''The Secret of the Magic Gourd'' (), or ''The Magic Gourd'', is a live-action/CGI animation movie made in 2007 by

Centro Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil *Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Duq ...

in co-operation with China Movie Co Ltd and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. It is the second film based on a 1958 novel by

Zhang Tianyi Zhang Tianyi, real name: Zhang Yuanding; 26 September 1906 – 28 April 1985) was a 20th-century Chinese left-wing writer and children's author, whose novels and short stories achieved acclaim in the 1930s for his satiric wit. Biography Z ...

after the 1963 Chinese film. The film is all about an 11-year-old lazy boy, Raymond, learns the meaning of work after a magic gourd, Bailey, grants him anything he wants. ''The Secret of the Magic Gourd'' is Disney's first CGI/animation full-length feature film produced for the Chinese mainland market. The film was released on January 27, 2009, on DVD in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The English dubbed version of the film features

Corbin Bleu Corbin Bleu Reivers (; born February 21, 1989), known professionally as Corbin Bleu, is an American actor and singer. He made his acting debut in the 2004 adventure comedy film ''Catch That Kid''. He has since appeared in the Discovery Kids dra ...

as the voice of the Magic Gourd and Drake Johnston as the voice of Raymond, plus

Megan Hilty Megan Kathleen Hilty (born March 29, 1981) is an American actress and singer. She rose to prominence for her roles in Broadway musicals, including her performance as Glinda the Good Witch in ''Wicked'', Doralee Rhodes in '' 9 to 5: The Musical'', ...

as Ms. Lee. ''The Secret of the Magic Gourd'' is also available on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

Plot

The film begins with a space mission.

Cast

Filming

The film was shot in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in October 2005.

Reception

Following its commercial release, the film became somewhat notorious among Chinese

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

circles for its seemingly "overly realistic" depiction of gourd anatomy and physics.

External links

*
Disney's official China movie websiteDisney's official USA DVD release website
*
''The Secret of the Magic Gourd'' DVD Review on Kidzworld.com
*

References

2007 films 2007 animated films 2007 drama films 2007 fantasy films 2000s children's fantasy films 2007 computer-animated films Films with live action and animation Walt Disney Pictures films Buena Vista Home Entertainment direct-to-video films 2000s children's animated films Films based on Chinese novels {{2000s-animation-film-stub