The Secret of the Magic Gourd | |||||||||||
Native Name: |
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Director: | John Chu Frankie Chung | ||||||||||
Producer: | Han San Ping John Chu | ||||||||||
Screenplay: | John Chu Lam Kee To | ||||||||||
Music: | Zhang Hanyun - "One Dream" 張含韻《一人一夢》(Simplified Chinese) | ||||||||||
Editing: | Angie Lam | ||||||||||
Studio: | Walt Disney Pictures China Centro Digital Pictures Limited | ||||||||||
Distributor: | China Film Group | ||||||||||
Runtime: | 85 minutes | ||||||||||
Country: | China | ||||||||||
Language: | Chinese | ||||||||||
Gross: | $3.1 million[1] |
The Secret of the Magic Gourd (; also known as The Magic Gourd) is a 2007 Chinese live-action/animated fantasy drama film made by Centro in co-operation with China Movie Co Ltd and Disney. It is the second film based on a 1958 novel by Zhang Tianyi after the 1963 Chinese film. The film is all about an 11-year-old lazy boy, Raymond, who learns the meaning of hard-work after a magic gourd, Bailey, grants him anything he wants.
The Secret of the Magic Gourd is Disney's first CGI/animation full-length feature film produced for the Chinese mainland market.
The film was released on January 27, 2009, on DVD in the United States.[2] The English dubbed version of the film features Corbin Bleu as the voice of the Magic Gourd and Drake Johnston as the voice of Raymond, plus Megan Hilty as Ms. Lee. The Secret of the Magic Gourd is also available on Disney+.[3]
When an inquisitive 11 year old discovers a mythical, magical gourd while fishing, he has no idea of the trouble that lies at the end of his hook. With the ability to grant any and every wish, The Magic Gourd attempts to make all of the boy's dreams come true, but instead succeeds in turning his world upside down.
Character | Original actor | English voice |
---|---|---|
Miss Liu | Gigi Leung | Megan Hilty (Ms. Lee) |
The Magic Gourd | Peisi Chen | Corbin Bleu |
Wang Bao | Qilong Zhu | Drake Johnston (Raymond) |
Grandma | Meng Qian | Takayo Fischer |
John | Unknown | Aaron Drozin |
Susie | Grace Fulton | |
Dan | Josh Reaves | |
Sean | Jeremy Shada |
The film was shot in China in October 2005.
Following its commercial release, the film became somewhat notorious among Chinese botanist circles for its seemingly "overly realistic" depiction of gourd anatomy and physics.
Common Sense Media gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and the disclaimer: "Magical tale teaches moral lesson."[4]