The Magic Gourd (Baohulu De Mimi), Walt Disney China's
first studio co-production here, will hit the big screen on the
Chinese mainland this summer holiday.
"China is the priority of the entire company," Stanley Cheung,
executive vice president and managing director of the Walt Disney
China, said.
"In addition to bringing more Disney family entertainment
content to China, we attach great importance on finding locally
relevant and appealing content."
The human and computer-generated picture is the result of joint
efforts of the Walt Disney China, Hong Kong's Centro Digital
Pictures and China Film Group Corporation, with the first two
cooperatively making the film with the third in charge of national
distribution.
The film's story is the contemporary adaptation of a classic
novel written in 1958 by one of the most celebrated authors of
Chinese children's literature, the late Zhang Tianyi.
The fantasy focuses on Wang Bao, a precocious boy who chances
upon a magic gourd that accomplishes everything he needs or wants
to do.
Disney chose a Chinese children's literature classic for its
first local launch because of the story's widespread popularity
among Chinese.
"We respect and appreciate the deep-rooted rich Chinese
culture," Cheung said.
"Our production team may be very international, but the content
will continue to focus on China's local stories."
Weng Li, spokesman of China Film Group Corporation, said they
would spare no effort promoting the movie.
Centro Digital Pictures' special effects, which have featured in
the hit films Kill Bill and Kung Fu Hustle (Gong Fu),
will showcase the latest visual effects technology in the Disney
film.
Chinese animation industry insiders said they hope that the
combination of local stories, international production teams and
the world's renowned animated pictures producer would help lift
China's flagging cartoon film industry out of gloom and compete
internationally.
The film trailer can be viewed at www.disney.com.cn.
(China Daily May 19, 2007)
