In addition, they had to draw from folklore to conjure a host of fantasy creatures that populate Jinsha, such as spirits, elves and fairies. Naturally, a sense of graphic design is emphasized throughout, particularly in the work on the palace of the kingdom and the contemporary street scenes that reflect modernity.

They also utilized various Chinese landscapes as backdrops for Jinsha, including Jiuzhaigou Valley, the most popular national park in China, known for its dozens of blue, green and turquoise-colored lakes. This was important stylistically but also as a way of reinforcing the distinctive Chinese heritage of the movie.

Indeed, introducing core values was important to Chen. With such a strict focus in China on one child in each family, the younger generation tends to be selfish and self-centered. The director wants to therefore make an impact on youngsters in China and across the world. "In China, there are 360 million children and that was the biggest influence on me -- to bring them a story about love and courage and to keep their childhood as pure as possible," Chen suggests.

As for the film's impact on the Chinese animation industry, it has already paid dividends, since he will soon embark on a follow-up animated feature. "First, from a technical point of view, for most, this is the first animation production, so on many levels, they had to overcome many, many challenges to make this movie," the director offers. "Second, from the children's point of view, this movie is very different because it travels from the modern to the ancient. This is a breakthrough movie for them -- and the children tend to like it a lot."

Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.