ISMN: “Nezha Conquers the Dragon King” (1979) - Thursday Dec. 8th, 7:30 PM @ the Springville Mansion
(Not Available on Netflix #17)
This week’s feature: “Nezha Conquers the Dragon King” (1979)
DVD/105 Mins/Mandarin with English Subtitles/Not Rated
It’s rare that you see Chinese feature animation especially from 1979, and this film is absolutely beautiful full animation and perfectly eccentric.
This movie was shown during movie night while I was a student at the Center for Cartoon Studies and I fell in love with it. I still can’t believe how many incredible unknown animated films are out there from foreign countries.
I had to order this from China, so the disc won’t play on Amercian DVD players. We’ll have to bring an all region player or play this off a laptop.
Favorite IMDB Reviews:
Author: Julia Arsenault (ja_kitty_71) from Canada
“The story begins with Li Jing, a military leader of the Chentangguan Pass, who is informed that after a three and half year pregnancy, his wife has given birth to something that looks like a cross between an egg and a lotus flower. Before Li could strike the egg/flower with his sword (as he consider to be something unnatural), the bud open and reveal a small boy. Not long after, a sage named Taiyi Zhenren comes to express congratulations. He names the boy “Nezha”, and gives him the Firmament Ring and the Armillary Damask Silk and accept Nezha as his disciple.
When Nezha is seven years old, the Chentangguan Pass is afflicted with a severe drought and Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, turns a blind eye to the offerings he received from the people that are suffering from the drought. And worse, he orders Li Gen, his Yaksha guard (an evil ogre-like spirit in Buddhist religion) to hunt and kidnap the town’s children so he could eat them. Li Gen manage to kidnap one of the children, which were Nezha’s two friends that were riding Nezha’s deer friend along the beach. Of course Nezha defeat the Yaksha, and in a rage over Nezha’s defiance to his authority, the Dragon King send his third (and probably favorite) son, Prince Ao Bing to capture and kill Nezha. I won’t get you anymore details, you’ll have to see the film for yourself.
So overall one of the best animated movies ever made, with plenty of fantasy, adventure, humor, shocking surprises and beautiful animation…I loved it!”
One of the best, 28 December 2005
Author: Martin Williams from Powys, Wales
” Graphically superb and totally psychedelic, it is also one of the most spiritually moving and profound things I have ever seen. Good versus evil, in the form of a child with spirit guides, versus nasty dragons. Some of the lines are fantastic, too: “Now we can grow even more wicked - let’s create some new diseases” - (just like they do at Porton Down in Wiltshire.”
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Bonus Short Film:
Tales From the Dark Side: A New Lease on Life (1986)
DVD/30 Mins/TV - Not Rated
I’m still stuck on seeing all the old Dark Side episodes again. Local musician Daniel Fischer and I watched this episode last month and thought it was great in all of it’s camp glory. I had never seen this one before in my Television youth.
It also goes along with the theme of our film this week ;)
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Time: Thursday Dec 8th @ 7:30 PM
Place: 363 w 300 s, Springville, UT
Off the main road in Springville, turn right before “Allen’s Super Market”. Drive straight for several blocks. It’s the last house on the left of the street that looks like an old mansion by the train tracks. Plenty of parking at this loc;ation, and more space than my living room.
See ya there! Pop corn and pizza optional but encouraged
- BC Sterrett
