is the first Chinese animated feature film created by the twin Wan brothers, Wan Guchan and Wan Laiming. The film is based on chapters of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West and it was directed in Shanghai under difficult conditions in the thick of World War II. Despite taking three years to make, it released on January 1, 1941, by the Chinese Union film company. Princess Iron-Fan is the main character and the film focused on the duel between the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) and a vengeful princess, whose fan is desperately needed to quench the flames that surround a peasant village.

The Wan brothers were the first animators in China. In the late 1930s, Shanghai was under Japanese occupation, however, after they both saw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1939, they wanted to set the standard and create a film of equal quality for the nation’s honor. Although the Western Disney influence is apparent in much of the animation, there is also a distinct Chinese presence in the film that was developed as a patriotic cartoon. The film was a culmination of powerful messages symbolizing the characteristics that China represented during that time; perseverance, teamwork and fighting spirit. It became an instant success in China (despite Japanese occupation) receiving stellar reviews internationally and even influenced Japanese animation studios to create Japan’s own first feature-length film three years later called, Momotaro’s Divine Sea Warriors in 1945.

China’s changing political landscape from 1940-1949 caused by a civil war between Communist and Nationalist troops created major instability in China. Animation became sporadic and there were even some documentary-type propaganda animation films such as The Emperor’s Dream in 1947 and Go After an Easy Prey aka Turtle Caught in a Jar in 1948 developed by the Northeast Film Studio (at the time it was the first known studio established by a communist party). Furthermore, the production of future Chinese animated films would reveal a microcosm of China’s history, culture, and political transformations of the time.