Chinese animation film Ne Zha became a hit

江苏南通大学外国语学院 余 敏

In the face of mounting competition，China's animated film， Ne Zha， became a hit.The film， produced by Beijing Enlight's recently launchedanimationstudio， earning $35.2 million and driving its total to $425 million after 13 days of release， according to analyst Artisan Gateway.

Ne Zha is now the biggest animated film ever in China， having overtaken Disney's Zootopia， which brought in a record of $236 million in 2016. The runaway success of Ne Zha represents a huge win for both Enlight and its director， Yang Yu， who made his feature debut with the project.

Yang， who goes by the nickname Jiaozi(which means “dumpling”) has become an overnightcelebrityand inspiration in China. The 39-year-old filmmaker dropped out of pharmacy school at Sichuan University with the long-shot dream of becoming an animator. He then reportedly spent three and half years holing up in his mother's home， studying animation techniques and technology， and developing his debut short， See Through. Released in 2009， the 16-minute pic earned numerous praise， including the Berlin International Film Festival's special jury prize for shorts.

Boostedby that success， Yang then founded his own animation company in the Chinese city of Chengdu but spent the next six years toiling on his debut feature and struggling to find financing for the project—what would finally become Ne Zha. He was then approached by Coloroom Pictures， Enlight's startup animationsubsidiary， with financing and technical support in 2015. Coloroom's CEO， Yi Qiao， has said in interviews with the Chinese media that he was attracted by Yang because of his “crazy， single-minded passion for animation storytelling”.

Many have noted that Yang has channeled hisunconventionalspirit into Ne Zha， which is an innovative take on a well-known work of classical Chinese mythology， the Ming Dynastyera text Fengshen Yanyi (also known as The Investiture of the Gods）. Ne Zha， one of the work's heroes， has traditionally been portrayed as an attractive young figure in recent remakes，but Yang depicted his as amischievousboy with cute and ugly features. He's positioned as a lovablydefiantunderdog character who has to overcome prejudice and his dark fate to become a hero.

“It would have been easy for our animators to paint a handsome face that the audience will like at first glance， but we wanted a breakthrough and wished to convey a message that a person should not be judged by his or her look. Instead， it's the internal personality that decides who you are.”

Word bank

2. celebrity /sə΄lebrəti/ n. 名人

2. celebrity /sə΄lebrəti/ n. 名人

3. boost /buːst/ v. 促进；提高

4. toil /tɔɪl/ v. 辛苦工作

5. subsidiary /səb΄sɪdiəri/ n. 子公司

7. mischievous /΄mɪst∫ɪvəs/adj. 淘气的

8.defiant /dɪ΄faɪənt/ adj. 挑衅的；反抗的

Critical Thinking

Will you judge a person by his or her look? Why or why not?

Cultural Background

饺子导演 杨宇

今年，火起来的除了动画电影《哪吒之魔童降世》，还有一位导演，他就是杨宇（饺子）。 同样引起网友关注的，还有杨宇的母亲。 据悉，在杨宇还没成功之前，他曾靠着母亲退休金生活，“啃老”了多年。 而如今，他成功了，靠着《哪吒之魔童降世》公司在5 天里暴涨41 亿！

杨宇毕业于四川大学华西药学院，后从事自己感兴趣但又陌生的行业：动漫行业。 当时，杨宇父亲去世了，家里经济来源只有母亲每个月的一千元退休金。 在那三年里，杨宇在家潜心创作，都是靠着母亲的退休金。

成功没有偶然， 杨宇的成功除了有其日复一日的努力和坚持， 还有一位作为坚强后盾的母亲，这才让我们见到如此精彩的《哪吒之魔童降世》。