A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation
Encyclopedia
A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation is a 1997
Hong Kong
animated film
. It was the first Chinese animated
feature film
from Hong Kong
. It was produced by Tsui Hark
and his production company, Film Workshop
It is also referred to as "Xiao Qian", "Little Pretty", "Chinese Ghost Story Xiao Qian".
being used as graphical enhancements. It was debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. The story is loosely based on the ancient Chinese literature Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
. It was later translated to English by VIZ Media
.
Somehow, at night, Ning enters a ghost town, inhabited by many different monsters, ghouls and spirits. He tries to adjust himself in the street life there, but he realises that it is hard to fit in the life of the dead. Just then he gawks at a beautiful lady called Shine in a carriage scene like royalty and he falls in love with her. Unknown to him, Shine is an agent of Madame Trunk, an evil tree spirit who devours life forces from anything. Ning follows Shine and tries to acquaint with her, but Shine is at first cunning and was thinking of selling him to Madame Trunk, with help of her friend, Butterfly. But she realises that Ning is a man who seems much more different than she thought.
When mayhem breaks out in the ghost town, it turns chaotic. Ning and Shine are caught between it, and in the midst Ning saves Shine as they jump upon the Immortal Golden Dragon Train, that ferries souls to the underworld to be reborn. Shine suggests they hitch a ride to safety, and so they do, getting off sometime later.
When morning arrives, Ning notices Shine is missing. He tries looking for her, only to realise she was hiding in his shadow under sunshine. She is a ghost, and any exposure to the sun will make her disappear, as she explains to Ning, and so he protects her. Ning sets her in his umbrella, then casts the umbrella in the water of a pond where she can survive, while he stays on ground and camps. As they stay together, the two of them form a semi-romantic relationship. In the midsts, Ning and Shine encounter Red Beard. Red Beard wants to slay Shine as it his profession, but when the group is attacked by the two monks, they flee to safety, but Red Beard's "robot" is destroyed to save them. Ning then pleads with Red Beard to not slay Shine, but after some time Red Beard relents and promises he won't do any harm to Shine.
While Shine is away, Butterfly is heavily questioned by Madame Trunk about where Shine is. Butterfly tries to deny the fact she knew anything, but eventually under torture, she reveals some information on Shine, with a human man who is Ning. Madame Trunk, who is running low on life force, is desperate to get Ning so she can live, and enlists Butterfly to get them.
At night, Ning and Shine return to the city, where a celebration is taking place. Mountain Evil, a mountain spirit, seen as a superstar, performs that night and charms Shine into staying on him. But when Shine pulls by accident one of his long, white, elegant hair that he claims nobody except him should touch, he is enraged. He tries to punish her, but the two monks appear and attack the ghost town. Ten Miles handles the ghost citizens, while White Cloud takes care of Mountain Evil. In the onslaught, Mountain Evil's hair is completely shaven by White Cloud, who thinks that his hair should be shaven like his to repent. But Mountain Evil tries to flee back into his mountain form, dragging Shine with him. Shine manages to escape, where Ning and her settle in a forest.
Shine reveals her background about working for Madame Trunk, in which Ning says to free her he would do anything, even losing his life force to free Shine from Madame Trunk's clutches. Shine takes him to Madame Trunk, but when she changes her mind at the last moment being unable to part with Ning and that by letting him be sacrificed for her freedom makes her selfish and Ning not in peace, she tries to save Ning. Butterfly understands the situation and when she realises humans can coexist with spirits, helps Shine by ensuring Ning and Shine's escape. Because Madame Trunk has no more life force with Ning taken away from her, she rots and disappears, thus breaking the bond Shine is bound to her.
Shine admits she loves Ning since he helped her so much, and that Ning returns her love, but worries that humans and spirits can't be together. While they share a tranquil moment, Mountain Evil appears and tries to take Shine away for the punishment she was to have from him. They hide, and when the Immortal Golden Dragon Train arrives, they sought refuge in the train. Mountain Evil tries to attack the train, but is seen by Red Beard who destroys him. Ning asks Red Beard why he would do such a thing, Red Beard claims that he understood about spirits and ghostbusting the unholy ones are what he should do, and not just to bust all spirits.
Shine then suggests that she be reborn to stay with Ning together as they go through the Heavenly gates. Ning agrees that he'll reborn to be with her, but in the midst, White Cloud and Ten Miles appear to purify the spirits themselves. Red Beard goes on a duel with them, while Ning and Shine alter the train's course to take them safely to the gates. In the scuffle that follows, Ning is thrown into the gates that are sealing. The path they took in fact made them too late. Ning struggles to keep the gates open as the train passes through him. Shine takes him and fly into the portal of rebirth, but they have to encounter the hammers of mismemory that will wipe out all spirits' memories before they are reborn.
White Cloud, Ten Miles and Red Beard fall into the portal, where they are reborn into babies. Ning and Shine are separated, where Shine tells Ning the location to look for her when she is reborn. Ning awakens in a village where he sees the two baby monks and a baby Red Beard, and meets his lover Siu Lan who carries a newborn child which he thought was Shine. He takes the child to the meeting place, but realises the baby is a boy and Siu Lan Fu arrives, teaching Ning a lesson. Ning thought he had lost Shine forever, but when he sees his umbrella acting weird, he casts it in a river's water and he dives in, just like before. Shine appears and the two of them reunite. An ecstatic Ning swims madly down the river as his dog Solid Gold smiles before the camera as the film ends, with the scene turned to a Chinese painting as the credits roll.
Hong Kong films of 1997
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 1997:.-1997:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 1997 at...
Hong Kong
Cinema of Hong Kong
The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...
animated film
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
. It was the first Chinese animated
Chinese animation
Chinese animation or Manhua Anime, in narrow sense, refers to animations that are made in China. In broad sense, it may refers to animations that are made in any Chinese speaking countries such as People's Republic of China , Republic of China , Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.- History :The...
feature film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. It was produced by Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:...
and his production company, Film Workshop
Film Workshop
Film Workshop Co. Ltd. , is a Hong Kong production company and film distributor. It was founded in April 1984 by producer/director Tsui Hark and his wife, Nansun Shi...
It is also referred to as "Xiao Qian", "Little Pretty", "Chinese Ghost Story Xiao Qian".
Background
The production time lasted 4 years with computer CGIComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
being used as graphical enhancements. It was debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. The story is loosely based on the ancient Chinese literature Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio or Liaozhai Zhiyi is a collection of nearly five hundred mostly supernatural tales written by Pu Songling in Classical Chinese during the early Qing Dynasty.Pu borrows from a folk tradition of oral storytelling to put to paper a series of captivating,...
. It was later translated to English by VIZ Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
.
Story
Tax collector Ning wanders the land with his pet dog Solid Gold grieving over his lost love Siu Lan, who dumps him over another man. He goes on, and along the way, he runs into two monks, White Cloud and Ten Miles. The two Buddhist monks, who appear to be trying to purify unholy spirits and send them to the underworld, are on rivalry with another ghostbuster, Red Beard. After a meeting and a hasty farewell to the monks who leave, Ning continues his journey.Somehow, at night, Ning enters a ghost town, inhabited by many different monsters, ghouls and spirits. He tries to adjust himself in the street life there, but he realises that it is hard to fit in the life of the dead. Just then he gawks at a beautiful lady called Shine in a carriage scene like royalty and he falls in love with her. Unknown to him, Shine is an agent of Madame Trunk, an evil tree spirit who devours life forces from anything. Ning follows Shine and tries to acquaint with her, but Shine is at first cunning and was thinking of selling him to Madame Trunk, with help of her friend, Butterfly. But she realises that Ning is a man who seems much more different than she thought.
When mayhem breaks out in the ghost town, it turns chaotic. Ning and Shine are caught between it, and in the midst Ning saves Shine as they jump upon the Immortal Golden Dragon Train, that ferries souls to the underworld to be reborn. Shine suggests they hitch a ride to safety, and so they do, getting off sometime later.
When morning arrives, Ning notices Shine is missing. He tries looking for her, only to realise she was hiding in his shadow under sunshine. She is a ghost, and any exposure to the sun will make her disappear, as she explains to Ning, and so he protects her. Ning sets her in his umbrella, then casts the umbrella in the water of a pond where she can survive, while he stays on ground and camps. As they stay together, the two of them form a semi-romantic relationship. In the midsts, Ning and Shine encounter Red Beard. Red Beard wants to slay Shine as it his profession, but when the group is attacked by the two monks, they flee to safety, but Red Beard's "robot" is destroyed to save them. Ning then pleads with Red Beard to not slay Shine, but after some time Red Beard relents and promises he won't do any harm to Shine.
While Shine is away, Butterfly is heavily questioned by Madame Trunk about where Shine is. Butterfly tries to deny the fact she knew anything, but eventually under torture, she reveals some information on Shine, with a human man who is Ning. Madame Trunk, who is running low on life force, is desperate to get Ning so she can live, and enlists Butterfly to get them.
At night, Ning and Shine return to the city, where a celebration is taking place. Mountain Evil, a mountain spirit, seen as a superstar, performs that night and charms Shine into staying on him. But when Shine pulls by accident one of his long, white, elegant hair that he claims nobody except him should touch, he is enraged. He tries to punish her, but the two monks appear and attack the ghost town. Ten Miles handles the ghost citizens, while White Cloud takes care of Mountain Evil. In the onslaught, Mountain Evil's hair is completely shaven by White Cloud, who thinks that his hair should be shaven like his to repent. But Mountain Evil tries to flee back into his mountain form, dragging Shine with him. Shine manages to escape, where Ning and her settle in a forest.
Shine reveals her background about working for Madame Trunk, in which Ning says to free her he would do anything, even losing his life force to free Shine from Madame Trunk's clutches. Shine takes him to Madame Trunk, but when she changes her mind at the last moment being unable to part with Ning and that by letting him be sacrificed for her freedom makes her selfish and Ning not in peace, she tries to save Ning. Butterfly understands the situation and when she realises humans can coexist with spirits, helps Shine by ensuring Ning and Shine's escape. Because Madame Trunk has no more life force with Ning taken away from her, she rots and disappears, thus breaking the bond Shine is bound to her.
Shine admits she loves Ning since he helped her so much, and that Ning returns her love, but worries that humans and spirits can't be together. While they share a tranquil moment, Mountain Evil appears and tries to take Shine away for the punishment she was to have from him. They hide, and when the Immortal Golden Dragon Train arrives, they sought refuge in the train. Mountain Evil tries to attack the train, but is seen by Red Beard who destroys him. Ning asks Red Beard why he would do such a thing, Red Beard claims that he understood about spirits and ghostbusting the unholy ones are what he should do, and not just to bust all spirits.
Shine then suggests that she be reborn to stay with Ning together as they go through the Heavenly gates. Ning agrees that he'll reborn to be with her, but in the midst, White Cloud and Ten Miles appear to purify the spirits themselves. Red Beard goes on a duel with them, while Ning and Shine alter the train's course to take them safely to the gates. In the scuffle that follows, Ning is thrown into the gates that are sealing. The path they took in fact made them too late. Ning struggles to keep the gates open as the train passes through him. Shine takes him and fly into the portal of rebirth, but they have to encounter the hammers of mismemory that will wipe out all spirits' memories before they are reborn.
White Cloud, Ten Miles and Red Beard fall into the portal, where they are reborn into babies. Ning and Shine are separated, where Shine tells Ning the location to look for her when she is reborn. Ning awakens in a village where he sees the two baby monks and a baby Red Beard, and meets his lover Siu Lan who carries a newborn child which he thought was Shine. He takes the child to the meeting place, but realises the baby is a boy and Siu Lan Fu arrives, teaching Ning a lesson. Ning thought he had lost Shine forever, but when he sees his umbrella acting weird, he casts it in a river's water and he dives in, just like before. Shine appears and the two of them reunite. An ecstatic Ning swims madly down the river as his dog Solid Gold smiles before the camera as the film ends, with the scene turned to a Chinese painting as the credits roll.
Characters
| Name | Cantonese Voiced by | Mandarin Voiced by | English Voiced by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ning | Jan Lamb Jan Lamb Jan Lamb Hoi Fong is a DJ, pop singer, actor in Hong Kong. Jan is the elder brother of actor/DJ/game host Jerry and younger brother of singer and radio personality Sandy... |
Nicky Wu Nicky Wu Nicky Wu is a Taiwanese singer and actor. Wu found fame in 1988, by joining the Taiwanese boy band, Little Tigers Team, performing alongside Alec Su and Julian Chen. Since then, his career has also expanded into film and television in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China.-Childhood:Nicky Wu is the... |
Michael Donovan Michael Donovan Michael David Donovan is a voice actor for many TV shows and anime. He is most known for his voice on the series ReBoot for his voices of Phong, Mike the TV, Cecil, and Al. He has also provided the voice of Sabretooth for X-Men: Evolution and Carnage for Spider-Man Unlimited. He played the lead... |
| Siu Sin (Seen) / Shine | Anita Yuen Anita Yuen Anita Yuen Wing-yi is a Hong Kong film and television actress. She was the winner of the 1990 Miss Hong Kong Pageant.-Pageant career:At the age of 18, Yuen entered the Miss Hong Kong 1990 pageant. She was a heavy favorite to win the crown from the semifinal to final. During the semifinals on August... |
Sylvia Chang Sylvia Chang Sylvia Chang is a Taiwanese actress, writer, singer, producer and director. In 1992, she was a member of the jury at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.- Actress :... |
Nicole Oliver Nicole Oliver -Education:She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from York University, and additional training from the British American Drama Academy in Oxford and London.-Career:... |
| Siu Lan / Lan | Charlie Yeung Charlie Yeung Charlie Yeung Choi-Nei, sometimes spelled Charlie Young, is a Chinese film actress and singer. She was first noticed after appearing in a jewellery commercial with Aaron Kwok... |
Linda Wong Hing | Janyse Jaud Janyse Jaud Janyse Aldis Jaud is a Canadian actress, dancer and singer/songwriter. She is of Icelandic-French descent.... |
| Solid Gold | Tsui Hark Tsui Hark Tsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:... |
? | Scott McNeil Scott McNeil Scott McNeil is a Canadian actor and voice actor. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada... |
| Ten Miles / Monk Shi Fang | Eric Kot Eric Kot Eric Kot Man Fai is a Hong Kong celebrity in the Chinese hip hop industry. As a popular MC/pop singer/actor who studied in California and is the youngest of three brothers... |
Alec Su Alec Su Alec Su is a Taiwanese pop star and versatile actor in films and television dramas. He became famous as a member of the Taiwanese Idol Band The Little Tigers, formed in 1988, and later for his first Chinese TV series Princess Returning Pearl .-Little Tigers:Alec Su's career started in 1988, at... |
Matt Smith Matt Smith (voice actor) Matt Smith is a Canadian voice actor who works for Ocean Productions in Vancouver.-Roles:*Dragon Ball Z - Tien * InuYasha - Hojo, Akitoki Hojo * Zoids: New Century Zero - Sanders... |
| White Cloud / Reverend Bai Yun | Raymond Wong | Sammo Hung Sammo Hung Sammo Hung is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and director, known for his work in many martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema... |
Richard Newman Richard Newman Richard Newman is a voice actor with numerous voice roles in Transformers cartoons.-Career:Newman started his career in voice acting in Beast Wars voicing Rhinox and the Vok... |
| Red Beard / Yan Chi Xia | Wong Jim Wong Jim James Wong Jim was a Cantopop lyricist and writer based primarily in Hong Kong. He was also a well known in Asia as a columnist, actor, film director, screenwriter and talk show hosts. He took part in creative directing positions within the entertainment industry in Hong Kong... |
Lee Li-Chun | Don Brown |
| Siu Deep / Butterfly | Charlie Yeung Charlie Yeung Charlie Yeung Choi-Nei, sometimes spelled Charlie Young, is a Chinese film actress and singer. She was first noticed after appearing in a jewellery commercial with Aaron Kwok... |
Liu Jo-Ying | Venus Terzo Venus Terzo Venus Terzo is a Canadian actress best noted for her role as Detective Angela Kosmo in Da Vinci's Inquest and its spinoff, Da Vinci's City Hall. She was nominated in 2002 for the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role in that same role... |
| Madame Trunk | Kelly Chen Kelly Chen Kelly Chen is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. Kelly has also been known as a diva in Asia. She has a great success in Asia Entertainment industry with nearly 20 million record sales of 38 albums... |
Yon Fan | Shirley Millner |
| Mountain Evil | Jordan Chan Jordan Chan Jordan Chan Siu-Chun is a Chinese actor and musician from Hong Kong.Chan got his start by enrolling in the TVB Dancers' Training Class in 1985. Soon after graduation, he joined a few of the studio's troupes that would accompany popular singers during their live performances... |
Lo Ta-Yu Lo Ta-yu Lo Ta-yu or Luo Dayou is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter who, during the 1980s, affected Chinese pop and rock music with his melodic lyrics, his love songs, and his witty social and political commentary that he infused in his more political songs, often to the point that some of his songs were... |
Scott McNeil Scott McNeil Scott McNeil is a Canadian actor and voice actor. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada... |
| Siu Lan Fu | Ronald Cheng Ronald Cheng -Biography:Originally intending to work behind the scenes as a composer and record producer, Cheng did odd jobs at his father ’s company EMI— which included doing back-up vocals for the likes of Alan Tam and Priscilla Chan — during summers as a youth... |
Ronald Cheng Ronald Cheng -Biography:Originally intending to work behind the scenes as a composer and record producer, Cheng did odd jobs at his father ’s company EMI— which included doing back-up vocals for the likes of Alan Tam and Priscilla Chan — during summers as a youth... |
? |
Awards
- Won the best animated film award in the 1998 Asia Pacific Film FestivalAsia Pacific Film FestivalThe Asia Pacific Film Festival, first held in 1954, is film festival held annually in an Asian country designated by the Board of Directors of the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific.Awards are handed out for:*Best Film*Best Director...
. - Won the "golden horse" award in the 1997 Golden Horse Film Festival
- Won the "film of merit" award in the 1998 Hong Kong Film Critics Society AwardsHong Kong Film Critics Society AwardsThe Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards are the annual awards given by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in Hong Kong, China since 1995. The awards are determined by votes cast in three rounds after a substantial discussion session between the members of the society...
.