Merchandise, small players swept up in whirlwind success of Ne Zha 2

Box-office smash highlights local animation industry's prowess, country's formidable culture

The China-made animated hit Ne Zha 2 exploded onto screens with the force of a "demon child" during Chinese New Year, raking in a staggering 14 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) at the box office.

The unprecedented success of the domestically made film boosted its production company's stock by a jaw-dropping 260 percent in eight trading days, and propelled sales of associated merchandise beyond hundreds of millions of yuan, sending factory operations into overtime to meet the booming demand.

The strong revenue generated by the film has sent a ripple through the entire film industry, showcasing the synergy between profitable intellectual property and the infusion of capital.

From the Sichuan-accented exclamation of Taoist immortal Taiyi Zhenren's "Bashi de ban!" (How delightful!) to the grandeur of the East Sea Dragon Palace, Ne Zha 2 is a daring cultural reimagining.

On-screen, the film's protagonist defiantly declares, "If there's no path ahead, I'll carve one!" Off-screen, a coalition of 138 Chinese animation studios, ranging from industry giants to obscure contributors, united to chart a new path for Chinese animation.

Director Yang Yu, better known as Jiaozi, said that while international companies were initially considered to produce the movie's visual special effects, they fell short of expectations. "We instead opted to entrust local teams with refining the work," he said.

In Jiangxi province, Huanying Fengbao (Miragevfx) studio spent three months crafting the ethereal Yu Xu Palace dome effects, which include intricate circular patterns and the mesmerizing nectar water animations. The average age of the young animation team was 25.

In Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Fantawild Animation took the same amount of time to perfect the waterfall effects for a forest skirmish scene. To tackle the intricate scene, the animation team streamlined its workflows, used 50 high-performance workstations as a computational cluster, and conducted batch processing of simulation data.

"Each frame demanded 32 hours for rendering, totaling 15 days. Our aim was not just grandeur, but a rhythmic, aesthetically Eastern cascade," team leader Wang Weiwei said.

In an interview with CCTV, Jiaozi stressed: "We must craft visuals that astonish, that break new ground artistically and captivate aesthetically. Only then does the endeavor hold merit."