Credited cast: | |||
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Guanlin Ji | ... | Chun (voice) |
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Shangqing Su | ... | Qiu (voice) |
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Timmy Xu | ... | Kun (voice) |
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Shulan Pan | ... | Chun, old age (voice) |
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Yuanyuan Zhang | ... | Feng (voice) (as Yuanyuan Xang) |
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Jiu'er | ... | Kun's Sister (voice) |
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Lifang Xue | ... | Chun's Father (Shu) (voice) |
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Jie Zhang | ... | Chisong Zi (voice) |
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Xiaoyu Liu | ... | Leizu (voice) |
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Zhongyang Baomu | ... | Goumang (voice) |
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Yu Cheng | ... | Tingmu (voice) |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
JB Blanc | ... | Lingpo (voice) (as John White) | |
Johnny Yong Bosch | ... | Qiu (voice) | |
Greg Chun | ... | Houtu / Chun's Father (Shu) / Chisong Zi (voice) | |
Cam Clarke | ... | Zhurong (voice) |
It is a world within our world, yet unseen by any human, and the beings here control time and tide and the changing of the seasons. On the day Chun turns sixteen, she is transformed into a dolphin to explore the human world. She is rescued from a vortex by a human boy at the cost of his own life. Chun is so moved by the boy's kindness and courage that she decides to give him life again. But to do this, she must protect the boy's soul, a tiny fish, and nurture it to grow. Through adventure and sacrifice, love grows, yet now she must release him back to the sea, back to life in the human world. Written by Liang Xuan
I have not watched a film made in China for quite a long time even if I am Chinese myself. Our film industry still has a long way to go. However, I am deeply impressed by the creative story and the perfect combination of 2D and 3D animation of DaYuHaiTang, and I personally consider the film as a revolutionary art piece.
Through the story, the film emphasize the relationship of our life and our dreams. It encourages us to stick to what we eager for, to what we believe, even when the environment is against us. In the movie, Kun is the symbol of our dreams. It grows, it flies, and its life is tightly related to the one who raises it. We are born to achieve something, if the goal in our life isn't achieved eventually, our life is meaningless. Be brave and go ahead, that's what the film wants to teach us.
The movie contains many Chinese traditional elements, which has seldom been seen before. I am also glad to see that Chinese animation has finally started to focus on how to move audience emotionally. However, there are many shortcomings as well. The film has a good story, but it failed to tell it well. The plot goes too fast at the beginning, and too slow at the end. Besides, a lot of redundant words can be found during conversations. Maybe the film crew should do something about that in their next movie.
The film did a great job, but it's the audience in the cinema that let me down. I was shocked to see many people laughing mockingly at the characters at some meaningful scenes just because it seems funny to them. Some people are even insulting the film and the characters on the Internet as well. In my opinion, whether a film is good or not, it is an art piece, and it is the result of the film crew's diligence and creativity. We should talk about the strong points and drawbacks of the film objectively, not insulting it without thinking deeply. The poor moral quality of the audience can be seen in those rude remarks. The Chinese animation industry is developing rapidly, it's the audience ability to appreciate films that failed to keep up.