Journey to the West: The Demon King Reborn
A 2021 Chinese animated feature film directed by Wang Yunfei based on the themes of Journey to the West.
The Monkey King Reborn is a color animated feature film released in mainland China on April 2, 2021. Directed by Wang Yunfei and written by Wang Yunfei and Wu Xiaoyu, the film has a runtime of approximately 102 minutes. It was distributed by companies including Beijing Qixinran Film and Television, while Well Go USA released the Blu-ray and digital versions overseas in December of the same year. The voice cast includes Bian Jiang, Zhang Lei, Cai Haiting, Su Shangqing, and Zhang He. Adapted from the westward journey segments of Journey to the West, the film reimagines an adventure during Sun Wukong's escort of Tang Sanzang to retrieve the scriptures: he inadvertently triggers an ancient seal, awakening the Demon King Yuan Yu, who had been suppressed for three thousand years. Together with his junior brothers Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Bai Longma, he must face the Demon King's revenge and treacherous illusions, while re-examining the price of the title "Great Sage Equal to Heaven." Utilizing modern Chinese animation industrial processes to create grand-scale demonic battles and psychological depth, the film is one of the more ambitious Journey to the West animated features of the 2020s.