Review: Little Door Gods

A movie poster of Little Door Gods, a Chinese full-length animation

Hello I'm back to Hong Kong! I have finally completed an epic journey, and am ready to tell more stories again.

I'll be going back and rewriting about my Silk Road trip in more detail, though there will be some Hong Kong new stories interspersed in between.

Raindrop learns about tradition and culture in the story

In the meantime on the plane I watched a few movies. From Urumqi, Xinjiang to Beijing, I watched a full length animation feature called Little Door Gods.

The premise is that all Chinese gods have lost their jobs because people nowadays don't believe in them anymore. They range from the God of Earth, Guanyin or Goddess of Mercy, Insect King, Wine God, Dragon Mother, and so on.

They have to take retraining courses otherwise they will lose their job, except for the God of Wealth, who has spun himself into a DJ-like character who sits on a flashing casino-like pedestal and wears modern clothes.

Raindrop befriends Shentu, who is looking for brother Yulei

Other than the God of Wealth, the only other gods that seem to be able to keep their traditional jobs are the door gods, brothers Shentu and Yulei, though their popularity is waning.

That story line is juxtaposed with today, featuring a girl called Raindrop and her mother who take over her grandmother's wonton shop. Raindrop encounters the two door gods in a wild adventure and she learns the importance of having Shentu and Yulei on your door.

It's an amusing but also informative story with lots of action to keep kids interested. The evil monster Nian looks like a precursor to Te Ka in Disney's Moana, both looking like nasty wood-like characters, though both films were released in 2016.

Shentu and Yulei are the door gods posted on people's doors

Perhaps even more intriguing is that Little Door Gods was distributed by Alibaba Pictures, eager to get into the cultural sector.

There wasn't any buzz of this animation feature that I know of in Hong Kong -- it would have had a decent play here, being kid friendly, though humour-wise it's not non-stop like The Lego Movie or hilarious like Moana with the rooster sidekick.

Regardless we enjoyed it and are curious to know what else Alibaba PIctures has up its sleeve. It's already a good step in the right direction.

Little Door Gods (2016)

Written and directed by Gary Wang

Produced by Light Chaser Animation Studios

Distributed by Alibaba Pictures and The Weinstein Company

107 Minutes

Guanyin, Goddess of Lifesaving

Guanyin standing in her colourful tiled robes on a lotus flower in Repulse Bay

Today I got a chance to visit Repulse Bay, and with blue skies, and 32 degrees it was hot! The place was crawling with tourists, their coaches parked outside by the newest development, The Pulse.

It's a sleek shopping/lifestyle/dining destination that is perfect for the summer months, though can it sustain during the winter? It has some hip dining spots, a cool gym and yoga studio, and lots of options for kids.

Near her is this happy Buddha sculpture

Next to this complex though is a quirky place. It's where Guanyin or the Goddess of Mercy stands in her mosaic-tiled glory, several feet high. There's a quasi-looking temple building behind her, but it's really the Hong Kong Lifesaving Society clubhouse. Inside it are several glass-door fridges filled with cold drinks.

We noticed some Thai tourists who prayed in front of the Guanyin statue, and purposely rubbed some statues, probably in the hopes of good luck. There were also mini shrines with Thai script on them too.

The Goddess of Mercy is not related to the sea, but the society seems to have adopted her as the Goddess of Lifesaving.

And then there were lots of statues, like twin lions, horses, and so on, as well as tablets, each bearing plaques to explain who donated them and when, from British government officials from colonial times to wealthy local donors. These stone gifts were haphazardly placed so there was no rhyme or reason to where they were placed.

Nevertheless, further down from the Guanyin statue are more colourful tiled ones shaped like fish and people, creating a really kitsch sight.

Across from her is an emperor-like statue, also made of tiles

It reminds me of the Tiger Balm Garden in Tai Hang, that was Hong Kong's original amusement park, but that is long gone after then owner Sally Aw Sian sold the property to Cheung Kong, Li Ka-shing's company in 1998...