When you think of Cao Cao, you might picture a cunning warlord from old Chinese tales — but the team behind the new animation “Three Kingdoms: The Beginning” sees him completely differently. Director Xie Junwei calls him a true thinker ahead of his time, someone whose motivations, flaws, and drive feel just as relatable today as they did 1,800 years ago.

The film is currently holding preview screenings across China and has gained positive feedback from moviegoers. 

While the Three Kingdoms-related theme has long inspired a string of successful live-action film and television productions, Three Kingdoms: The Beginning has demonstrated that animated features can stand toe-to-toe with live-action adaptations in artistic depth and visual grandeur.

For filmmakers, the 14th-century literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms — one of China's four great classic novels — stands as a naturally rich treasure trove of narratives. During the film's recent premiere event held in Beijing, director Xie Junwei shared that the entire production team adhered to a core creative principle of "respecting history", drawing from the complex, nuanced web of character relationships recorded in the popular novel.

Xie chose to frame the entire story from the perspective of Cao Cao, and revealed that during on-location research trips, the creative team discovered that while Cao Cao did not fit the traditional mold of a handsome hero, but he possessed magnetic charisma. Guided by the aesthetic values and martial spirit of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. – 220 A.D.), the team designed Cao Cao's facial features with sharp, defined lines to capture that presence.  

Over the past year, China's animation film sector has maintained a remarkable upward trajectory, delivering one standout hit after another. The film has already drawn widespread anticipation from animation fans and history enthusiasts alike at the preview, marking a new milestone for China's animation industry in reinterpreting classic cultural IP.

This new animation is due out in Chinese theatres on July 10.