Chinese traditional door gods inspire animated film "Door Guardians." (Photo : China Daily)
The Chinese film industry, the world’s second largest animated movie market, is in for a treat as Beijing-based Light Chaser Animation introduces the “Door Guardians.”
The animated movie's creator, Gary Wang, unveiled a 90-second trailer of the "Door Guardians" to tickle the Chinese media's imagination as to how the film is set to be "a landmark piece of Chinese cinema," the China Daily reported.
The film, inspired by the Chinese custom about images such as statues or pictures placed on or near doors to drive away evil spirits known as the door gods or the "menshen," is scheduled for release in January next year.
The plot of the story revolves around the adventures of two particular door gods who journeyed to a small town in modern China where they found out that they have been decommissioned because modern people no longer worship them.
"When I traveled to Bangkok, I saw a pair of door god statues in front of a palace. I suddenly realized people don't hang pictures of door guardians that often in China," the "Door Guardians" director and screenwriter explained, adding that inspiration for modern film should be based on local cultural roots instead of copying those of foreign origin.
Wang was the founder of Tudou.com, which is now merged with another Internet site to form the Youku Tudou.
He left his company for a new career in animation where he faced a tough decision.
"A sad part of the IT industry is that the first day you take a technology product to market is the first day it is out-of-date. However, animation lives much longer," he stated.
He also expressed his hopes, together with that of the other 160 employees of Light Chaser Animation, at changing the stereotype tagged onto Chinese animators by introducing their breakthrough animation film "Door Guardians."
