Eric Stevenson I seriously think this is the only Chinese movie I've ever seen that wasn't a martial arts film. Why do I keep seeing Chinese films recently? Anyway, it's the first animated Chinese film. Then again, I can't think of any others at all. This was based on "Journey To The West" which I've heard of a lot, but don't really know what it's about. I was surprised at how surreal the story was.It features a shapeshifting monkey, pig, and man who try to get a magic fan from the title princess. It's always great to learn about other cultures. This is another animated film debut made during World War II, but unlike "Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors", it wasn't a propaganda film. The Japanese certainly saw it though. The animation does look weak many times, but that can be forgiven. With over a billion people, you should know about them. ***

peefyn The plot of this movie is probably more interesting for those who are familiar with the original story. Basically there's three henchmen, and they're supposed to get a fan from a princess so that they can put out a magic fire that's in the way for them. As I am not familiar with the original story, I have to admit that I thought the three henchmen were supposed to be considered the bad guys (and I'm still not entirely convinced that the movie for some reasons takes the side of the villains).It's interesting that the movie opens with a text saying that it's not a fantastical story, but a metaphorical one. Perhaps the metaphors are more obvious for the audience it was made for.Today, it's the animation that makes this movie interesting. At times it's actually quite good, and with an interesting style. But mostly it's really bad. The rotoscoping is often quite fluid (and nice), but anything that could not be rotoscoped (like the animal faces, or exaggerated movements) is quite jarring. Perfectly understandable (this is one of the first animated features in the world, and the first one from China), and still interesting to watch. It lives up to it's reputation: Obviously influenced by American animation, but still very much Asian.

Leofwine_draca I had to watch this because a) it was the first ever animated film made in China, and b) it's an adaptation of part of the classic JOURNEY TO THE WEST series of stories featuring the lovable 'Monkey' and his companions. PRINCESS IRON FAN is short and action packed, and surprisingly well animated for its time. You have to remember that in 1941 China was in the middle of being occupied by Japan, so it's amazing that they managed to make any films during those turbulent times.The free-flowing animation in this film is one of the things that makes it so easy to watch. The source material is also delightful and the characters instantly recognisable. I was intrigued to see how the animation of the characters is clearly inspired by the look and feel of the early Mickey Mouse cartoons. Some of it is quite juvenile, but the most off-putting thing I found was the way that 90% of the dialogue is shouted, which makes this become tiresome very quickly.

crossbow0106 As the DVD jacket states, this is the first full length animated film produced in China. That alone gives it historical significance, while the quality of the film is pretty good. The story has a lot of things going on. It concerns three travelers, a monkey, a pig face (thats the best I can do) and a human male as they try to travel west. They stumble onto the fiery mountain, where the fires can only be quelled if they obtain the iron fan from the local princess (hence the title). She is beautiful, of course, and does not wish to part with it. There are many great images here, but the story itself is not that compelling. Still, it is not very long, and the film, again, is a pioneering one, so I feel it should be watched.