The Tale of the White Serpent

Infobox Film
name = The Tale of the White Serpent 白蛇伝

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image_size =
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director = Taiji Yabushita Kazuhiko Okabe
producer = Hiroshi Ôkawa
writer = Taiji Yabushita Shin Uehara
narrator =
starring = Hisaya Morishige Mariko Miyagi
music = Chuji Kinoshita
cinematography = Takamitsu Tsukahara
editing = Shinataro Miyamoto
distributor = Toei Animation
released = flagicon|Japan October 22, 1958 flagicon|USA March 15, 1961
runtime = 78 minutes
country = JPN
language = Japanese
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/lineup/movie/hakujaden/
amg_id = 1:37164
imdb_id = 0051694nihongo|"The Tale of the White Serpent"|白蛇伝|Hakujaden is the first color anime feature film, released in 1958. It was also the first to be released in America, under the title "Panda and the Magic Serpent", preceding Magic Boy by three months. It is also known variously as "Legend of the White Snake", "The Great White Snake" and the "The White Snake Enchantress".

Background

The film is essentially an adaptation of the Song dynasty folktale "Madame White Snake" (白蛇傳). [" [http://www.logoi.com/books/white_snake.html Chinese Mythology] ." "Bilingual Book Explanation of Legend of the White Snake." Retrieved on 2006-12-08.] Shin Uehara adapted the folktale and kept the Chinese-style characters and names. The decision of a Chinese story being used as the concept blueprint came from Toei president Hiroshi Ōkawa, who wanted to strike a tone of reconciliation with the Asian neighbors. [" [http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/index.php?&m=200407 Anipages Daily] ." "Anipages Daily." Retrieved on 2006-12-08.] Given the point in time, the film pushed Japanese animation technology to the limit, making this a large scale major project involving a total of 13,590 staff during the 2 year production period. [" [http://www.jfkl.org.my/events/synopsis.php Masterpiece of last 50 years] ." "Japanese Animated Film Festival." Retrieved on 2006-12-08.] And while the film received honors at the Venice Children's Film Festival in Italy in 1959, it was regarded as a disappointment when released to the US in March 15, 1961 by Global Pictures. The US version made changes such as interpreting the small Red Panda, Mimi, as a cat. [Clements, Jonathan. McCarthy Helen. [2006] (2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised & Expanded Edition. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5] In addition all traces of the Japanese production teams were removed from the US version. Time wise, "Tale of the White Serpent" was Tōei Dōga's first attempt at becoming the Disney of the east.

Rintaro, who would later go on to become a well known and respected director of Japanese animation, had his first job in the animation industry (at age 17) as an in-between animator on this film.cite web|url=http://www.animated-divots.com/rintaro.html|title=Rintaro Filmography|publisher=Animated Divots|first=Richard|last=Llewellyn|date=2007-05-12|accessdate=2008-08-22] cite web|url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue248/interview.html|title=Interview: Animation legend Rintaro reinvents the city to build a better Metropolis|publisher=Sci Fi.com "Science Fiction Weekly"|date=2002-01-22|accessdate=2008-08-22|first=Jeff |last=Berkwits]

Story

Xu-Xian, a young boy, once owned a pet snake in West Lake until his parents forced him to give her up. Years pass and during a violent storm, the snake magically transforms into the beautiful princess Bai-Niang. Bai-Niang finds Xu-Xian, but the lovers are separated by a local monk, Fa-Hai, who believes that Bai-Niang is an evil spirit. Xu-Xian's two Panda pets, Panda and Mimi, try to find Xu-Xian. In the end, Bia-Niang gives up her magical powers and remains in human form to prove that her love for Xu-Xian is genuine.

See also

* History of anime

References

External links

*Ann anime|id=655|title="The Tale of the White Serpent"