Chinese animators have been drawing inspiration from Chinese mythology ever since the country's first animated film, Princess Iron Fan in 1941, and in recent years its animated-film industry has released several hit films based on classic Chinese tales, such as Monkey King: Hero is Back in 2015, Big Fish & Begonia in 2016, and White Snake in 2019. 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》。 Nezha is the subject of the latest feature, which officially opens in cinemas in China on Friday. 哪吒是最新一部动画电影的主角,这部电影已于上周五(7月26日)在中国影院正式上映。 Nezha has earned rave reviews and is rated higher than Monkey King: Hero is Back. It is also China's first 3D animated feature film released in IMAX format. 影片《哪吒之魔童降世》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。 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. 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)。 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. 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。 Nezha has 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. 据悉,《哪吒之魔童降世》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。 The film is loosely based on the Chinese novel The Investiture of the Gods. In the novel Nezha is born during the Shang dynasty (circa 1600BC to 1050BC) and is famous for fighting against the Dragon King. The third son of garrison commander General Li Jing, he can never please his father and eventually commits suicide. 这部电影大体上是根据中国小说《封神榜》创作的。小说中,哪吒出生于商朝(约公元前1600年至公元前1050年),因与龙王对抗而闻名。作为天庭卫戍司令托塔天王李靖的三太子,他永远无法取悦父亲,最终自杀身亡。 Yang made up his mind to produce an animated film on the theme of breaking stereotypes and reversing fate. Yang chose as his vehicle Nezha, the epitome of the rebellious but righteous youth. 导演饺子决心制作一部以打破陈规、扭转命运为主题的动画电影。饺子选择了哪吒作为载体,他是叛逆但正直的年轻人的缩影。 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 King in 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. 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。
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. 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。 However, compared with the original novel and past animated versions, the relationships between the characters are given modern meaning. 但与原版小说和过去的动画版本相比,《哪吒之魔童降世》中人物的关系更具现代意义。 In Yang's film he is fighting prejudice: Nezha is hated, feared and shunned as the reincarnation of a devil. But Nezha believes his fate is not predetermined and that he can choose to be a demon or a god. 在这部电影中,哪吒与人们的偏见作斗争。作为恶魔的化身,哪吒被憎恨、恐惧和逃避。但是哪吒相信他的命运并非天注定,他可以自己选择成为恶魔或者英雄。 Another character, the Dragon King's third son Aobing, is the mirror image of Nezha's personality. Though born as a god, he almost destroys Nezha's mythical birthplace, Chentang Pass, in a selfish quest to revive his family's fortunes. 另一个人物龙王三太子敖丙是哪吒性格的镜像。虽然生而为神,为了龙族复兴这个自私的目的,他几乎摧毁了哪吒的神秘出生地陈塘关。 "I used to suffer from a lot of prejudice after changing my career," says Yang. "Since then, I have thought about making an animation to encourage young people to persist with their dreams and change their own fate." 导演饺子说:“换了工作后,我曾经饱受偏见之苦。从那时起,我就想做一部动画,鼓励年轻人坚持自己的梦想,改变自己的命运。 The director, 39, was studying pharmacy when he decided to become an animator. People close to him didn't believe he could make a career out of this, and he had a hard time finding animation work. He overcame these obstacles, however, and his future was assured when a short animated film on which he worked for three years, See Through, won more than 20 domestic and overseas awards. 这位39岁的导演在成为一名动画师时之前学习的专业是药学。亲朋好友都不相信他能以此为业,他也很难找到动画领域的工作。然而,他克服了这些困难。当他耗费了三年心血制作的动画短片《打,打个大西瓜》赢得了20多个国内外奖项之后,他的职业生涯一片光明。 "After watching so many domestic animated films, only Ne Zha and Monkey King: Hero is Back have made me shang tou (obsessed or fascinated)," a Weibo user commented under the promotional video. 一位微博用户在宣传视频下评论道:“在看了这么多国产动画电影之后,只有《哪吒之魔童降世》和《西游记之大圣归来》让我着迷。” "Epic! I finished watching Ne Zha in tears. The content-rich story, vivid characters, and amazing visual effects, work together to create a 110-minute roller-coaster watching experience," a Douban user commented. 豆瓣一名网友评论说:“史诗级的动画!《哪吒之魔童降世》让我泪目。内容丰富的故事、生动的人物和令人惊叹的视觉效果,共同创造了110分钟过山车般的观影体验。” "Bravo! Couldn't believe a domestic animated film can be created with such a well-developed story. The image of Nezha in this film has been subverted but his rebellious spirit is well-established. I'm sure Ne Zha is gonna go viral this summer!" reads another comment on Douban. 豆瓣另一名网友评论说:“太好看了!真不敢相信一部国产动画电影能有这么好的故事情节。在这部电影中,哪吒的形象被颠覆了,但他的反叛精神却得以确立。我可以肯定这部电影会成为票房大热。”