Upcoming animated film strikes a nostalgic touch

Forty years after Zheng Yuanjie, China's "king of fairy tales", penned a tale about Shuke and Beita, two ambitious and courageous mice, the popular murine characters will embark on a new journey to rescue the day in their first feature-length animated movie, The Adventures of Shuke and Beita.

As two anthropomorphic animal characters, Shuke is depicted as a heroic mouse excelling at piloting a helicopter while Beita is portrayed as a tank driver. Their adventures have captivated several generations of Chinese readers and have been adapted into two animated series, respectively debuting in 1989 and 2019, with the latter currently garnering over 4.5 billion views online.

Zheng Yuanjie's son, Zheng Yaqi, serves as the movie's director and scriptwriter, while Zheng Yuanjie's granddaughter, Zheng Zai, makes her film debut by lending her voice to a mysterious character appearing near the end of the film.

The new tale recounts how Shuke and Beita obtain a powerful liquid, enabling them to create a vehicle capable of time-traveling. Accidentally, they find themselves transported 10 years into the future, only to discover their city shrouded in darkness due to a gang of mouse criminals.

The film is set to be released domestically on Dec 30, aiming to commemorate the day in 1983 when the first Shuke and Beita tale was published. Since then, Zheng Yuanjie has written over 360 stories about the two characters, transforming them into one of the most popular franchises among Chinese children.