A bit of bit area cowboy, slightly bit kung fu king, and armed with nothing greater than his 9-turns kung fu and magical harmonica, a reimaged Erlang Shen takes middle stage in director Zhao Ji and Mild Chaser Animation’s newest 3D animated fantasy function, New Gods: Yang Jian. The movie marks the second entry within the New Gods sequence from Ji, whose objective is to make Chinese language historical past and mythology extra participating for younger audiences and humanize the gods which have dominated China’s folklore for hundreds of years.
“We use the identical heroes from our historical past, so they’re nonetheless recognizable from tales we’ve been informed, however we create a brand new unique story to inform what these characters would appear to be in a unique time interval and in a unique gentle,” says Ji. “For instance, with Yang Jian, everybody is aware of him in China, however not often as the primary character in any tales and by no means in the way in which we’re portraying him now. This was our probability to create a extra human Erlang and provides a full perspective about his life and what he’s been via.”
New Gods: Yang Jian, distributed by GKIDS, releases in U.S. theaters Friday, January 20. The story takes place 13 years after the as soon as highly effective god Yang Jian (aka Erlang) imprisoned his sister beneath a mountain. Now scraping by as a penniless bounty hunter voyaging via the spirit world on a cosmic gas-powered ship together with his motley crew of immortals, Yang Jian quickly finds himself chasing down a well-known determine – his long-lost nephew Chenxiang – when a mysterious lady hires him to seize Chenxiang, who has stolen the magical and doubtlessly catastrophic lotus lantern to free his mom.
As Yang Jian travels between the steampunk spirit realm and the Jin Dynasty-age mortal realm as he confronts the actions of his previous, the previously esteemed normal should face a bunch of harmful vigilantes additionally searching for the lantern, which supplies the ability to change the steadiness of the mortal and immortal worlds.
“In China’s historical historical past, now we have plenty of heroes,” notes Ji. “And, for a few years, we’ve had a standard means of telling their tales. However, for our era, we needed to reimagine what we thought these heroes appeared like and attempt to put them into a contemporary world, and a mortal world. These gods stay without end, however what occurs when they’re confronted with extra human circumstances? That was one of many essential causes we needed to make these films.”
Mild Chaser and Zhao have labored collectively on New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021), in addition to White Snake (2019) and Inexperienced Snake (2021) movies, all derived from Chinese language historical past and folklore. Yan Jian, too, gained its inspiration from Chinese language mythology, particularly from Xu Zhonglin’s semi-mythical novel Creation of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義), generally translated as Investiture of the Gods or Enfeoffment of the Gods.
This 100-chapter novel from the Ming Dynasty tells of the good battle between the declining Shang (1600–1046 BCE) and ascending Zhou (1046–256 BCE) dynasties. Many of the story follows the numerous battles between the forces of Shang and Zhou. Alongside the way in which, the latter are aided by immortals, together with one by the title of Erlang (additionally known as Yang Jian, 楊戩).
In Creation of the Gods, in addition to Journey to the West (considered one of China’s 4 nice classical novels), Erlang Shen is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. In Creation of the Gods, he assists the Zhou military in defeating the Shang. In Journey to the West, he’s the second son of a mortal and the Jade Emperor’s sister Yaoji. Within the legend, he is named the best warrior god of heaven.
Mild Chaser and Zhao’s movie additionally derives inspiration from the 1999 animated movie Lotus Lantern, the place Erlang had a sister referred to as the Holy Mom of Mount Hua (Hua Shan). Within the unique movie, she married a mortal man and scholar, Liu Yanchang. Collectively, that they had a son by the title of Chenxiang. In that movie, Erlang noticed his sister’s marriage as an illegal human-deity union and imprisoned her below Mount Hua. When Chenxiang got here of age, he cut up the mountain with an axe to free his mom, however not earlier than dealing with individuals who repeatedly tried to undermine his mission, most notably his personal uncle Erlang.
However, as viewers will uncover, Ji’s 2022 adaptation of the story, which options Erlang as the primary character, takes a unique, extra human and emotional strategy to Erlang as Yang Jian and divulges that, beneath the stoic and jaded exterior, there’s a smooth coronary heart of a mourning god who grieves for his sister and cares deeply for the nephew he was too weak to take care of on his personal.
“Feminine audiences in China now see Yang Jian as the proper accomplice after seeing our movie,” says Yu Zhou, Mild Chaser co-founder and president, in addition to producer on the newest New Gods movie. “He’s nonetheless highly effective but in addition extra delicate and really caring in our movie. He has many extra virtues.”
Mild Chaser and Ji additionally labored onerous to develop a spirit world that was extra attractive to audiences as nicely. The labyrinth of floating temples, accompanied by metallic plane and projected neon indicators, honors the traditions of Chinese language tradition whereas additionally including some fashionable tech flare. The movie additionally combines jazz, rock, digital, and conventional Chinese language music to additional construct the eclectic ambiance.
“There was a bit extra danger after we had been making Nezha Reborn, as a result of it was the primary time we had been introducing this punk spirit world model and exhibiting Nezha, who we initially knew as a navy normal, from a toddler to a youth on a bike,” explains Zhou. “It was such a change. However the suggestions from China was fairly encouraging after which it launched on Netflix, and we obtained this optimistic suggestions from everywhere in the world. And so, we determined to take issues even additional with Yang Jian, so we’re excited to see how audiences reply to this one in numerous components of the world.”
Ji is assured Yang Jian’s world-building will probably be well-received, not simply primarily based on the suggestions from Chinese language viewers, but in addition primarily based on the suggestions of their very own animation crew.
“All of the artists had been wanting ahead to creating a brand new spirit world in the way in which we’ve imagined it,” Ji says. “We’re uninterested in the previous means, the traditional means. We’ve seen the temples and folks floating within the clouds. Many of the 300 folks working at Mild Chaser are younger folks below 30 and so they need to do one thing new, one thing extra based on the longer term.”
However that is nonetheless Chinese language folklore, and a few scenes derived their film magic from leaning into historical past. One scene, set in a spot known as the “Fairy Palace,” incorporates a group of dancers placing on a present for spectators as they fly via the air in a dance sporting a extra conventional variant of historical Chinese language robes.
Try an unique clip of how the scene was created right here.
“We had been really impressed by an Asian battle portray known as “Dance at Dunhuang,” which is positioned in a Buddhist cave,” shares Ji. “I used to be shocked by the element and the way these artists imagined what the gods and spirit world appeared like. I knew it will make for actually fairly animation to have these dancers on the cave partitions flying in an actual palace.”
The scene leaves the character of Yang Jian, like audiences watching the movie, as breathless as Ji was when he first noticed the cave work. However, earlier than these dazzling scenes could possibly be produced, there have been numerous blood, sweat, and tears from the manufacturing crew. Whereas the thought, on the floor, appeared lots less complicated than constructing an entire steampunk tradition throughout the historical heavens of Chinese language gods, Zhou and Ji didn’t initially take note of how the lengthy, wispy and delicate layers of Chinese language clothes would issue into the animation.
“After we did the primary simulations, the clothes would all the time get caught collectively throughout the dance,” says Zhou. “Our conventional Chinese language clothes is sophisticated. There are various layers, generally as much as even eight layers, of clothes. And all of it must be floating within the air. We spent plenty of time and vitality attempting to create such an impact, with our animators having to reference dancers on the bottom and translate that into the air.”
Ji provides, “I had no thought how onerous it will be to make. We’re all the time attempting to make issues higher and higher than what we have executed earlier than.”
However for all of the manufacturing challenges, Ji says the movie stands as a testomony to the fantastic thing about Chinese language tradition, emphasised by the advances animation expertise has made simply in the previous couple of years.
“For instance, after I first noticed the modal of Yang Jian, we put him on the massive display beside Nezha’s mannequin from the earlier film, and I mentioned, ‘Wait, that Nezha isn’t the ultimate mannequin,’” remembers Ji. “The Yang Jian mannequin appeared so a lot better. When everybody informed me Nezha’s mannequin was really the ultimate model we used, I actually noticed how a lot animation expertise had progressed.”
The animation developments allowed Ji and Zhou to deliver to life the extremely stylized animation they would wish for Yang Jian’s motion sequences, that are much less motion and extra spectacle of sunshine, emotion, and slow-motion motion.
“Nezha was extra of an motion film the place now we have plenty of automotive chase scenes and combat scenes,” remembers Ji. “These days, it takes so many strikes to kill folks. However for Yang Jian, as a result of he’s a really highly effective, historical hero, we centered extra on making the motion like martial arts, the place they’ll do loads of injury to somebody with one punch. On this film, we put extra focus on the sensation of the motion, not on the motion itself.”
The identical is true for the movie as an entire. Many of the focus was on how animation could possibly be used to ignite a sense, not simply blow audiences away with how magnificent it appears to be like.
“I need them to have a look at Chinese language tradition as a result of I believe now we have plenty of stunning fortune in our tradition,” notes Ji. “One of many core themes is about household and about individuals who handed away, and what you’re feeling for the individuals who handed away. In China, now we have a tradition that claims folks will come again as soon as once more after they’ve gone. Meaning your loved ones who left you’ll come again, and they’re going to all the time be round you, though their bodily physique isn’t beside you. In your coronary heart, they will provide you with energy and so they will provide you with the vitality to push you and accompany you throughout your life.”
Zhao provides, “It’s about love. This massive love. From Yang Jian’s perspective, he’s highly effective due to his love for his household, his crew, and the remainder of the world. And everybody can perceive and respect that feeling. Our crew put our personal hearts into making this movie and I hope audiences can resonate with us.”
This 12 months will probably be Mild Chaser’s 10-year anniversary and they’re excited to announce the most recent addition to the New Gods universe, Chang’an Thirty Thousand Miles, coming summer time of 2023. Extra particulars but to be introduced.
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all issues anime. She’s reported on quite a few tales from activist information to leisure. Discover extra about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
