Monkey King

[LittleGrasshopper]

Hi Guys, I just saw the movie Lost Kingdom lastnight,and it spoke of the book Journey to the west.Can anyone tell me where I can find this book? Thanks

[apoweyn]

It's translated various different ways. The translation I read was a scaled down version (the original is pretty big). It's called "Monkey" and this particular edition was translated by Arthur Waley, who is highly regarded in my experience.

Hope that helps.


Stuart

[gordonliu]

Greetings,

Actually I have just finished reading an excerpt
of Monkey(from Record of A Journey to the West) by Wu Ch'eng-en, and translated by Arthur Waley. It has also been tranlated as, The Adventures of
Monkey. A great story that goes back many centur-
ies. You might also want to check out his Romance
of the Three Kingdoms and The Story of the Water
Margin. All of these are quite easily obtainable
either at the libraries, bookstores, or on the Net.
I hope this was somewhat helpful ;)

[dunbarj01]

This was also made into a series by NTV (Japan)?

[tattooedmonk]

On Sci Fi channnel. I just happened to be up late last night and caught this movie, anyone else see it??

[GeneChing]

I'm cannibalizing this thread for Monkey King/Journey to the West posts. There's been a lot of Monkey bizness lately.

Here are some other Monkey King related threads:
Monkey King - IMAX-3D featuring Donnie Yen

Supplemant to the Journey to the West

Martial Arts in Live Theater

FORBIDDEN KINGDOM: the movie

And here is my reason for posting all of this:

23rd July, 2010
China's 'hairy man' to have surgery to play Monkey King
China's hairiest man is set to have cosmetic surgery in order to play The Monkey King in a TV remake of Journey To The West.

32-year-old Yu Zhenhuan has hair that covers 96 per cent of his body, due to a rare hormone imbalance.

Having previously starred in a number of movies and flirting with a singing career, Zhenhuan attempted to land the lead role of The Monkey King in a television adaptation of Journey to the West.

Unfortunately, the director decided that he wasn't attractive enough, prompting Zhenhuan's decision to undergo surgery.

'I thought I was the best candidate, as I look like a monkey and my nickname is monkey man,' he stated.

'I read through the book and found professional hair dressers to make me into a real monkey man. But I failed the audition because I am not good looking enough.

'I am going to have surgery to get rid of the hair and facial plastic surgery to make myself look more like a pretty monkey, and make the director regret his decision,' he told the China Youth Times.

[GeneChing]

I'm ttt-ing this to add Journey to the West - Neil Gaimon style.

Note that I don't think we've ever had threads on Stephan Chow's A Chinese Odyssey or Russell Wong's Lost Empire. I'd start them myself but I've never seen either all the way through...

[GeneChing]

I forgot to add this new one from last July: Stephan Chow's Journey to the West. Over New Year's, I treated myself to A Chinese Odyssey and will review it later on that thread.

[ghostexorcist]

I forgot to add this new one from last July: Stephan Chow's Journey to the West. Over New Year's, I treated myself to A Chinese Odyssey and will review it later on that thread.

I've had both films on VCD and DVD for years. I have to say that I like his rendition of Monkey better than the least few TV show versions that have come out. He captures and the ferocity, as well as the humor, spot on. It sucks that he is only playing a minor role in the remake.

[GeneChing]

Read Visiting the Home of the Monkey King by Gregory Brundage.

[ghostexorcist]

Read Visiting the Home of the Monkey King by Gregory Brundage.

That is a pretty cool article. As someone who has read the novel numerous times and studied its influences, I would love to visit that place (even if it's a tourist attraction).

[eltravose]

Does anyone have a link to some videos of someone using a Monkey style in their sparring. I am a huge fan of forms but I haven't seen too many sparring videos featuring a monkey style.

[GeneChing]

Moved two posts off this thread to stand on their own: Monkey: Journey to the West from the creators of Gorillaz

[doug maverick]

**** how the hell did i miss this? think i need to snatch up a ticket.

[GeneChing]

...I'm getting lost in Variety this morning...

3-D series to hit smallscreen in China
MAY 29, 2009 | 01:59PM PT
Ancient tale 'Wu Cheng' gets high-tech treatment
Clifford Coonan
@cliffordcoonan

BEIJING A Chinese shingle is taking the country’s 3-D craze to the smallscreen with 45-episode costume drama “Wu Cheng-en and the Journey to the West,” touted as one of the first 3-D TV series in the world.

The 100 million yuan ($15 million) skein, produced by China Film and Television Prod. in association with Meiya Chuntian Intl. Film and TV Culture, Beijing Yong Tong Beijing Cultural Development and Zhong Shi Xie Film and Television Prod., has been five years in the making and still has 18 months of post-production to complete.

Some $7.5 million of the budget was devoted to the 3-D effects, and each 45-minute episode will contain around 10 minutes of 3-D.

The series is based on a story that dates back to the 1590s and ascribed to the scholar Wu Cheng-en, which follows a Chinese Buddhist monk’s quest to India to obtain a religious text. The monk has four animal protectors — the Monkey King, a pig, a river demon and a dragon prince — who agree to help him as an atonement for past sins.

The 1986 TV version of “Journey to the West” is one of the best-known and beloved TV shows in Chinese history.

The new skein imagines Wu’s attempts to write the story while following the legend itself.

The project reunites the stars of the original skein — Liu Xiao Ling Tong, Chi Chongrui and Ma Ma Dehua. Liu will reprise his role as the Monkey King and also play Wu. Yan Huaili, the fourth member of the original cast, died in April and will be replaced by Liu Dagang.

“This drama is about … Wu Cheng-en writing ‘The Journey to the West,’ ” China Film and Television producer Wu Qiuyun told the Beijing News. “But if the main storyline was only Wu Cheng-en, that may affect the audience ratings. So we put the same actors in ‘The Journey to the West’ together, and re-filmed some parts of it, and then made those into 3-D.”

She adds, “We are still negotiating with (state pubcaster) CCTV about broadcasting the show. But we’ll probably air it on a local TV station.”

The drama began shooting in Hengdian studios two years ago, but the producers did not reveal back then it would contain 3-D scenes, due to concerns that the technology would not work.

They have created special glasses for watching the skein and will distribute them through large-scale marketing events.

However, tt will be interesting to see if, at 45 episodes, the skein falls foul of a new ruling by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television aimed at limiting the number of episodes in a TV series to 30.

China’s first 3-D toon, “The Carnival of the Animals,” was released this year. It was produced by pubcaster China Central Television’s animation unit and includes the voices of CCTV Children’s Channel hosts Ju Ping, Dong Hao and Liu Chunyan.