Netflix has announced three new animated feature films that hail from Asian American creators, including a high-profile project which hails famed “Kung Fu Hustle” and “Shaolin Soccer” actor/director Stephen Chow.
Anthony Stacchi (“The Boxtrolls”) is directing “The Monkey King,” a new take on the famed Chinese tale “Journey to the West” which has inspired multiple adaptations in the past including the famed 1970s TV series “Monkey” and the underrated video game “Enslaved: Odyssey to the West”.
In the new take, a special monkey fights gods, demons, dragons – and his own hubris. Jimmy O. Yang, Bowen Yang, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Jo Koy, Ron Yuan, Hoon Lee, Stephanie Hsu, Andrew Pang, Andrew Kishino, Jodi Long, James Sie and BD Wong all lend their voices.
Chow executive produces the film, his second go at this story following the live-action 2013 film “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons” which he co-directed.
Also on the way is the South Asian mythology-inspired comedy-action animated series “Boons and Curses” about a three-foot-tall hero made of butter who takes on the Raj and his monstrous army in the magical land of Maya.
The other is “Mech Cadets,” an animated series based on the Boom! Studios series “Mech Cadet Yu” with Aaron Lam serving as the writer and an executive producer. Set in the future, the story follows a teen janitor at the Sky Corps Military Academy with dreams of piloting a Robo Mech.
All three projects are expected to arrive on the service in 2023.
Source: Netflix
