《哪吒·魔童降世》海报

自1941年中国第一部动画片《铁扇公主》问世后，中国的动画家们一直从中国的神话故事中汲取灵感。近年来，中国的动画电影产业推出了几部根据中国经典故事改编的热门电影，如2015年的《西游记之大圣归来》、2016年的《大鱼海棠》和2019年的《白蛇：缘起》。

哪吒是最新一部动画电影的主角，这部电影已于7月26日在中国影院正式上映。影片《哪吒·魔童降世》好评如潮，评分比《西游记之大圣归来》还要高。这也是中国首部IMAX格式的3D动画电影。自7月13日以来，这部电影的提前点映票房已超过1.4亿元人民币，该片在中国最大的电影评分网站豆瓣上的得分为8.8分（满分10分）。

影片的导演兼编剧饺子（原名杨宇）花了两年时间来打磨剧本，花了三年的时间来完成动画制作。这部电影是中国目前最复杂的动画制作。据悉，《哪吒·魔童降世》有超过1300个特效镜头，来自20多个特效工作室的超过1600人参与制作，以实现电影中的神话故事场景、神秘的龙王宫殿以及仙人们操控水与火进行打斗的戏份。仅一个壮观的场景就需要两个月才能制作完成。

这不是第一部以哪吒为主角的电影。今年是中国首部宽屏彩色动画、1979年的《哪吒闹海》上映40周年。作为上海动画电影制片厂出品的最佳影片之一，它是第一部在戛纳电影节上映的中国动画电影。 2003年，中央电视台播出了动画片《哪吒传奇》，活泼开朗正直的少年英雄人物哪吒在中国的千禧一代中引起了强烈的共鸣。（孙晔供稿）

Chinese animators have been drawing inspiration from Chinese mythology ever since the country’s first animated film,Princess Iron Fanin 1941, and in recent years its animated- film industry has released several hit films based on classic Chinese tales,such asMonkey King: Hero is Backin 2015,Big Fish &Begoniain 2016, andWhite Snakein 2019.

Nezha is the subject of the latest feature, which officially opens in cinemas in China on Friday.Nezhahas earned rave reviews and is rated higher thanMonkey King: Hero is Back. It is also China’s first 3D animated feature film released in IMAX format.Since July 13, previews of the film have taken more than 140 million yuan at the box office and the film has a score of 8.8 points (out of 10) on China’s largest filming rating site, Douban.

It took Jokalate Yang Yu, the film’s director and screenwriter, two years to refine the script of Nezha,and the film was in production for three years. It is the most complex animated production ever made in China.Nezhahas more than 1,300 special effects shots, and it took over 20 Chinese special-effects studios, employing more than 1,600 people, to realize the film’s fairy tale setting, the mysterious Dragon King’s palace, and a stunning fight between fire and water. One spectacular scene alone took two months to complete.

This is not the first film to make Nezha its protagonist. This year is the 40th anniversary of the release of China’s first widescreen color animation,Prince Nezha’s Triumph Against Dragon Kingin 1979. One of the best films produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio, it was the first Chinese animated film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2003, Chinese Central Television broadcast an animated series,The Legend of Nezha,and the lively, cheerful and righteous teen hero character of Nezha resonates strongly with China’s Generation Z.