Ne Zha (2019 film)

Ne Zha (Chinese: 哪吒之魔童降世; pinyin: Nézhā zhī Mótóng Jiàngshì), also spelled Nezha, is a 2019 Chinese animated fantasy adventure film directed and written by Jiaozi. Its animation production is done by the director's own Chengdu Coco Cartoon. Featuring the popular Chinese mythological character Nezha, the plot is loosely based on the 16th-century novel Investiture of the Gods by Xu Zhonglin. In the film, a young boy, Ne Zha, is born from a heavenly pearl by the Primeval Lord of Heaven, Yuanshi Tianzun. Born with unique powers, he finds himself as an outcast who is hated and feared. Destined by prophecy to bring destruction to the world, the young lad must choose between good and evil in order to break the shackles of fate and become the hero.
Ne Zha was released in China exclusively in IMAX and China Film Giant Screen theatres on 13 July 2019, followed by other theatres on 26 July, distributed by Beijing Enlight Pictures. It is the first Chinese-produced animated feature released in IMAX format, and, despite being the debut feature of its director and animation studio and having no widely known actors in its voice cast, the film gained critical acclaim and has been one of the biggest commercial successes in Chinese cinema, setting numerous records for box office grosses, including becoming the highest-grossing animated film in China, the worldwide highest-grossing non-U.S. animated film, and the worldwide second-highest-grossing non-English-language film of all time at the time of its release. With a gross of over $742 million, it was that year's fourth-highest-grossing animated film and China's all time fifth-highest-grossing film.
It began a North American release on 29 August in select IMAX 3D theatres, before a nationwide rollout on 6 September. It was selected as the Chinese entry for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, becoming the first animated film from China to ever do so, but it was ultimately not nominated.
A second film, also loosely based off Investiture of the Gods, titled Jiang Ziya, was released on 1 October 2020, which is National Day in China. A direct sequel, Ne Zha 2, was released on 29 January 2025, which broke multiple box-office records and stands as the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
A Chaos Pearl, birthed from primordial essences, begins siphoning energies gluttonously. Supreme Lord Yuanshi Tianzun dispatches his disciples Taiyi Zhenren and Shen Gongbao to subdue the sentient pearl. Due to its ability to absorb energy, Taiyi and Shen are unable to defeat it. Eventually Tianzun separates the pearl into two opposite components: the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Orb. Tianzun places a heavenly curse upon the Demon Orb: in three years time it will be destroyed by heavenly lightning. Tianzun then instructs Taiyi to take the Spirit Pearl to be reincarnated as the third son of Li Jing in the town of Chentang Pass, to be named Ne Zha.
Shen steals the Spirit Pearl, causing Li Jing's pregnant wife Lady Yin to give birth to a reincarnation of the Demon Orb, Ne Zha. Taiyi tells them that Ne Zha's fate is sealed: in three years' time the heavenly curse placed upon the Demonic Orb will kill him. Li travels to Heaven with Taiyi in an attempt to plead for Ne Zha's life, but is told the curse is irremovable.
Meanwhile, Shen brings the stolen Spirit Pearl to the Dragon King. The dragons resent that they are confined to the ocean floor as jailers of the Heavenly Court. The Dragon King infuses the Spirit Pearl into an egg, giving birth to a son, Ao Bing, whom the Dragon King allows Shen to take as a student. The dragons hope that since Ao Bing is born from the Spirit Pearl, dragon kind will be deemed worthy by Heaven and allowed to ascend and become xian.
To tame his demonic nature and make him happy, Ne Zha's parents lie to him, telling him he was born of the Spirit Pearl and is destined to be a great demon hunter. Ne Zha studies under Taiyi and acquires great skills. Eventually becoming impatient, he escapes his confines to hunt demons. While chasing a water demon, he burns down a fishing village. Ao Bing joins Ne Zha's fight but is petrified by the demon. Ne Zha cleverly overcomes the demon and rescues both Ao Bing and a little girl, and he and Ao Bing become friends. Nevertheless, his actions are misunderstood by the townsfolk of the destroyed village as malicious, and he angrily lashes out at them, hurting many of them.
The Li household organizes a lavish birthday party for their son, inviting the townfolk to attend. Shen visits Ne Zha before the party, revealing the truth of his nature to him. Angry at his parents' deception, Ne Zha unleashes his true demonic form and nearly kills his father until Ao Bing intervenes. Feeling betrayed, Ne Zha leaves to await his fate.
Li discovers Ao Bing has the Spirit Pearl. Knowing that if this is revealed, all of dragon kind will be condemned forever, Ao Bing acts on Shen's command. He creates a massive sheet of ice above the town, intending to bury the town and remove all witnesses. Meanwhile, Ne Zha learns that while visiting Heaven to plead for his life, his father accepted an enchantment that would allow him to trade his life for Ne Zha's. Moved by his father's sacrifice, Ne Zha returns to the village to stop Ao Bing. Unleashing his full demonic form, Ne Zha defeats Ao Bing, but spares his life for being his only friend.
When the heavenly lightning approaches, Ne Zha surrenders to his fate but is unexpectedly joined by Ao Bing. Linking hands, they unleash the Chaos Pearl's ability to absorb energy. Their mortal bodies can't contain the full energy of the strike and are destroyed, but with Taiyi's help, they survive by becoming spirits, and the townsfolk kneel before them.
In the mid and post credits scenes, the Dragon King vows vengeance on the citizens of Chentang Pass for what happened to Ao Bing, while in an unknown location, Jiang Ziya is introduced.
The film tells the mythological origins of Nezha, who is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion, and its story is loosely based on the literary version of the myth that forms two chapters of Investiture of the Gods, a Ming-dynasty shenmo novel, traditionally attributed to Xu Zhonglin, which incorporates various existing myths into a wider narrative.
The story has been adapted for the screen many times before, at least as early as 1927 or 1928, whether on its own (as in the 1979 traditionally-animated film Nezha Conquers the Dragon King) or as part of adaptations of the whole of Investiture of the Gods (such as the 2016 live-action film League of Gods).
Director Jiaozi spent two years in total to write the screenplay, and the film was in production for three years.
The film has more than 1,318 special effects shots, and it took over 20 Chinese special effects studios, employing more than 1,600 people, to realize the film's fairy tale setting, the mysterious Dragon King's Palace, and a complex fight between fire and water. One scene alone took two months to complete.
Executive production company and distributor Beijing Enlight Pictures premiered Ne Zha on 11 July 2019 in Beijing, followed by an encore on 12 July. The film was given a limited release in IMAX and China Film Giant Screen premium large format theatres on 13 July, and was released nationwide on 26 July.
The film was released in cinemas in English-speaking regions in Mandarin with English subtitles around the end of August and beginning of September 2019.
It was released in Australia on 23 August and in New Zealand on 29 August, distributed by CMC Pictures. It was released in the United States and Canada in select IMAX 3D venues on 29 August, followed by other cinemas on 6 September, distributed by Well Go USA Entertainment. It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including in select IMAX 3D venues, on 30 August, distributed by CMC Pictures in collaboration with Cine Asia.
The film grossed 600 million yuan (est. $84 million) in its first three days alone. It broke local records with a $91.5 million opening, the highest ever for an animated film in China.
On 2 August 2019, Ne Zha became the highest-grossing animated film of all time in China, a record held by Zootopia ($235.6 million) since 2016. On 7 August 2019, Ne Zha became the fastest animated film to reach $400 million (in 12 days). It is currently the highest-grossing animated film of all time in a single market ($703.71 million in China) overtaking Incredibles 2 (2018) ($608.5 million in North America), the highest-grossing non-Disney or Pixar animated film in a single market, overtaking Shrek 2 (2004) ($441.2 million in North America), and the highest-grossing non-English spoken animated film, overtaking Spirited Away (2001) ($361.1 million worldwide). Upon reaching $700 million (in 46 days), it became the first animated feature film in film history to reach that milestone in a single market.
The film gained highly positive reviews from critics.
Douban, a Chinese media rating site, gave the film 8.7 out of 10.
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 88% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
A second film, Jiang Ziya, also based off Investiture of the Gods, was slated for release on 25 January 2020 in China, but following the COVID-19 pandemic, all Chinese New Year releases were cancelled. It was released on 1 October 2020, which aligned with China's national day, in both China and the U.S.
A direct sequel to the film, Ne Zha 2, was released on 29 January 2025.