Ne Zha (2019 Film)

''Ne Zha'' (), also spelled ''Nezha'', is a 2019 Chinese animated fantasy adventure film directed and written by Jiaozi. Its animation production is done by the director's own Chengdu Coco Cartoon. Featuring the popular Chinese mythological character Nezha, the plot is loosely based on the 16th-century novel ''Investiture of the Gods'' by Xu Zhonglin. In the film, a young boy named Ne Zha, is the reincarnation of the demon orb, which is separated from the chaos pearl by the Primeval Lord of Heaven, Yuanshi Tianzun. Born with the destructive powers of a demon orb, he finds himself as an outcast who is hated and feared by the townsfolk in Chengtang Pass. Destined by prophecy to bring destruction to the world, the young lad must choose between good and evil in order to break the shackles of fate and become the hero.

''Ne Zha'' was released in China exclusively in IMAX and China Film Giant Screen theatres on 13 July 2019, followed by other theatres on 26 July, distributed by Beijing Enlight Pictures. It is the first Chinese-produced animated feature released in IMAX format, and, despite being the debut feature of its director and animation studio and having no widely known actors in its voice cast, the film gained critical acclaim and has been one of the biggest commercial successes in Chinese cinema, setting numerous records for box office grosses, including becoming the highest-grossing animated film in China, the worldwide highest-grossing non-U.S. animated film, and the worldwide second-highest-grossing non-English-language film of all time at the time of its release. With a gross of over $742 million, it was that year's fourth-highest-grossing animated film and China's all time fifth-highest-grossing film.

It began a North American release on 29 August in select IMAX 3D theatres, before a nationwide rollout on 6 September. It was selected as the Chinese entry for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first animated film from China to ever do so, but it was ultimately not nominated.

A second film, also loosely based off ''Investiture of the Gods'', titled ''Jiang Ziya'', was released on 1 October 2020, which is National Day in China. A direct sequel, '' Ne Zha 2'', was released on 29 January 2025, which broke multiple box-office records and stands as the highest-grossing animated film of all time.

Plot

A Chaos Pearl, birthed from the primordial essences of heaven and earth, begins siphoning energies gluttonously. The Supreme Lord Yuanshi Tianzun dispatches his disciples Taiyi Zhenren and Shen Gongbao to subdue the sentient pearl. Due to its ability to absorb energy, Taiyi and Shen are unable to defeat it. Tianzun uses the Seven-Colored Sacred Lotus to separate the pearl into two opposite components: the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Orb. Tianzun places a heavenly curse upon the Demon Orb: in three years time, it will be destroyed by heavenly lightning. Tianzun then instructs Taiyi to take the Spirit Pearl to be reincarnated as the third son of Li Jing in the town of Chentang Pass, to be named Ne Zha.

Blinded by jealousy, Shen steals the Spirit Pearl and causes Li Jing's pregnant wife Lady Yin to give birth to a reincarnation of the Demon Orb, Ne Zha. Taiyi tells them that Ne Zha's fate is sealed: in three years' time the heavenly curse placed upon the Demonic Orb will kill him. Li travels to Heaven with Taiyi in an attempt to plead for Ne Zha's life, but is told the curse is irremovable.

Meanwhile, Shen brings the stolen Spirit Pearl to the Dragon King of the East Sea. The Dragon King infuses the Spirit Pearl into an egg, giving birth to his third son, Ao Bing, whom the Dragon King allows Shen to take as a disciple. The dragons resent that they are confined to the ocean floor as prisoners of the Heavenly Court, and hope that since Ao Bing is born from the Spirit Pearl, they will be deemed worthy by Heaven and allowed to ascend and become ''xian'' (immortals).

To tame his demonic nature and make him happy, Ne Zha's parents lie to him, telling him he was born of the Spirit Pearl and is destined to be a great demon hunter. Ne Zha studies under Taiyi and acquires great skills, but is still not allowed to hunt demons. Becoming impatient, he escapes his confines to hunt demons on his own. While chasing a yaksha trying to devour a little girl, Ne Zha burns down a fishing village. Ao Bing joins Ne Zha's fight but is petrified by the yaksha. Ne Zha cleverly defeats the yaksha and rescues both Ao Bing and the little girl, and he and Ao Bing become friends. However, his actions are misunderstood by the townsfolk of the destroyed village. They deem Ne Zha a malicious demon, which causes him to lash out at the villagers, hurting many of them. Ne Zha's parents and Tai Yi arrive to stop him. After Li learns that it was all just a misunderstanding, he plans to prove Nezha's innocence on his upcoming birthday party.

Ten days later, the Li household organizes a lavish birthday party for their son, inviting the townsfolk to attend. Shen visits Ne Zha before the party and reveal the truth of Ne Zha's nature to him. Furious at his parents' deception, Ne Zha unleashes his true demonic form and nearly kills his father until Ao Bing intervenes. Feeling betrayed, Ne Zha leaves to await his fate.

While thanking Ao Bing, Li discovers that he is the reincarnation of the Spirit Pearl. Knowing that if this is revealed, all of dragon kind will be condemned forever, Ao Bing acts on Shen's command. He creates a massive sheet of ice above the town, intending to bury the town and eliminate all witnesses. Meanwhile, Ne Zha learns that when his father is visited Heaven to plead for his life, he accepted an enchantment that would allow him to trade his life for Ne Zha's. Moved by his father's sacrifice, Ne Zha returns to the village to stop Ao Bing. Unleashing his full demonic form, Ne Zha defeats Ao Bing, but spares his life for being his only friend.

When the heavenly lightning approaches, Ne Zha surrenders to his fate but is unexpectedly joined by Ao Bing. Linking hands, they unleash the Chaos Pearl's ability to absorb energy. Their mortal bodies cannot withstand the full energy of the strike and are destroyed, but with Taiyi's help, they survive as spirits.

In the mid-credits scene, the Dragon King vows vengeance on the citizens of Chentang Pass for what happened to Ao Bing. The other three Dragon Kings of the Four Seas appear and use this as an opportunity to make a deal with him. Meanwhile, in an unknown location, a sneak peak of the movie Jiang Ziya is introduced.

Voice cast

Mandarin Chinese

* Lü Yanting as the child Nezha, son of Li Jing and Lady Yin
* Joseph Cao (囧森瑟夫) as the adolescent Nezha
* Han Mo as Ao Bing, the Dragon King's third son
* Chen Hao as Li Jing, Nezha's father and the chief who governs Chentang Pass. He becomes a noble father willing to sacrifice his own life to rescue his son Nezha
* Lü Qi as Lady Yin, Nezha's mother and the chieftess who also governs Chentang Pass.
* Zhang Jiaming as Taiyi Zhenren, Nezha's master, a Taoist immortal who lives on the Kunlun.
* Yang Wei as Shen Gongbao, Taiyi's brother and Ao Bing's master

English

* Jordan Cole as Ne Zha
* Griffin Puatu as adolescent Ne Zha
* Aleks Le as Ao Bing
* Vincent Rodriguez III as Li Jing
* Stephanie Sheh as Lady Yin
* Mike Pollock as Taiyi Zhenren
* Jaden Waldman as Shen Gongbao

Production

Inspiration

The film tells the mythological origins of Nezha, who is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion, and its story is loosely based on the literary version of the myth that forms two chapters of ''Investiture of the Gods'', a Ming-dynasty '' shenmo'' novel, traditionally attributed to Xu Zhonglin, which incorporates various existing myths into a wider narrative.

The story has been adapted for the screen many times before, at least as early as 1927 or 1928, whether on its own (as in the 1979 traditionally-animated film ''Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'') or as part of adaptations of the whole of ''Investiture of the Gods'' (such as the 2016 live-action film '' League of Gods'').

In addition, the film’s character design draws scholar’s attention. For example, Ne Zha as the major character is depicted as uglily, unlike his appearance in the myth, he is depicted as a devil boy in Ne Zha (2019), who is ugly, cool, and destructive, which resulted in people all be afraid of him. This character design, according to Wang, is intentional. It on the one hand sets the contrast for the character before and after awakening which is toward the end of the story; on the other hand, it sets a stage for the audience to sympathize with him when they come to his inner world. One of the challenging parts of this intentional character design is that it is difficult for the audience to accept him as the heroic protagonist, in other words, it is difficult for them “to identify with this ugly character”. However, this difficulty is resolved by the depiction of his inner beauty, namely, although his outer appearance might be ugly, his inner character is nonetheless beautiful, despite the fact that doing so demands a lot of skills.

Moreover, another scholar, Zhuying Li (2024), argues that Ne Zha (2019) is different from earlier versions, like the one from 1979, because it has a "national-style" look. The movie is based on both ancient myths and modern Chinese national stories, as well as a modern interpretation of Daoist philosophy. This style mixes modern scientific and cinematic techniques with Daoist values like improving oneself and fighting against fate. According to Li, this mix not only makes China's cultural identity stronger at home, but it also lets China spread its soft power around the world by turning myths into modern stories.

Pre-production

Director Jiaozi spent two years in total to write the screenplay, and the film was in production for three years.

Animation production

The film has more than 1,318 special effects shots, and it took over 20 Chinese special effects studios, employing more than 1,600 people, to realize the film's fairy tale setting, the mysterious Dragon King's Palace, and a complex fight between fire and water. One scene alone took two months to complete.

Release

Theatrical

Domestic

Executive production company and distributor Beijing Enlight Pictures premiered ''Ne Zha'' on 11 July 2019 in Beijing, followed by an encore on 12 July. The film was given a limited release in IMAX and China Film Giant Screen premium large format theatres on 13 July, and was released nationwide on 26 July.

International

The film was released in cinemas in English-speaking regions in Mandarin with English subtitles around the end of August and beginning of September 2019.

It was released in Australia on 23 August and in New Zealand on 29 August, distributed by CMC Pictures. It was released in the United States and Canada in select IMAX 3D venues on 29 August, followed by other cinemas on 6 September, distributed by Well Go USA Entertainment. It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including in select IMAX 3D venues, on 30 August, distributed by CMC Pictures in collaboration with Cine Asia.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed 600 million yuan (''est.'' $84 million) in its first three days alone. It broke local records with a $91.5 million opening, the highest ever for an animated film in China.

On 2 August 2019, ''Ne Zha'' became the highest-grossing animated film of all time in China, a record held by '' Zootopia'' ($235.6 million) since 2016. On 7 August 2019, ''Ne Zha'' became the fastest animated film to reach $400 million (in 12 days). It is currently the highest-grossing animated film of all time in a single market ($703.71 million in China) overtaking ''Incredibles 2'' (2018) ($608.5 million in North America), the highest-grossing non-Disney or Pixar animated film in a single market, overtaking ''Shrek 2'' (2004) ($441.2 million in North America), and the highest-grossing non-English spoken animated film, overtaking ''Spirited Away

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