Ne Zha welcome blast from the past

A NEW CARTOON FILM, Ne Zha, based on a mythical figure in Chinese folklore, has been a box office phenomenon while reviving memories of one of the best cartoon films in China's modern history. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

Within five days of hitting the screens, the film had made 1 billion yuan ($145 million). In fact, for three successive days its single-day sales exceeded 200 million yuan.

Ne Zha has won unprecedented high popularity from the market and applause from professionals, which is quite rare. Even on Douban, China's equivalent of IMDb where audiences and commentators are rather critical, it got a rating of 8.7 out of 10, possibly one of the highest in the website's history.