Big Fish & Begonia is an upcoming Chinese animated fantasy film directed by Liang Xuan and Zhang Chun. (Photo : Twitter/Ulkhror)
After twelve years in the making, the animated fantasy feature film, "Big Fish & Begonia," will finally hit Chinese theaters in both 2D and 3D formats on July 8.
On April 18, Monday, Beijing Enlight Media announced "Big Fish & Begonia's" long-awaited release date along with its first stunning trailer. The 71-second long trailer brings the viewers into the magical realm that is unseen by any human.
The upcoming "Big Fish & Begonia" is said to be an elaborate feature film roused by a myth from the ancient Chinese Taoist classic, Zhuangzi. It is helmed by directors Liang Xuan and Zhang Chun, who developed the film since 2004.
"The 12 years is nothing for us. We just love to do it. After all, we decided to do it at the beginning, so we must do it well," China.org.cn quoted Xuan as saying at the film press conference on April 18, while revealing that the film's total budget is around 30 million yuan.
The film director went ahead and apologized to everyone that they have kept for so long. According to earlier reports, the project has been filed away since 2009 and got revived after Xuan posted a crowdfunding trailer on his Weibo account in June 2013.
The quality of the 30-minute crowdfunding clip has prompted Enlight Media to invest in the fantasy world made up for the film, as they believed that such a film could sell on the market. Enlight Media President, Wang Changtian, claims that the film is a new milestone for the Chinese animation industry and guaranteed that it will not disappoint anyone who has waited for years.
"No, any normal people will do things like what they do. A good animated film needs time. It will make the Chinese animation industry proud and will not disappoint anyone who's been waiting for 12 years," the publication quoted Changtian as saying.
Set in a mythic world where no outsider has ever set foot, "Big Fish & Begonia" recounts an absorbing and bittersweet story of sacrifice and redemption. It takes after the story of a 16-year-old spirit girl named Chun, who transformed into a dolphin to explore what the human world is like, Blastr has learned.
While cruising at sea, Chun gets caught in a storm and gets herself enmeshed in a fishing net, wherein a human boy sacrificed his own life to rescue her. Using her magical power, she gave the boy a new life in a form of a tiny white fish, however, she must protect and nurture it to grow.
Check out the trailer below:
