Treasure Lucky Star (2005) 夺宝幸运星
Director: Ha Lei
Screenwriter: Wang Bing
Genre: Comedy / Animation / Short Film
Country/Region of Production: Mainland China
Language: Mandarin/Chinese
Date: 2005
Number of episodes: 52
Single episode length: 9 minutes
Also known as: Happy Journey to the West / 开心西游记
Adaptation: Reimagining
Summary:
“Happy Journey to the West” is a novel cartoon suitable for people of all ages, also known as “Lucky Star of Treasure Hunting”. Consistent with the original “Journey to the West”, “Happy Journey to the West” praises Sun Wukong’s fearless, witty and brave, and indomitable fighting spirit. In addition, it also adheres to the fairy tale style of the original work. Whether it is the Monkey King with 72 transformations, the lazy and greedy Zhu Bajie, or the gods and demons with various magical powers, they are all full of magical fantasy colors.
As a humorous alternative cartoon, “Happy Journey to the West” is loyal to the original work, but has a different form of expression from the original work of hundreds of thousands of words. Appreciating “Happy Journey to the West”, the colorful and fast-paced split-frame cartoons, the concise and vivid, highly personalized character modeling, and the interlocking, rich and compact storyline can’t help but make people smile. More importantly, the cartoon uses the expressive power of color pictures to vividly present the deified characters and environmental descriptions in the original text to the audience.
There are many adaptations and condensed versions of classical masterpieces on the market. While maintaining the artistic beauty of the original work, it incorporates modern language and visual elements with a contemporary flavor. This is the characteristic of “Happy Journey to the West” that is different from previous versions of “Journey to the West” animation. Several protagonists in the work can be described as “cool” in form and “cool” in attitude. It is with such funny and humorous packaging that the character characteristics of the characters in the original work are fully displayed through the layers of plot, the unfolding of dynamic pictures, and the personalized character language and body movements.
Happy Journey to the West is adapted from kizi’s “Hi Journey”
The Grow (2012) 金箍棒传奇
Director: Ha Lei
Screenwriter: Wang Bing / Ma Hua / He Wei
Starring: Han Xue / Wu Tianhao / Yu Li / Rong Rong / Tong Zirong / Zhou Yemang
Genre: Comedy / Animation / Adventure
Country/Region of Production: Mainland China
Language: Mandarin Chinese Release
Date: 2012-12-29 (Mainland China)
Running time: 88 minutes
Also known as: The Legend of the Golden Cudgel / Happy Journey to the West / The Grow
Adaptation: Reimagining
Summary:
On a dark and windy night, Tang Sanzang and his disciples rested in a dilapidated temple in the desert by the roadside. The hardworking Sha and Sanzang drew the bad sign of "night watch" without any surprise. The days of hard work finally broke out that night. Sha and Snzang could not resist the call of the King of Hell and fainted. The responsibility of asking for the elixir to bring back the soul naturally fell on the head of Sun Wukong, the "No. 1 male public relations in heaven". But before the medicine was brought back, Tang Sanzang, who was proficient in medical skills, could not help but show his skills. After a cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Sha and Sanzang's soul was brought back. The elixir brought back by Sun Wukong accidentally spilled on the golden hoop beside him... The invincible magic weapon turned into a graceful young woman! And she was Pinxiang, who was punished by the Jade Emperor for going to the mortal world secretly. The news that "Sun Wukong lost his golden cudgel" spread like wildfire. The Bull Demon King immediately summoned various monsters to form a committee to denounce the Journey to the West, and began to hunt down the four masters and apprentices. Even the king of all monsters, "Destruction Star Lord", heard the news and took action. Pinxiang also wanted to take Tang Monk's life at the instigation of the traitor...
The Grow 2 (2015) 金箍棒传奇2：沙僧的逆袭
Director: Ha Lei
Screenwriter: Wang Bing / Ha Lei / Ma Hua / Tong Jinjing
Starring: Yu Li / Wu Tianhao / Rong Rong / Zhang Yuan
Genre: Comedy / Animation / Adventure
Country/Region of Production: Mainland China
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Date: 2015-05-29 (Mainland China)
Duration: 91 minutes
Also known as: 金箍棒传奇2 / The Legend of the Golden Hoop 2 / 夺宝幸运星大电影之金箍棒传奇2 / Happy Journey to the West 2 / 开心西游记2 / The Grow 2
Adaptation: Reimagining
Summary:
Tang Seng was captured by the monster, and the remaining Monkey King, Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng were arguing over a crisis of trust, and the situation was very critical. It turned out that Sha Seng was a half-demon who had gone astray, but at the critical moment, he was enlightened by the Arhat who subdued dragons and tigers and returned to the right path. The Buddha gave Sha Seng a very important task, which was to secretly help the Western Star Stone Monkey Sun Wukong. After some twists and turns, the three brothers finally resolved the misunderstanding and followed the clues to the different space. Here, the powerful Four Heavenly Kings of the Netherworld were waiting for them. Only by breaking through the Four Evil Palaces guarded by them could they break the barrier and rescue Tang Seng. However, Sha Seng and others who fought bravely to save their master did not know that they had fallen into a trap carefully set by the leader of the Tai Sui Special Forces.
