Another highlight of the movie is its star-studded cast. Stars who dubbed for the movie include Hong Kong pop singer and actor Leon Lai (as Ma Lang), Taiwan's super model Lin Chi-Ling (as Da Lan), China's actress Chen Hao (as Xiao Lan), actor Li Yang (a mynah) and basketball star Yao Ming (as the father of the twin sisters).

"I am a big fan of the stage play, and I feel happy to join the production team of the film edition of the story," said Li in an article in the Shanghai-based news daily Tiantian Xinbao, who lent his voice to Donald Duck when the cartoon TV series was first introduced to China more than two decades ago. He said that the new adaptation would present the story better, adding that the animated film could convey many scenes of the myth-like story, which were hard to show on stage.

Box office success

Since the movie debuted in China on June 19, its impact has begun to show. The box office takings on the first day of its screening exceeded 2 million yuan ($263,000), according to the China Film Corp., the distributor of the movie. The Shanghai Film Art Center said that takings have continued to increase since.

"The story has affected generations of Chinese, who are very familiar with the characters and who have a nostalgic feeling for the story. This makes it an important reason for people to go to theaters, " said Wang Tianyun, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Film Group, one of the producers of the movie, at the movie's premiere.

His optimism is not groundless. Pei Donghui, mother of a 7-year-old daughter in Beijing, took her daughter to watch the movie and was impressed. "I knew the story in my childhood and I bought story books about it for my daughter when she could read. She liked the cartoon movie very much, especially the magic flower that looked so mysterious through the use of special techniques," she said.

The movie was launched against the backdrop of a booming Chinese animation industry. Quite a number of homemade cartoon films have made box office records one after another, represented by the most-loved animation movie Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, which shattered box office records with its 80 million yuan ($11.8 million) haul during its first run.

However, many Chinese film critics show reserved optimism to the success of domestic animated films. They say that the production skills and originality are still the weaknesses of today's animation industry in China.