A poster for the film, White Snake: Afloat. CHINA DAILY

The film premiered in theaters nationwide on the Qixi Festival, also known as Chinese Valentine's Day, the seventh day of the seventh month on the Chinese lunar calendar, which fell on Aug 10 this year. As of Thursday, it had grossed more than 245 million yuan ($34.2 million) at the box office, making it one of the highest-grossing blockbusters of the summer, according to tracking platform Maoyan PRO.

White Snake: Afloat marks the conclusion of the White Snake trilogy. The first movie was released in 2019, and the second installment, centered upon the green snake, was released in 2021.

The first film, which grossed an impressive 470 million yuan at the box office and fictionalizes a brand-new romance set 500 years before the original folklore, is widely viewed as a turning point for the success of Light Chaser Animation, one of the country's largest studios that focuses on producing animated movies inspired by Chinese history and culture.

Taking place around 500 years after the events of the first film but before the second installment, the new fantasy romance White Snake: Afloat follows the journey of Bai Niangzi, or Madam Bai, a white snake demon, who has taken on the form of a beautiful woman.

Accompanied by the green snake demon, Xiaoqing, the protagonist travels to Lin'an in hopes of reuniting with Xu Xian, her beloved. Now becoming a skilled polymath in medicine and patient care, Xu once again falls in love with Bai and gets married but their peaceful life is soon disrupted by Fahai, a powerful and stubborn Buddhist monk who is adamant in his belief that humans and demons should not coexist.

Spanning 133 minutes, the film has a crew of almost 1,000 people — consisting of 300 from Light Chaser Animation and 700 recruited from other companies.

Linda Jaivin, an Australian Sinologist who assisted in the English subtitle translation of Light Chaser Animation's successful film Chang'an, joined the team for White Snake: Afloat. She has added a unique touch to some poetic lines inspired by classic literature, according to the two directors.

In Chinese mythology and legends, wild beasts are often portrayed as monsters, demons or spirits, with vixens being among the creatures known for their ability to transform into beautiful women. Influenced by such legacy, the White Snake trilogy features a fox spirit with two faces, who has become a popular supporting character due to her captivating appearance and mysterious identity.

In the new movie, Li says, she transitions from being the owner of a weapon workshop in the first film to operating a magic house, helping customers retrieve lost memories in the second film, to becoming the head of an opera troupe, where she performs a work based on Tang Dynasty writer Yuan Zhen's Yingying Zhuan (Yingying's Biography).

"We live in a land saturated and nurtured by cultures thriving over thousands of years. While embarking on a journey to reexamine the historical corners once overlooked, we, as creators, are excited to find numerous inspirations," Li says.

According to Yu Zhou, president of Light Chaser Animation, the studio is scheduled to produce more Chinese culture-based films, with an upcoming adaptation from Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) novelist Pu Songling's Liaozhai Zhiyi (Strange Tales From a Chinese Studio).

"Over the last decade, China's animation film industry has experienced rapid growth, with audiences showing a surging interest in stories that embody traditional cultural elements. This trend may be attributed to the cultural confidence exhibited by young people born after 1995 or the post-2000 generation," Yu says. "However, their expectations for film visuals and animation technology have also increased, necessitating greater efforts from domestic filmmakers."

Contact the writer at xufan@chinadaily.com.cn