Journey to the West (1999 Animated Series)
A 52-episode animated epic produced by CCTV and Canada's CINAR, debuting in 1999 as a classic Chinese adaptation of the legendary tale.
Journey to the West (1999 animated version) is a grand 52-episode animated series co-produced by the Animation Department of China Central Television (CCTV), China Vision Torch Animation, Brilliant Animation, and CINAR from Quebec, Canada. The project was initiated in 1992; the first seven pilot episodes were tentatively completed in 1996 and aired as a trial on CCTV during the Spring Festival. The entire series was completed by the end of June 1999, and the official version premiered on July 23, 1999, on CCTV's Big Windmill program. Each episode is approximately 25 minutes long. Adapted from Wu Cheng'en's original novel Journey to the West, the series provides a comprehensive retelling, spanning from the birth of the Handsome Monkey King and his havoc in Heaven to Tang Sanzang's journey to the West, the four master and disciples' subjugation of various demons, and their endurance of eighty-one tribulations before finally arriving at Lingshan to obtain the True Scriptures. The production primarily utilizes traditional 2D cel animation, with computer-aided production introduced from the eighth episode onward. The art style blends the aesthetic charm of traditional Chinese painting with the expressive power of modern animation. The English version was re-edited by CINAR into 26 episodes (52 segments) and premiered in 2000 on Canada's Teletoon under the title Journey to the West - Legends of the Monkey King. This brought the work to an international audience and established it as one of the representative masterpieces of Chinese animation from the 1990s.