped the highest-grossing animated film in China film history, and the box office is expected to continue to grow. It can be said that Ne Zha has reached a new height of domestic animation, and domestic animated films can be expected in the future.