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'Little Door Gods' features anthropomorphized gods

Edited by GreenReaper as of Thu 1 Oct 2015 - 04:43
Your rating: None Average: 3 (4 votes)

Here is another anthropomorphic animated movie trailer! Little Door Gods may not seem anthro at first glance, but look at the frogs in the background. Then take a closer look at the main characters, especially Shen Tu (the fat guy).

These aren’t humans, they’re Chinese door gods (ménschén); the little anti-evil charms that the Chinese have traditionally posted at their front doors. Modern Chinese no longer believe in them and have stopped using them. Light Chaser Animation in Beijing has used this as its plot for this movie: what happens to the door gods in the spirit world when humans no longer believe in them? Brother door gods Yu Lei and Shen Tu are worried about being thrown out of work. The comic-relief Shen Tu is fatalistic about it, but Yu Lei determines to journey into the human world and cause enough commotion to prove to mortals that they still need the door gods.

Little Door Gods, written and directed by Gary Wang (who founded Light Chaser Animation in 2013), and produced by Yu Zhou, will be released in China on January 1, 2016. No American release is scheduled yet, but Light Chaser and the Chinese government intend to enter Little Door Gods in the Academy Awards in the Best Animated Feature category; the first Chinese animated film to compete in that category. Can Annie Award nominations be far behind? So there is a strong chance that Little Door Gods may get an American release soon, if only a prestige “in selected theaters” art-house release.

Comments

Your rating: None Average: 5 (1 vote)

Solid animation, with a blend of ancient and modern China flavour.

It probably won't have much furry characters in it, but gods facing unemployment does give me a good smirk! It rather reminds me of trailers for Monster Hunt, a movie shown in China for summer 2015.

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I dimly remember reading a fantasy short story about fifty years ago about the Roman gods, notably Pan, facing unemployment and the loss of their divine powers because humans no longer believe in them. Pan has to try to disguise himself as an ordinary human. But I can't remember either the author or the title. Lester del Rey? Theodore Sturgeon? Nelson Bond? Has anyone else read this?

Fred Patten

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Maybe you just had a really unique perspective on "The Great God Pan" by Arthur Machen?

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Aha! No, it was "The Pipes of Pan" by Lester del Rey, in Unknown Fantasy Fiction, May 1940. I read it in a collection of del Rey's s-f & fantasy short stories. Since Pan is described as a goat-man who has to disguise himself as human in the modern world (1940), furry fans might like to read it today.

Fred Patten

Your rating: None Average: 2 (2 votes)

Humans are anthropomorphic monkeys. Everything with humans is now furry!

Well, I'll be...

Your rating: None Average: 4.5 (2 votes)

These aren’t humans, they’re (...) ménschén

Amusingly, "Menschen" is actually the German word for "humans"...

Your rating: None Average: 5 (1 vote)

Here are three more trailers for “Little Door Gods”, which opened in China yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSiP82926Q0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O79mwjH7_7k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsZ-u1fptnQ

Fred Patten

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