Honestly, the first time you look at the 2019 version of Ne Zha, he’s kinda ugly. There, I said it. With those giant dark circles under his eyes, a permanent smirk that screams "I’m going to bite you," and pants that seem to be sagging of their own volition, he isn't exactly the shimmering, lotus-born prince of traditional Chinese myth. But that’s precisely why the Ne Zha 1 movie (properly titled Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child) didn't just succeed—it obliterated every expectation and box office record in its path.
Most people outside of China see the $700 million-plus box office haul from 2019 and assume it was just another studio-backed hit. It wasn't. It was a massive gamble by a director who goes by the name Jiaozi (which literally means "dumpling"). He was a medical school dropout who spent years in his room teaching himself 3D animation. Talk about a "fate is what you make of it" backstory.
Why the Demon Child Smacked Us All in the Face
Before this movie, Ne Zha was usually portrayed as this perfect, heroic kid who sacrificed himself to save his family. In the 2019 Ne Zha 1 movie, Jiaozi flipped the script. Instead of being the "Spirit Pearl" (the good one), Ne Zha is born from the "Demon Orb" due to some heavenly sabotage.
He’s hated by the villagers before he even says his first word. People literally run away when they see him. If you've ever felt like an outcast or like people had already decided who you were before you even walked into the room, this movie hits differently. It’s a 110-minute argument against the idea that "destiny" is something written in stone.
The core of the story is basically: "I am the master of my own fate." It’s a line that became a national mantra in China.
The Ao Bing Relationship: It's Not What You Think
Then you have Ao Bing. Traditionally, Ne Zha and the Dragon Prince Ao Bing are mortal enemies. In the classic stories, Ne Zha basically skins him. Yeah, the original myths get pretty dark.
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But in the Ne Zha 1 movie, they are the only two people who understand each other. Ao Bing is the "Spirit Pearl"—the one who was supposed to be Ne Zha. He’s elegant, polite, and handsome, but he’s carrying the crushing weight of his entire dragon clan’s expectations.
The dragons are stuck in a literal underwater prison, and Ao Bing is their only ticket out. Seeing these two "misfits" bond over a game of shuttlecock while both are destined to destroy or be destroyed is probably the most emotional part of the film.
The Weird, Wonderful Aesthetics of Jiaozi
Let’s talk about the look of the film. It’s not Pixar. It doesn't try to be.
It leans into what people now call "Guofeng" or "national style." You see it in the way the fire effects swirl like traditional ink paintings and the way the scenery in the "Mountains and Rivers Scroll" sequence feels like stepping into a silk painting.
There's a specific scene where the characters are fighting inside a magical painting using a brush. It’s frantic, colorful, and creative in a way that feels distinctly non-Western.
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Breaking Down the Figures
- Budget: Around $20 million (tiny by Hollywood standards).
- Global Box Office: Over $726 million.
- Animation Studios: More than 20 separate studios were involved because no single studio in China at the time could handle the workload Jiaozi demanded.
- Production Time: 5 years. Jiaozi is notorious for being a perfectionist—he reportedly drove some animators so crazy with revisions that they quit their jobs.
The Cultural Impact: More Than Just a Cartoon
Why does the Ne Zha 1 movie still matter in 2026? Because it proved that Chinese animation (Donghua) could compete on a global scale without just copying Disney’s homework.
It wasn't just a win for the studio, Enlight Pictures; it was a win for an entire industry that had been struggling for decades to find its voice. Before Ne Zha, Chinese theaters were dominated by Hollywood imports. After Ne Zha? The landscape shifted.
We saw a surge in high-budget mythological adaptations like Jiang Ziya and Deep Sea. But none of them quite captured the raw, punk-rock energy of this little demon kid with the fire-tipped spear.
Addressing the "Too Much Toilet Humor" Criticism
If you read Western reviews from when it first hit theaters, you’ll see some critics complaining about the fart jokes and the "crude" humor. And yeah, Taiyi Zhenren (the mentor) is a drunk who rides a flying pig and has some... gastrointestinal issues.
But you've got to understand the context. This is "Shenmo" fiction—a genre that blends high fantasy with grounded, often bawdy, folk humor. It’s supposed to be messy. Life in the village of Chentang Pass is supposed to feel lived-in and a bit chaotic.
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The humor makes the tragedy of Ne Zha’s three-year death curse hurt more. You're laughing at a drunken immortal one minute, and the next, you’re watching a father try to secretly swap his own life for his son’s.
What to Do If You Haven’t Seen It Yet
If you're looking to dive into the Ne Zha 1 movie today, don't just watch it as a kids' movie. Watch it as a piece of cultural rebellion.
- Look for the Subbed Version: The English dub is okay, but you lose a lot of the nuance in the voice acting, especially the specific regional dialects Jiaozi used to give the characters flavor.
- Watch with a Myth Cheat Sheet: You don't need to know the Investiture of the Gods (the 16th-century novel it's based on) to enjoy it, but knowing that the movie is actively subverting a 400-year-old story makes the plot twists much cooler.
- Pay Attention to the Eyes: The animators spent an insane amount of time on Ne Zha’s expressions. Even when he’s being a brat, his eyes tell the story of a kid who just wants to be accepted.
The success of the Ne Zha 1 movie paved the way for the massive 2025 sequel, Ne Zha 2, which has gone on to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. But you can't really appreciate the scale of that success without going back to where it started—with a "ugly" kid, a shuttlecock, and a refusal to let the heavens decide who he was going to be.
To get the most out of your viewing, try to find the IMAX remaster if possible; the scale of the final lightning storm sequence is meant to be seen on the biggest screen you can find.