After choosing one of the four Chinese mythology stories, which was the tale of ‘The White Snake’ I took this time to further research the story, variations and other films and tv shows that tells the same story but adapted from many creators and artists with their uniqueΒ art styles andΒ visual storytelling. In short summery it tells the taleΒ white snake spirit, longing for human life, finally managed to transform itself into a charming lady after centuries of practice and cultivation. Bearing the name of Bai Suzhen, the beautiful snake maiden fell in love with a respected doctor, Xu Xian at first sight.
In some other versions, the pair’s first encounter took place far earlier. It holds that when Bai Suzhen was merely a young snake, she was once saved by Xu Xian in his past life. It was driven by gratitude and the eagerness to repay such a life-saving kindness that Bai Suzhen, through her constant efforts, accomplished her transformation to take on human form. After which, she set out without hesitation to look for Xu Xian and repay him back for his generous deed. The young couple set up a medicine shop, enjoying a harmonious and happy life together. But there was a looming time bomb threatening to shatter the couple’s joy, since Xu Xian had no idea of the fact that his beloved was a snake spirit. And the appearance of Fa Hai, a Buddhist monk at the Jinshan Temple, was the catalyst that lit the fuse.
Believing that such a marriage was unnatural, Fa Hai told Xu Xian that his wife was not a human being but instead an evil snake. He also convinced the doubtful husband to make Bai Suzhen drink a special wine that would prove his word. Xu Xian followed Fa Hai’s advice, tricked Bai Suzhen into drinking the wine, and witnessed his wife turning into a white snake. He then broke down and died. Bai decided to save her husband. She braved the land of the immortals and stole a sacred magical herb from there violating a rule that a snake spirit was never supposed to break. Xu Xian was brought back to life, taken by Fa Hai to the Jinshan Temple, or Golden Hill Temple. To reclaim her husband, Bai Suzhen unleashed the waters and flooded the temple.
One popular adaption for the myth is a fantasy film known as ‘The Legend of the White Serpent 1958‘Β developed by Toei animation, the same studio behind Alakazam the Great which adapted the myth of Sun Wukong (The Monkey King). It follows the main story and adds additional background characters for character support for the main two love interests beating all the odds and the animation has a mix of western and eastern influences with realist character design and a beautiful varied colour palette which contrasts with the rough limited animation and poetic quality with charm. It shares it’s traits and style with other movies such as Monkey king Havoc in Heaven franchise and Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, both produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio (SAFS) by the Wan brothers.Β
Another popular adaption of the story would involve the white snake trilogy by Light Chaser Animation Studios which took the approach of a 3D art style but keeping the traditional western/eastern style of it’s Chinese roots. The first and last film focus on the early centuries of China during the tang and southern song dynasty. The second movie focuses on steampunk modern time similar to ours with technology use involved outside it’s normal time zone. It also shows many art techniques for it’s animation such as their colour palette established for each character, mood, culture/environment and lighting for it’s sense of direction with all characters who are morally good, bad or grey. Also to mention the trilogy besides it’s visual effects and animation is the amount of 2D they put in for the characters journey and growth such as using the Chinese style of a ink painting and colour palette washing out looking like a mix of 2D and 3D (Hybrid) animation.
