''Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'' () is a 1979 Chinese animated

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It was screened out of competition at the

1980 Cannes Film Festival The 33rd Cannes Film Festival was held between 9 and 23 May 1980. The Palme d'Or went to the '' All That Jazz'' by Bob Fosse and ''Kagemusha'' by Akira Kurosawa. The festival opened with '' Fantastica'', directed by Gilles Carle and closed with ' ...

, listed under the English title ''Prince Nezha's Triumph Against Dragon King'', and was released in the United Kingdom as ''Little Nezha Fights Great Dragon Kings''.

Plot

The film is an adaptation of a story in Chinese mythology (in particular, the epic fantasy novel '' Investiture of the Gods'') about the warrior deity Nezha. After a gestation period of three and a half years,

Lady Yin Lady Yin (Chinese: 殷氏; Pinyin: Yīn Shì) is a character featured within the famed classic Chinese novel ''Fengshen Yanyi''. She is the wife of Li Jing and they have three sons, Jinzha, Muzha, and Nezha. She played a prominent role in the nurt ...

, the wife of General Li Jing, gives birth to a flesh ball, which becomes a lotus flower, from which Nezha is born. Nezha is born able to walk and talk, and is taken on as a student of the immortal Taiyi Zhenren. The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas, tired of being peaceful, have become cruel and destructive, plaguing China with destructive storms and a drought. The people beg for rain, but the East Sea Dragon King

Ao Guang Ao Guang (; or ) is the Dragon King of the East Sea in Chinese folklore. He featured prominently in different works including ''Fengshen Yanyi'' and ''Journey to the West''. ''Fengshen Yanyi'' According to the ''Fengshen Yanyi'', after the passa ...

ignores them, telling the yaksha Ye Sha to go and find children for him to eat. Ye Sha captures one of Nezha's friends as he is bathing by the ocean, and Nezha confronts him, injuring him badly. Ao Guang sends his third son,

Ao Bing Ao Bing () is a character in the classic Chinese novel ''Investiture of the Gods'' (''Fengshen Yanyi''). He is a dragon prince and the third son of the East Sea Dragon King Ao Guang of the Crystal Palace. He has two brothers named Ao Jia and Ao Yi ...

, next. Ao Bing is killed by Nezha, infuriating Ao Guang. A variety of confrontations ensue between Nezha and Ao Guang. Ao Guang and the other Dragon Kings wreak havoc on the people, causing storms, floods and all manners of natural disasters. Seeing this, Nezha takes his father's sword, tells his parents that he is returning their flesh and bones to them, and calls out for his master before killing himself by slitting his throat. He is reborn with the help of his master, again from a lotus blossom, and is given new weapons and abilities. After breaking into Ao Guang's underwater palace, he confronts Ao Guang and the other Dragon Kings again, and is finally triumphant.

Release

In the United Kingdom, the film was broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

in England in the early evening on 23 December 1984, in an English-language version, directed by Louis Elman and produced for the BBC by Leah International, which retitled the film ''Little Nezha Fights Great Dragon Kings'' (rendered in the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' listing as ''Little Nezha Fights Great Dragon King'', in the singular). The voice of Nezha was provided by actress and voice artist

Rosemary Miller ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was known by the scientific name ''Rosmari ...

. As well as replacing the dialogue, it also replaced Jin Fuzai's score performed by the

Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO; Chinese: 上海爱乐乐团; pinyin: Shànghǎi Àiyuè Yuètuán) is a professional symphony orchestra based in Shanghai, China. It is under the administration of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cu ...

with one by

Ivor Slaney Ivor Ernst Slaney (born 27 May 1921 in West Bromwich, United Kingdom, d. 20 March 1998, Southampton, United Kingdom) was a prolific musical composer and conductor, notable for his work in film, television and radio. Slaney was educated at the R ...

. This version was released on video by BBC Enterprises in 1986 and rebroadcast earlier in the day for a few times during 1988. The film was released on DVD with the original Chinese audio English subtitles in 2005, with ''Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'' as its English title. The original-language version of the film was premiered in the UK and Ireland in its 2K digital restoration in an online Chinese Cinema Season which ran from 12 February to 12 May 2021.

Awards

1980 Film Hundred Flowers Awards for Best Art Film ''Ministry of Culture''1979 Outstanding Fine Arts Film Special Award,Metro Manila Film Festival, Philippines,1983

Impact

On May 30, 2014, the first Google Doodle (Google Doodle listing) featuring Nezha was displayed on Google's Hong Kong and Taiwan homepages: the 35th anniversary of the release of "Nezha in the Sea", with the word "Google" wrapped around Nezha's silk and an animated image of Nezha wielding a fire-tipped gun on the sea. In August 2021, "Animation -''Nezha Conquers the Dragon King''" special stamps were issued in a set of 6 stamps with a face value of RMB 6.40, and 6.9 million sets are planned to be issued.

Japanese version cast

* Banjō Ginga as Li Gen * Daisuke Gōri as Li Jing – Nezha's father * Junko Hori as Little boy 1 * Ichirō Nagai as Master Taiyi / Li Jing's chancellor * Masako Nozawa as Nezha * Nachi Nozawa as Ao Guang's chancellor * Mari Okamoto as Little girl * Chikao Ōtsuka as Dragon King *

Tomiko Suzuki was a Japanese voice actress who was born in Aichi Prefecture and was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of her death. Suzuki's last film was '' Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker'' (where she voiced the protagonist Pokémon: Jirachi), re ...

as Little boy 2 * Norio Wakamoto as Ao Bing

Other appearances

On 30 May 2014, ''Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'' was featured on Google Search's homepage as an animated doodle.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nezha Conquers the Dragon King 1979 films 1979 animated films Animated films about dragons Chinese animated films Mandarin-language films Films based on Chinese myths and legends Works based on Investiture of the Gods