Chapter 324: Splitting the Mountain to Save His Mother and Nezha Conquers the Sea

Chapter 324: Splitting the Mountain to Save His Mother and Nezha Conquers the Sea

Chapter 324: Splitting the Mountain to Save His Mother and Nezha Conquers the Sea

After listening to the story, Wu Hailin asked, "Mr. Yang, are you talking about the stories of Pangu, Fuxi, Nuwa, and Houyi?"

"Yes, especially Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the West." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "There are so many mythological stories in ancient China, and they are endless. We don't know how many stories can be compiled based on them."

Since it is impossible to produce comics like those in Japan and the United States in the short term, developing the many mythological stories of ancient China is the easiest way, and it is likely to achieve the best results.

Even Chinese people in Hong Kong or Southeast Asia are basically familiar with these mythological characters. As long as they see the title, they will know what the situation is. This is the biggest promotion.

Even in the 21st century's era of online literature, there are still many classic works about Honghuang, Journey to the West, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, etc.

Wu Hailin thought for a moment and said, "These stories are indeed easy to adapt into comics. When I was in the mainland, I also participated in such a project, which was about the early part of Journey to the West."

"'Havoc in Heaven'?" Yang Wendong asked.

In the early 50s, the mainland also began to develop the comics industry, which is also a part of the culture. Even if a country is poor, it must have these things.

In 1961, the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio launched a comic strip called "Havoc in Heaven". As for the plot, you can tell from the title, which is the story of Sun Wukong before he was suppressed in the Five Finger Mountain. It can also be said to be the most enjoyable segment in "Journey to the West".

The drama was also a huge hit in mainland China, because most people in mainland China at that time were illiterate, and among the few who could read, few could afford to read an ancient version of Journey to the West, and the book itself was very expensive.

Therefore, such a comic is naturally extremely interesting to a group of people who already lack cultural entertainment.

Wu Hailin said: "Yes, I have participated in the plot drawing of part of "Havoc in Heaven"."

Yang Wendong asked: "Which characters do you think are attractive in "Havoc in Heaven"?"

Wu Hailin thought for a moment and replied, "The first one is naturally Sun Wukong, the second one should be Erlang Shen, and the third one is Nezha and Li Jing.
Others, such as Tathagata, are the strongest, but they are not that impressive. "

"Yes." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Of course I won't say much about Sun Wukong. As for the protagonists of Journey to the West, I personally also like Erlang Shen and Nezha."

Wu Hailin paused and asked, "Mr. Yang, this Nezha is pretty good, but Erlang Shen is considered a villain, right?"

"Haha, he is just doing his job, he is not a villain." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Besides, he is the nephew of the Jade Emperor and has some grievances with him. He also split a mountain to save his mother. This kind of filial piety, if he is the protagonist, there will be many stories to tell."

After thinking for a moment, Wu Hailin said, "Indeed, the story of splitting the mountain to save the mother is definitely attractive, but the ancient stories about this story are not very detailed. It has not been written into a story book like Journey to the West."

"We don't need stories from ancient times either." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "The point is that many people know Erlang Shen Yang Jian and that he split the mountain to save his mother. We can just rewrite the story based on this story.
As for whether it is the same as the ancient plot, it is not important. Even if we write a comic story about Journey to the West one day, whether it is the same as the book is not important either. "

Many people in the 21st century did not know that the story of Journey to the West that they thought they knew was very different from the original book. For example, the Jade Emperor in the original book was not as incompetent as he was in the TV series, hiding under the table.

But because the promotional power of TV series is so strong, many people think so.

"That makes sense. As long as we write well and promote it first, people will have a preconceived idea of ​​our story," Zhang Zhiyuan analyzed.

Yang Wendong said: "Yes, so, don't rush to draw this comic, but think of a good story, from Erlang Shen's birth, his mother being trapped under the mountain, seeking a master to learn skills, fighting against the Heavenly Court, and then saving his mother, etc."

"Okay." After Wu Hailin agreed, his mind began to work quickly, thinking about how to improve this story.

Zhang Zhiyuan asked, "Mr. Yang, in ancient mythology, there is also a story about Chenxiang saving his mother. Should we write about it as well?"

"No need for that for now." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "Let's do it one by one. Let's write about Erlang Shen first. Erlang Shen is more famous."

In the previous life, in the 21st century, the name Chenxiang became popular because of the fame of "The Lotus Lantern". Of course, even more popular was Erlang Shen, who later had a prequel.

But now he plans to do the opposite and write about Erlang Shen first, and talk about Chenxiang later.

As for imitating the plot of TV dramas in previous lives, there is no need for that, because in the mythological story in ancient history, Yang Jian successfully rescued his mother, instead of being burned to death by ten suns. That was "The Legend of the White Snake", which was in "The Preface to the Lotus Lantern".

"Okay, I'll arrange for someone to collect stories about this." Zhang Zhiyuan said, "Mr. Wu, please arrange for someone to form a team, and then we can discuss the plot."

Wu Hailin nodded: "Okay, personnel is not a problem."

Yang Wendong asked: "Are there enough people in the painting department now?"

Wu Hailin replied: "Yes, it is enough for now, because the human resources department has recruited people from Southeast Asia, where there are many Chinese people, more than Taiwan and Hong Kong combined.

Now there are 32 people in the painting department and 11 people in the plot design department, which is why the production of the animated film "Calabash Brothers" is getting faster and faster."

Zhang Zhiyuan also explained: "Mr. Yang, Southeast Asia didn't experience much of the Second World War, and there are many people there, so there are also many people in this area. As long as we need, we can find dozens more."

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Okay, since manpower is not a problem, let's add another comic project. Our Changxing Comics has always relied on one or two comics, which is really too unsafe." Anyone who has bought comic newspapers or books (except single volumes) in the previous life knows that there are many different stories in a comic.

Just like music tapes, or story books, etc.

The most important purpose is to increase the number of customers. Suppose there are 5 comics in a comic weekly, and if one of them attracts a customer, the customer may buy the comic weekly just for that one comic.

They even deliberately put different types of comics together in order to try to attract customers with different preferences.

Previously, Changxing Comic Weekly only had the short story "Calabash Brothers", and now it only has "Black Cat Sheriff". This cannot attract customers who don't like this comic, which is a loss.

Therefore, serialized story books and comics all have multiple stories, so as to achieve the maximum commercial benefits.

Zhang Zhiyuan asked with a smile: "Mr. Yang, please tell me, is it still a classical myth?"

"Yes." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "This is the third one that Wu Sheng just mentioned: Nezha."

"Nezha?" Wu Hailin thought for a moment and said, "Nezha cutting off his flesh to repay his mother is quite attractive."

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Yes, this is the same as Erlang Shen. We also need to extend the plot based on some settings of ancient stories.

Chen Tangguan, Li Jing, Dragon King, etc., write around these. "

In fact, if possible, he would rather make the version of Journey to the West that was produced in mainland China in the 90s. At that time, this Journey to the West was very popular in China and Asia.

But the workload is really too great. You know, a cartoon has dozens of episodes. If it is adapted into a comic, it would take who knows how many issues, and there are too many different characters in it.

For such popular IP comics, you either don’t draw them, or if you do, you have to draw them well. In addition, my team has no experience in drawing these mythological stories, so I can first draw a few short mythological stories to test the waters.

Wu Hailin agreed and said, "Okay, I will also try to conceive the story first, and then start writing."

"Okay, that's it." Yang Wendong nodded with satisfaction and said, "Last year, Changxing Culture was just established and we have achieved good results. This year, we must continue to work hard and produce more popular comics.

In this way, related derivatives will have higher returns, and with more funds, we can continue to create."

"I understand." Zhang Zhiyuan said with a smile: "I will open up various Chinese regional markets in Asia as soon as possible, and will also gradually try to enter overseas local markets."

"Well, this is not easy." Yang Wendong added: "The best way is to make it into a movie or TV series animation and spread it in a visual way, which is more efficient."

Even as strong as Japanese comics were in the 90s, they relied mainly on animation to enter other countries.

The fundamental reason is that reading comic books is too tiring and is far less comfortable than watching animation.

Zhang Zhiyuan said: "I will recruit more people as soon as possible to ensure that the comics can be made into animations as soon as possible after they come out."

Yang Wendong also said: "Okay, but considering the long term, we can't rely entirely on recruiting people from outside, so there are two directions. One is to train ourselves and look for people with talent in this area in Hong Kong, recruit them to do some ordinary things first, help out, and then gradually train them.

The second is to see if we can cooperate with the mainland, such as the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. We can give them the comics and ask them to make animations for us."

"Cooperate with the mainland?" Zhang Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, then looked at Wu Hailin and asked, "Old Wu, will it work?"

"I don't know either." Wu Hailin was not sure either.

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Go contact Xinhua News Agency. They are also short of foreign exchange. As long as it is not a matter of principle, they will not refuse."

Although the mainland has not yet been reformed and opened up, it does not mean that there is no need to trade and communicate with overseas countries. Otherwise, Hong Kong would not be what it is today.

In the original history, in 1965, Shanghai Art Film Studio cooperated with a Japanese animation company, so it is not impossible for it to cooperate with Hong Kong capital now.

After all, what we do for them is similar to OEM. I give you the comic content and you just draw it. When you are finished, you give me the work and I give you foreign exchange. There is no copyright issue involved.

Zhang Zhiyuan nodded and agreed: "Okay, I'll try to contact Xinhua News Agency right away."

"Well, that's it." Yang Wendong said, "In addition to my story, you can also try to create your own. There are too many stories from ancient China."

Wu Hailin said, "I understand, Mr. Yang."

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)