A rebellion that moves like nothing else on film. Sun Wukong's rampage through Heaven is pure kinetic fury, every frame built to show you what animation could do when a studio stops apologizing for the medium and lets it breathe. This is the moment Chinese animation proved it didn't need to copy anyone, it needed to burn everything down and start from its own mythology.
Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, spends his days happily on Flower-Fruit Mountain among his monkey subjects. When he snaps a sword during training, he goes to the Dragon King's palace in search of a better weapon and leaves with a mighty staff. Furious at losing his greatest treasure, the Dragon King takes his grievance to the Jade Emperor in Heaven, who devises a scheme to rein in the unruly monkey. Tricked and mocked by the heavenly court, Wukong rises in revolt, and the Emperor dispatches his army to capture him. Directed by Wan Laiming and made by all four Wan brothers in 1964, this Chinese animated feature adapts the opening chapters of Journey to the West as a spirited adventure.
