Riding on fire whirls and waving his signature red armillary sash and fire-tipped spear, Ne Zha has returned to the silver screen after 40 years.

And just like the last time, hundreds of millions of viewers have been enthralled by this legendary teen hero. 

"Ne Zha," which hit the theaters across the Chinese mainland on July 26, is China's first 3D animated feature film to be released in IMAX.

It broke multiple box office records during its opening weekend with many describing it as "a milestone in Chinese animation history."

Directed by up-and-coming animator Yang Yu, who is commonly known by his pseudonym "Jiaozi" – which means "dumpling" in English – the film is loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel "The Investiture of the Gods" (or "Fengshen Yanyi" in Chinese).

It recounts the story of Ne Zha who, much like Wukong the Monkey King in Journey to the West, is a household name that regularly appears in Chinese mythology, as he embarks on an adventure to break stereotypes and change his destiny.

Box office behemoth

"Ne Zha" garnered a remarkable opening day gross of some 137 million yuan (about 20 million U.S. dollars), thanks to the positive reviews from critics and audiences alike after its countrywide preview screenings.

It secured the best debut ever for any animated film at the Chinese box office by surpassing "Despicable Me 3," an American 3D computer-animated comedy from 2017, which grossed a total of 129 million yuan in China.

The action-packed adventure continued to make a giant splash on Saturday and Saturday with earnings of 207 million yuan (30.08 million U.S. dollars) and 263 million yuan (38.22 million U.S. dollars) at the box office respectively.

On both days it broke the record for highest single-day box office revenue for an animated movie, which was set by Disney's "Zootopia" in 2016.

Combining earnings from all three days, the film has also broken the record for highest box office take for an animated movie in the Chinese mainland with a remarkable gross of some 652 million yuan (nearly 95 million U.S. dollars).

'Best domestic animation of all time'

Apart from an outstanding box-office performance, "Ne Zha" is also receiving rave reviews with many calling it the "best domestic animation of all time."

This positive sentiment has earned the movie a score of 9.7 out of 10 on Maoyan.com and 9.6 out of 10 on Taopiaopiao.com – China's two leading movie ticketing websites.

It also currently holds the highest-ever rating scored by a Chinese animated film on Douban.com, a Rotten Tomato-like film ratings website, with an 8.7 out of 10.

"It is a good laugh and also an inspirational comedy full of passion. Though he faces depressing situations, he is still being hopeful and enthusiastic; Ne Zha is super and no one is more adorable!" said Douban user "Film Journal," concluding "This year's best domestic animation has appeared!"

"These well-known legends are not just stories anymore, but are a feast of sensation that we can see, we can hear, and we can enjoy! We have 'Ne Zha' now, and we'll see 'Jiang Ziya' next year: The Fengshen Cinematic Universe is coming. It's time to introduce Chinese culture to the world with excellent films," read a review by Douban user "Lingrui," referring to the film's abundant imagination and core theme of overcoming prejudices.

"Ne Zha" fever quickly spread on social media following its release, with the film's title soon becoming one of the hottest hashtags on China's Twitter-like Weibo on the opening day, accumulating more than 1.5 billion views and around a million posts.

Many Weibo users referred to some of the film's dialogues, such as "I am the only one that can define who I am, and my destiny is in my own hand," and said that there are numerous moments that were deeply resonant, including the touching conversation between the little boy and his parents.

Jiaozi: 'Ne Zha' breaks prejudice about domestic animation

"Ne Zha" was screened in Beijing before the official release, the film's director and screenwriter Jiaozi and cast attended the premiere. 

Many A-list stars, famous filmmakers and critics, such as veteran actor Chen Jianbin and director Guan Hu, also showed up at the preview screening.

After the premiere, many were left impressed with the film's larger-than-life action scenes and the visual style of the three tiers of the story: Heaven, Earth and under the sea.

Chen called the film "a fantastic tale entertaining all ages, children and adults alike," as the way the characters are animated is incredibly lifelike and the themes are profound and powerful.

Jiaozi revealed that it took two years to polish the script and three years to finish the production as it contains more than 1,300 special effects shots. 

It took more than 1,600 people working at 20 Chinese special effects studios to complete the project.

The director admitted that "for a long time, most of the Chinese audience believed that animated films were only for children, and some others doubted the quality of domestic animated films."

He then expressed gratitude to the numerous production teams that gave him a lot of support at every step of the development process.

"We all had strong faith in this piece, hoping that it would change people's opinions about domestic animation. We hope to break the prejudice against the [animation] industry," said Jiaozi while talking to CGTN Digital, adding "We want to make the young animators who would like to join us feel more confident. They should be proud of their choices!"

"It's also at the core of 'Ne Zha' – breaking stereotypes and reversing fate," he said.

(Cover image by Liu Shaozhen; trailer courtesy of Coloroom Pictures)