Butterfly Lovers (2003)

In order to pursue her studies, Jo dresses as a boy when she meets Leon on the way to school. Jo immediately falls for Leon and they quickly become best friends. Before going back home after 3 years' studies, Jo seizes the chance and unveils her secret and love for Leon. Leon immediately falls in love with her. Unfortunately, Jo's father forces her to marry Ma, a rich and arrogant boy, because of political reasons. After knowing Jo is getting married, Leon dies from desperation. Leon's grave suddenly bursts apart when Jo arrives, Jo follows his lead and walks in the grave...

"It's a traditional story with a lot of happenings on a psychological level, but very little in the way of action, which made it very hard to adapt into a cartoon," says Tsai Ming-chin, the movie's director from Taiwan Province. Tsai is no stranger to adapting Chinese classics into animated films: His direction of the animated version of "The Three Kingdoms" won the award for outstanding Mandarin animated film at the 17th Golden Horse Award, the Taiwanese version of the Oscars, in 1980.

Of his current movie, Tsai says, "it's been a challenge to adapt this classic story into a fast-paced cartoon. We've added a pair of funny birds, made Ma a clown-like character with a huge bottle nose, and added life to many of the slow-moving scenes."

In addition to entertainment, filmmakers have also updated the character of Jo, usually depicted as shy and traditional.

"Here, she's more like a modern woman, assertive in her pursuit of the man she loves," says Tsai. "She even kisses Leon in public."

Jo is not the only figure in Chinese legend to have undergone a makeover at the hands of the cartoon world. In the 52-episode animated series "Heroic Legends from the Tang Dynasty," a Japanese-style production, the renowned Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) Emperor Li Shimin - usually depicted as a portly, middle-aged man - sports chestnut-hued hair and looks rather like a handsome Japanese warrior.

It gets better: Li's lover Ge Shuyun, an ethnic minority, has curled, golden hair and dresses like Madonna.

"We can't always draw short guys with fat faces and small eyes," says Wang Genfa of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, director of "Heroic Legends." "We have to adapt to the tastes of today's children and young people, which run to good-looking girls and boys.

"We didn't always consider our audience, which is why the popularity of Chinese cartoons have been eclipsed by imported ones," adds Wang. "We've learnt from Japanese cartoonists how to tell our own stories, but in the end, I think, we will create our own unique style."

Unlike the foreign-looking Tang emperor, Jo's cartoon image is more Oriental, similar to the Disney version of Mulan: single-fold eyelids, almond-shaped eyes, a tiny seed-shaped face and long silky black hair. Her clothing is traditional, but a mix of the styles of several different Chinese dynasties.

(China.org.cn May 27, 2005)