THE MAGIC GOURD
Prelude: The first Chinese-language film funded by the Disney Corporation. Based on a novel by late author Zhang Tianyi, the film is co-produced by the Hong Kong-based Centro Digital Pictures.
The story: Wang Bao (played by mainland child actor Zhu Qilong) is a schoolboy who dreams big but is too lazy to realise those dreams. One day, he finds a cheeky and talkative gourd (voiced by Sean Lau Ching-wan) with magical powers that can grant wishes to its master.
With help from the magic gourd, Wang becomes a hero in school. But the talking vegetable also creates havoc and causes trouble. Wang faces a dilemma: should he continue to rely on the magic gourd, or learn to become a hero on his own?
Directors: John Chu and Frankie Chung. Chu, who is also the movie's executive producer, established Centro Digital Pictures in the 1980s. The company is a pioneer of computer-generated imagery in Hong Kong. The company created visual effects for blockbusters such as Stephen Chow Sing-chi's Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, and this expertise came in handy with The Magic Gourd, an amalgamation of live child actors and computer animation.
The book and author: The novel, The Secret of the Magic Gourd, was first published in 1958. It is considered the crowning literary glory for Zhang, who is regarded by many as China's Hans Christian Andersen.