Peppa Pig’s feature-length movie “Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year” debuts on Tuesday for the start of the Year of the Pig. But, as illustrated in a heartwarming short film promoting the movie, most Chinese still don’t know “What is Peppa.” |
China’s most famous pig is Zhu Bajie (猪八戒), frequently called Pigsy in English. In the classic novel “Journey to the West,” he is one of three disciples protecting a monk on a quest to retrieve Buddhist scripture. He is bighearted, but his appetites get him into trouble. |
The character Zhu Bajie at a festival in Nanjing last month. Li Xiaofei/VCG, via Getty Images |
The 1958 animated short “Pigsy Eats Watermelon,” a landmark hit in a rapidly growing Chinese animation industry, tells the story of one episode from the novel in which he finds a watermelon and divides it into four pieces intending to bring it to share with his comrades. Much to his embarrassment, however, he can’t stop himself from eating it all. |
Albert Sun, an assistant editor who helped redesign the Morning Briefing, wrote today’s Back Story. |
Monday, February 4, 2019
Happy Lunar New Year 2019
Back Story
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