In a summer that will be long memorable for geeks worldwide (the release of Iron Man, The Dark Knight, the teamup of Jackie Chan and Jet Li in The Forbidden Kingdom), British broadcasting channel BBC contributes to coolness by releasing “Journey to the East”, a superbly animated short for its Beijing Olympics coverage.

What makes this remarkable is that BBC, a conservative government TV channel from a land known for its self-restraint in the face of emotion, did something daring by hiring the cutting-edge creative team behind the virtual band Gorillaz for this project. Graphic designer Jamie Hewlett, the creator of the cult comic Tank Girl, and Blur frontman Damon Albarn, collaborated back in the early 90’s to feature alternative hip hop music generated by an all-animated foursome.

Video by BBC.

Journey to the East is a 2-minute long cartoon about the quest of legendary Chinese fictional adventurers Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy to seek the Beijing Olympics. You don’t have to know the character to enjoy the cartoon, but fans of the original Chinese saga will be delighted by the accurate references within it. It is based on the 16th century novel called Journey to the West, where Xuanzang, a Chinese monk, leads the three supernatural creatures to India to seek the Buddhist scriptures. Sun Wukong is The Monkey King, a super-powerful simian borne of stone who arrogantly challenges the Chinese pantheon of gods. Zhu Bajie is a divine courtier cursed to live on earth with a pig’s head for sexually harassing the moon goddess. Sha Wu Jing is former general of heaven who, as a punishment for breaking a holy vase, is turned into a sand ogre. All three ask Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, to intercede on their behalf, and she grants it providing they guard Xuanzang in return. There is even a mischievous young dragon who is turned into a steed for the monk’s benefit. The novel is the Chinese equivalent of J.R.R.Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in epic scope and fantastic imagery, and it is a tale that mirrors the inner journey to enlightenment, full of hardships and danger, and defeating self-destructive impulses.

The 2-minute long animation took about 3000 frames and 12 weeks to complete, using an in-house staff of 12 animators. In it, Guanyin instructs the trio to proceed to the Olympic Games, symbolized by Bird’s Nest Stadium. Along the way, they encounter and defeat a host of monsters, using various Olympic skills. The cartoon is filled with visual nods to the original story, including Monkey’s 8-ton golden-banded cudgel, Pigsy’s battle-rake, the cloud somersault, the magical headband, and China’s majestic mountain ranges. The music accompanying it is inspired by traditional Chinese songs mixed with upbeat electronic remix. The cartoon is as much an homage to Chinese culture as the amazing CGI film Kung Fu Panda. The full cartoon debuted last July 24, and segments of it are used as lead-ins to BBC Sports’s coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

So what happens to the three pilgrims in the original tale? After countless battles, they finally help Xuanzang to retrieve the sacred scriptures and return to China to spread the message of Buddha. The monk and Sun Wukong both become buddhas, Sandy becomes a lesser divinity, while Pigsy ends up eating the remains of any food offered in temples.

Watch the cartoon yourself, and see if you can identify the Olympic sports represented. Better yet, travel to China and watch the games live.

Posted in China, Events

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 17th, 2008 at 1:01 am and is filed under China, Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.