''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 Shanghai Animation Film Studio () also known as SAFS () is a Chinese animation studio based in Shanghai, China, as part of the Shanghai Film Group Corporation. Shanghai Animation Film Studio was officially established in April, 1957, led by pion ...

. It was screened out of competition at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival, 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 Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

(in particular, the epic fantasy novel ''

Investiture of the Gods ''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese names () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Cons ...

'') about the warrior deity

Nezha Nezha ( 哪吒) is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion. His official Taoist name is "Marshal of the Central Altar" (). He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" () after he became a deity. Origins According to Meir Shahar, Nez ...

. 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 nur ...

, 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 Taiyi Zhenren () is a deity in Chinese religion and Taoism. ''Taiyi'' () means "primordial unity of yin and yang" and '' Zhenren'' () is a Daoist term for "Perfected Person". According to the opening of the classical novel ''Fengshen Bang'', he ...

. The

Dragon King The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain, commanding over all bodies of water. He is the collective personification of the ancient concept of the '' lóng'' in Ch ...

s of the

Four Seas The Four Seas () were four bodies of water that metaphorically made up the boundaries of ancient China. There is a sea for each for the four cardinal directions. The West Sea is Qinghai Lake, the East Sea is the East China Sea, the North Sea is ...

, 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 The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in ...

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, 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. 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 C ...

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 #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

in 1986 and rebroadcast earlier in the day for a few times during 1988. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

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 , sometimes credited as his real name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator who was born in Kofu, Yamanashi. Ginga is affiliated with Aoni Production. He is married to voice actress Gara Takashima. Known for his deep baritone voice ...

as Li Gen *

Daisuke Gōri was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Kōtō, Tokyo. Throughout his life, he was attached to TV Talent Center Tokyo, Yoshizawa Theatre School and then Mausu Promotion; he was attached to Aoni Production at the time of his death. ...

as Li Jing – Nezha's father *

Junko Hori is a Japanese actress and voice actress represented by Production Baobab. She is known as the voice of the protagonists in 3 Fujiko Fujio works, ''Obake no Q-tarō'', ''Ninja Hattori-kun'', and '' Chimpui''. As a dub artist she is known for the ...

as Little boy 1 *

Ichirō Nagai was a Japanese actor, Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and narrator from Ikeda, Osaka. He was previously affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, and was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of his death. Career Nag ...

as Master Taiyi / Li Jing's chancellor *

Masako Nozawa is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. Throughout her life, she has been affiliated with Production Baobab, 81 Produce and self-owned Office Nozawa; she is also affiliated with Aoni Production. Her late husband, Masaaki Tsukada, was ...

as Nezha *

Nachi Nozawa was a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and theatre director from Tokyo. He was affiliated with Office PAC at the time of his death. His real name was . Nozawa was the official dub-over artist of Al Pacino and Alain Delon. Also he was known ...

as Ao Guang's chancellor *

Mari Okamoto is a Japanese actress and voice actress. Biography Despite being born in Tokyo, Okamoto was actually raised in Hirakata, Osaka, where she also spent her elementary-school years. In 1961, she made her debut for performing arts activities in c ...

as Little girl *

Chikao Ōtsuka was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. He was most known for the roles of Captain Hook (''Peter Pan no Bōken & Disney's Peter Pan''), Dick Dastardly (''Wacky Races'' & ''Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines''), Goemon Ishikaw ...

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 is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with the Sigma Seven talent agency. He was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and was raised in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. He graduated from Waseda University. On adult works, like OVAs or dating sims, ...

as Ao Bing

Other appearances

On 30 May 2014, ''Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'' was featured on

Google Search Google Search (also known simply as Google) is a search engine provided by Google. Handling more than 3.5 billion searches per day, it has a 92% share of the global search engine market. It is also the most-visited website in the world. The ...

's homepage as an animated

doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines or shapes, generally without ever lift ...

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