Havoc in Heaven

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Havoc in Heaven
Directed by Wan Laiming
Produced by Wan brothers
Written by Li Kuero
Wan Laiming
Music by Ying-Chu Wu
Release date(s) 1961, 1964
Running time 87 mins
Country China
Language Chinese (Mandarin)
IMDb profile

Havoc in Heaven (Chinese: 大闹天宫, Da nao tian gong), also known as Uproar in Heaven, is a Chinese animated feature film directed by Wan Laiming and produced by all four of the Wan brothers. The film was created at the height of the Chinese animation industry in the 1960s, and received numerous awards. It earned the brothers domestic and international recognition.

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[edit] Background

Wan Guchan, of the Wan Brothers and one of the animators of the feature film Princess Iron Fan, began planning the production of Havoc in Heavan after its release in 1941. However, the project was delayed for over a decade after the Japanese capture of Shanghai during the the Second Sino-Japanese War, and latter by the Chinese Civil War.

Wan Laiming returned to Shanghai as director of Shanghai Animation Film Studio in 1954, and production of Havoc in Heavan resumed shortly thereafter. The first part of the film was completed in 1961 by Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan. The second part was completed in 1964 with the assistance of Wan Chaochen and Wan Dihuan. Both parts of the film were screened together for the first time in 1965. This was the last major animated film of the Second Golden Era of Cinema of China. A year later, the entire industry was effectively shut down by the Cultural Revolution.

[edit] Story

The story is based on the earliest chapters of the classic story Journey to the West. The main character is Sun Wukong aka. the Monkey King, who goes to heaven in rebellion against the Jade Emperor of heaven.

[edit] Influence

The name of the movie (大闹天宫) became a colloquialism in the Chinese language to describe someone making a mess. It became one of the most influential films in all of Asia, animation or not. Countless cartoon adaptations that followed have reused the same classic story Journey to the West, yet many consider this 1964 iteration to be the most original, fitting and memorable[1].

[edit] DVD release

As part of the 40th anniversary of the second part's release, the film was re-released on a 2-disc special edition DVD in 2004. This edition is the original remastered Chinese version of the film, and contains Chinese subtitles in traditional and simplified characters. An English-subtitled version of the film has not been released, but fan-made English subtitles can be downloaded (see links section).

[edit] Debate

Because this film was influential like no other, it can be argued that the retelling of a classic literature story became the recipe for making a Chinese animation. Even well after the cultural revolution faded, productions from mainland China had a hard time trying new formulas. It is not until recent years when libraries of Disney cartoons and Japanese anime have forced the industry into a new direction.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Trivia

  • At the time, the film was also used as a joke metaphor for the "havoc" being caused by Mao Zedong (the monkey) in "heaven" (China)[2].

[edit] References

  1. ^ China cis.net. "Cartoon Nostalgia." Chinese Animations. Retrieved on 2006-12-24.
  2. ^ Jonathan Clement homepage. "Jonathan Clement author." Chinese Animations. Retrieved on 2006-12-24.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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