As of March 26th, the total box office of "Ne Zha: The Demons of the Sea" (including screenings, pre-sales, and overseas box office) has reached nearly 16 billion yuan, surpassing the box office results of "Jurassic World", "Mind Corps 2", "Spider Man: No Way Home", "Avengers: Infinity War", and "Star Wars: Awakening", becoming the first Asian film to enter the top 5 of the global box office chart and top the animation box office chart! It is only 1 billion yuan away from surpassing Titanic (with a box office of 16.423 billion yuan) to enter the fourth place on the global box office chart in film history.

This phenomenon, far beyond the predictions of various experts, undoubtedly provides a valuable lesson for the turbulent people of Earth. Why？

Boss' Dumplings' (Yang Yu) was born in Luzhou and grew up locally. The family environment, educational experience, and early life trajectory are naturally bound to Luzhou, rather than other cities.

Jiao Zi graduated from West China Medical University (now West China Medical Center of Sichuan University) with a bachelor's degree. Although he studied in Chengdu, he did not choose to move to other cities for development. After switching to animation production, I relied more on self-learning and independent creation in the early days, with less geographical restrictions.

The influence of regional culture on dumplings?

Dialects, folk customs, and a sense of humor have a certain influence on the creative style. The Trump accent of the "Taiyi Immortal" in Nezha's Demon Boy Comes to Earth and the line design of the market atmosphere all bear a distinctive imprint of Sichuan culture, which can be attributed to the dumplings' familiarity and emotional recognition of local culture.

Although the animation industry in Shanghai and Hangzhou is more developed than others (such as Meiying and Xuanji Technology), its cultural expression tends to be more international or Jiangnan style; The cultural heritage of Yangzhou is mainly based on classical gardens and the elegant charm of Huaiyang, which differs greatly from the "rebellious and passionate" style of "Ne Zha".

The regional culture of Luzhou provides a source of inspiration for dumplings that is closer to the grassroots and the vitality of the market.

The core cities of China's animation industry are Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou (such as Xuanji Technology and Chasing Light Animation in Hangzhou), but Jiaozhi did not choose to join these large companies. Instead, he completed his creation through an independent team called "Cocoa Bean Animation" (Chengdu), demonstrating his preference for the creative environment in the Sichuan Chongqing region.

The cost of living in Sichuan is lower than in first tier cities, allowing start-up teams to focus more on content creation and reduce capital pressure. If dumplings choose Shanghai or Hangzhou, they may face higher competition costs and commercial intervention.

The key to such success lies not only in having a good environment, but also in individual efforts to self-study and persist.

Dumplings did not have a background in animation. His success was largely due to self-learning 3D animation techniques and spending several years polishing the script (over 100 revisions were made to the script for "Nezha"). This "all in one" creative approach relies more on personal perseverance.

Personal factors are certainly important, but the team's "Cocoa Bean Animation" has rooted itself in Chengdu and formed a tacit understanding with Jiaozi through long-term cooperation. The pragmatic atmosphere in the Sichuan Chongqing region has helped to strengthen the team's cohesion.

Luzhou does not have a direct mythological background, but the spiritual core of Nezha's "breaking prejudices" coincides with the regional character of the Sichuan people's "daring to explore and fight". This spiritual resonance may be a manifestation of cultural identity in the director's subconscious.

In the new era where content is king, systems and regions are no longer the core limitations, cultural roots and personal persistence are the key.

 

----HXQC Yiqin pays tribute to the grassroots

2026.03.26 at Shenxianju