China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Little people set to light up big screen
Prolific author makes his first foray into cinema with protagonists of popular children’s story, reports.
In the early 1980s, China was still using ration coupons as a measure to tackle food shortages. Despite most people struggling with their appetites, novelist Zheng Yuanjie — dubbed China’s “king of fairy tales” — occasionally derived inspiration from the experience.
Then, being a young father of a toddler son, Zheng often bought canned pork — which was not limited by the quota regulations — to add nutrients to the family’s meals.
“I remember that most families in Beijing were rationed to 1 kilogram of pork every month, but you could buy canned food with just cash,” recalls Zheng, during a recent interview with China Daily in a downtown cinema.
While wrestling with the can opener in the kitchen one day, he was struck with a quirky idea.
“What if the pork magically evolved into several tiny creatures? I was hooked by the scene that popped into my mind and stood there pondering over it for a long time,” he says.
Zheng soon put pen to paper and concocted a fantastic tale about Lu Xixi, a bookish young girl who discovers five tiny people — merely as tall as matchsticks — after opening a sealed can of meat.
With its bold imagination and funny depictions, the tale was highly popular, spawning an equally popular stage show, produced by China National Theater for Children over a decade ago, which has been performed more than 600 times since.
Now, the adventure of Lu and her little friends will be brought to life in the upcoming live-action film, Little Canned Men, which is scheduled to open across domestic theaters on Sept 30.
In the film, the five small people are versatile, each with their own distinctive talent, varying from singing to speaking multiple languages, helping Pi Pilu — her naughty elder brother — and their stressed classmates to get better scores in their exams.
However, a jealous classmate — who happens to discover the sibling’s secret — seizes the little people, which causes a problem at the school after the “hostages” attempt to escape.
Widely regarded to be something of a legend in children’s literature circles in China, Zheng — who was born in North China’s Hebei province in 1955 — is best known for having worked as the sole writer of the monthly magazine Tong Hua Da Wang (King of Fairy Tales) since 1985.
“I did it because of my personality. I don’t like to see my name appearing in the same magazine as other authors, as I want to ensure that only my effort makes the magazine popular,” Zheng says.
Over the course of more than three decades, the diligent Zheng has followed a strict schedule — he gets up at 4:30 am to write 5,000 words in around two hours. “It’s the best time, as it’s the only part of the day when I won’t be interrupted,” he says.
The prolific writer has penned many tales, writing over 20 million words and creating nearly 720 characters, enchanting several generations of young readers.
However, few of his works have been adapted into movies or animated series. The forthcoming Little Canned Men marks the first time that one of Zheng’s stories has been developed as a theatrically released feature.
Previously, a 24-minute short film, Taming the Rabbit, also adapted from one of his stories featuring the siblings Lu and Pi as the protagonists, went online in 2018.
“Many years ago, a studio in Shanghai shot an animated series based on the tales of Shuke and Beita (the adventures of two heroic mice, respectively a pilot and a tank driver). But I didn’t like the adaptation as it adds too much content that lectures the viewer,” says the author.
As a result, Zheng suspended the authorization of adaptation rights to his work, until his son established a company and persuaded his father to relax the licensing restrictions.
Additionally, Zheng’s younger daughter has studied cinema at the University of California in Los Angeles. “I once wrote a fairy tale about bacteria. My daughter liked it very much and recommended that she should helm the adaptation. I believe it would be a sweet and great moment if one day I can stand on a stage and promote her film,” says Zheng.
Having turned 66 in June, the novelist has demonstrated his talent to “shift” from page to the silver screen.
In a scene near the end of Little Canned Men, Zheng enjoys a cameo and can be seen fishing on a riverbank, providing a mysterious, but key, detail that hints at a possible sequel. He says the scene is inspired by late comic book writer Stan Lee’s cameo appearances in the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
A widely circulated story about Zheng is that he once purchased 10 apartments in Beijing to use them as makeshift warehouses to store letters from fans.
“It’s true,” confirms the author. He says that the housing price was 1,400 yuan ($217) per square meter when he purchased the properties in early 1990s.
“Many people say I have earned a lot of money from the soaring property prices, but it’s not what I really care about. I won’t sell these apartments, which are still being used to store the more than 1 million letters, which are mostly packed in cloth bags,” says Zheng.
“For me, the most valuable treasure is my readers. I cherish the words written by them,” he says. But such handwritten mail has become scarce because of the rapid expansion of the internet in China.
The writer has embraced the digital medium, becoming an “internet celebrity” with a passion for social media platforms like Sina Weibo and Douyin. He has launched a special online event whereby he is seeking 10 readers whose letters were randomly selected from the bags.
Most of the letters were sent between late 1980s and mid-1990s. The digital era has helped Zheng to quickly find the fans, who are now working in various fields, from a company head and a doctor to a government official.
One of the letters that most impressed Zheng was from a teenager who tried to take a photograph with Zheng while buying one of his books at a Beijing bookstore in 1995.
“Her name is Zhao Zhibo. She’s a very famous dancer and actress now. The research procedure is so dramatic. I believe it would be a good subject for a film,” Zheng says.
As a self-made man who dropped out of school at age 11, Zheng — now a father of two adult children — is also famous for his distinctive views about education.
“Parents should never let their children learn ahead of their age. The best way to encourage your children is to work hard and become a successful parent. When you get established in a career, your children will be influenced by that and strive hard for their own goals,” he adds.
More interestingly, the writer — who once wrote 10 textbooks for his home-schooled son — says the only criteria to judge an education project is to see if it can continuously hold the attention and imagination of students.
“If you want to be a good parent, try to speak less and do more. Your child will learn more from your endeavors.”
For me, the most valuable treasure is my readers. I cherish the words written by them.”
Zheng Yuanjie, fairy tale writer