Anime has been a worldwide cultural phenomenon, but donghua (Chinese animation) has struggled to receive the wide international appeal that anime has. Ne Zha 2 is the highest grossing animated film worldwide, despite almost all of its box office intake being from China itself. The audiences that did see Ne Zha 2 really liked it, with the film holding a 98% popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes. Will the next major Chinese animated film, All Wishes Come True! get more international attention?
Check out the trailer (sadly no English captions available):
All Wishes Come True! is inspired by the classic Chinese folktale “The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea.” This film might also require knowing a great deal of Chinese folklore as international audiences were unfamiliar with the story of the protection deity Ne Zha. All Wishes Come True! is the story of eight mortals who outwit gods and receive the title of The Eight Immortals.
Pearl Studio is producing the film. Said studio got its start as a Chinese offshoot of Dreamworks Animation that eventually became its own company. Notable films they have worked on include Kung Fu Panda 3, Abominable, Over the Moon, and The Monkey King. The studio’s origin as a Dreamworks offshoot might mean that this title has a better chance of getting attention with Western audiences, as at least Kung Fu Panda 3 did well with US audiences.
The film will be directed by Mu Zhengyang with the action scenes choreographed by Su Hang (he choreographed the Jackie Chan film The Shadow’s Edge). Chen Hao, the voice director of Ne Zha, will also direct the voices for this film. Film opens July 24 in China and “summer” worldwide.
Will this be the first donghua film to truly “break out” in the West? It’s hard to tell, but donghau does have a small cult following as Ne Zha 2 and Whitesnake were positively receive by the small Western donghau fandom.
