White Snake, two words that for many Chinese people will instantly conjure memories of the popular folk tale "the Legend of the White Snake". The story has BECOME a classic in Chinese culture, ever since a TV series, based on the legend, hit the air waves in 1992. But now the time-tested tale has gotten another REBOOT, with the release of animated film last year quickly becoming a massive box office success. Check it out!

In December 2018, the animated film "White Snake" hit cinemas around China. In less than a month, the film had raked in over 4.4 billion yuan or about 650 million US dollars at the box office.

The story is an adaptation of the Chinese folk tale "Legend of the White Snake", in which a white snake spirit transforms into a woman and falls in love with a man.

ZHAO JI, DIRECTOR "WHITE SNAKE" "There must be a reason why Chinese people have liked to tell this story all throughout history, so we wanted to find a different angle, a new angle to tell the story from."

AMP WONG, DIRECTOR "WHITE SNAKE" "I think 'White Snake' is a big IP but we tried to use a new angle to tell this 500-year-old story. This angle will attract more teenage people who are interested in what the story is going about."

But it's not just the film's story that's appealing. The striking visual effects also turned heads, all thanks to the careful design of animation firm Light Chaser.

ZHAO JI, DIRECTOR "WHITE SNAKE" "These past few years we can see a lot of companies and a lot of Chinese young filmmakers, who come back from Hollywood and from all over the world. They make the team more and more stronger, I think we have the power to make this kind of quality film but we need more opportunities."

But when it came to international cooperation in the movie industry, both directors pointed out that Chinese filmmakers still could benefit from the rich experience of some of the world's leading movie houses.

ZHAO JI, DIRECTOR "WHITE SNAKE" "Those very successful studios in Hollywood like Disney, they are like 20 years ahead us from the experience level, that is something very valuable but actually we are young and we are getting new ideas and new knowledge very fast, so I think we can catch up with a very good pace."

AMP WONG, DIRECTOR "WHITE SNAKE" "I think we got the energy, we are all teenagers, if we do more about the domestic contest then we will have the advantage, because we know the traditional culture, so I think the technology we can trace but the contest we have an advantage."

Light Chaser, has committed itself to making bigger and better-animated productions for China's hungry audiences.

Besides "White Snake", the firm has recently completed some other features including "Little Door Gods" and "Cats and Peachtopia".

Sure signs that another golden age for animated Chinese cinema might be just around the corner. CGTN.