Family a 'fairy' tale in filmmaking

Hazardous weather, unforeseen accidents, and ballooning budgets — these are challenges often faced during filmmaking.

When director Zheng Yaqi, the son of China's "king of fairy tales" Zheng Yuanjie, began shooting his latest film, Shuke and Beita: The Miniature Humans, he was prepared for potential obstructions. What he did not anticipate, however, was a more personal obstacle devised by his father.

Zheng Yuanjie, long known for his maverick temperament, paid a visit to the set with a surprise: a written test for the entire crew. The exam assessed their knowledge of the story's titular heroes — two anthropomorphic mice, one a helicopter pilot, and a tank driver.

"I set some traps. For example, one question asks, 'Who is Shuke's uncle?' But Shuke doesn't have an uncle in the novels," Zheng Yuanjie tells China Daily, bursting into a broad smile.

Released across Chinese mainland theaters on Jan 24, the film marks the second cinematic feature in the long-running franchise, which has been etched in the minds of Chinese readers for several generations.