Mystery of Chang'an, the country's first animated detective comedy, is scheduled to open in theaters nationwide on Aug 22.
Directed by Cheng Teng, best known for the 2020 animated blockbuster Legend of Deification, in collaboration with co-director Huang Min, the film blends historical elements with mythical fantasy to imagine a world where humans and demons coexisted during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
The story follows Di Shao, a talented teenager aspiring to become the top detective in Chang'an who teams up with A Sa, a wolf demon, to investigate the mysterious deaths of three mechanism designers.
Speaking at the film's Beijing premiere earlier this month, Cheng said the project took six years to complete. Although the story is a work of fiction, the filmmakers drew heavily on historical records to re-create the urban landscape of Chang'an and its 108 fang (neighborhoods). Using this structure as a foundation, the animators reimagined the city as a vast, intricately engineered mechanism, with an underground water system powered by gears and hydraulics.
Cheng said he drew inspiration from traditional Chinese inventions that reflect folk wisdom, such as the Lu Ban Lock, a three-dimensional interlocking wooden puzzle, and the mu niu liu ma (wooden ox and gliding horse), legendary mechanical carts said to have been invented by the strategist Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280).
Huang offered more insight into the film's visual world: "We built a fantastical world rooted in Eastern imagination, blending the Tang Dynasty with mechanical structures. In this city, flipping signs, aerial tracks and restaurants — everything runs on mechanization. We want audiences to feel both a sense of familiarity and wonder."
Chief producer Cao Zijian shared the team's ambition to explore new genres in Chinese animation: "We hope Chinese animation can flourish in diverse forms, allowing audiences to experience a wider variety of creative works."
Special screenings of the film were held in multiple cities on Aug 7, followed by nationwide previews on Aug 8 and 9.
