HONG KONG: When Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh first saw the film Ne Zha 2 in Hong Kong, she immediately dreamt of an English-dubbed version.
The Chinese blockbuster, which has become the highest-grossing animated film of all time with over US$2.2 billion (RM9.3 billion) in ticket sales this year, seemed like a perfect fit for a global audience.
Yeoh, who is fluent in English, Malay, and Cantonese, wasn’t alone in her thinking.
The film studio A24 was already making plans to broaden the film’s appeal with an English-language version in collaboration with CMC Pictures.
Yeoh was offered the role of voicing Ne Zha’s mother, Lady Yin.
“I quickly said yes,” she told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
The English-dubbed version will open in more than 2,500 North American cinemas on Aug 22.
The film tells the story of Ne Zha, a rebellious child born as the reincarnation of a demon to mortal parents, who is determined to prove his fate is not predetermined.
In the first film, he sacrifices himself; in the second, he is put to the test to save his friend and his village.
While the character might be new to American audiences, the mythology is well-known in China.
Yeoh grew up watching various TV and film versions but had never seen it brought to life so vividly.
The making of Ne Zha 2 took five years and involved around 4,000 people from 138 Chinese animation companies.
The final film runs for an epic 143 minutes and includes 2,400 animation shots and 1,900 special effects shots.
“I think the director and his amazing team pushed all the boundaries,” Yeoh said.
“They created this magical world that I hadn’t seen before. The special effects are mind-blowing.”
Yeoh also approved of the translation, which she admitted was not an easy task.
“With translations, a lot of the time, the nuances are lost. Because you have to sync and find the right number of words to say the same thing. So it is not easy,” she said.
Yeoh believes the English version will help the film resonate globally.
“It’s such a universal language of family, of love, of the underdog, of someone who’s ostracised, misunderstood just because you’re born different,” she said.
“It immerses you into our culture. And it’s such a beautiful way to cross that bridge.”
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
