The protagonist "Heart Ape" in this film is a new summoned creature in the game product for 2022. The game planners hope to use this film to shape the character image of Heart Ape, introduce the related worldview of Heart Ape, and showcase its character skills and traits in order to attract players to make purchases.

Background: DH2 has always followed a realistic 3D style. In the promotional video for "Heart Ape," the product is trying the 3D-2D hybrid animation technique for the first time, aiming to bring a refreshing visual experience to the audience and players.

Creative Brief: 1. The outstanding 3D-2D animations on the market are mostly in Western or Japanese anime styles. We hope to create a unique 3D-2D animation with a distinctive Chinese martial arts style, establishing a unique position in the market. 2. The image of Sun Wukong on the market is mostly portrayed in live-action, 3D, or 2D styles. Using the 3D-2D technique, we aim to create a one-of-a-kind Sun Wukong character.

Objective: We hope that our work will have a unique style that attracts more attention and love from the audience. Additionally, we aim to stimulate players to purchase new summoned creatures.

Cultural Background:

The character design of Heart Ape draws inspiration from the 58th chapter of the Chinese novel "Journey to the West." In this chapter, Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque fight over the title of "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" and the quest to obtain the scriptures. Heart Ape originates from the stone heart of the statue of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven on Flower Fruit Mountain. Due to being worshipped by incense for many years, the stone heart transforms into a human form. It admires the mighty Great Sage Equal to Heaven and decides to embark on a journey to record everything related to him. As it gathers more information, Heart Ape's heart becomes more chaotic. It discovers that there are two monkeys who both claim to be "Great Sage Equal to Heaven." These two monkeys have contrasting personalities. "Sun Wukong" carries the responsibility of saving the world and diligently goes on the journey to the Western Heaven to obtain the scriptures. On the other hand, the "Six-Eared Macaque" enjoys freedom, carefree and leisurely wandering around. Thus, Heart Ape becomes insane, sometimes transforming into Sun Wukong and sometimes into the Six-Eared Macaque, not knowing who it should learn from to become a true "Great Sage Equal to Heaven." Eventually, in the process of battling its inner demons, it realizes the truth: being a "Great Sage Equal to Heaven" means being oneself and walking the path that suits oneself.

When promoting a new character to the audience and players, it usually takes over ten minutes of a short story film to shape their character. However, we have a more economical and clever approach. We have distilled the core character traits of Heart Monkey and combined them with the deeply ingrained story of the "true and false Monkey King" of Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque in China, as well as the popular contemporary song "Wukong". We have created a 2-minute and 45-second music video. In this video, we not only showcase the inner emotions of Heart Monkey but also provide action scenes that audiences love to watch. With the artistic style of three-dimensional rendering and two-dimensional animation, we can present emotions and battles in a visually exciting climax. This allows the audience and players to fall in love with Heart Monkey, a resilient and self-assured hero!

The image of Monkey King in China is mostly portrayed in live-action, 3D, and 2D effects. We aim to create a fresh and unique image of Sun Wukong through the artistic style and characteristics of three-dimensional rendering and two-dimensional animation. This will bring a new visual experience to the market and attract a wave of viewership. Additionally, we have packaged Heart Monkey with the well-known story of the "true and false Monkey King," leveraging the popularity of classic characters to generate interest. Effortlessly, we have sparked resonance among audiences on various short video platforms and video platforms, increasing shares and likes. Lastly, by targeting the audience who loves the song "Wukong," we have gained additional shares and likes for our animated video.

We first released a 30-second teaser on various platforms, which sparked a positive and enthusiastic discussion and sharing among players. Due to their curiosity, players also created many analysis articles and short videos, analyzing the lines and implied meanings of the characters in our teaser. After half a month, we officially released the full video. The theme of "Who is the real Monkey King" triggered intense discussions among viewers and players. Within a month, the total number of views on all platforms reached 12.13 million.

The official CG video "Journey to Enlightenment" of the Heart Monkey world view has been online for two weeks, with a total of 15.805 million views on all platforms and a total interaction of 150,000+ (134.7k likes, 20k+ comments, 100k+ shares and favorites). Among the individual platforms, Kwai performed exceptionally well, with over tens of millions of views, over one million likes, and over one hundred thousand shares and comments. The video was also creatively edited and distributed on third-party video platforms, with a total of 338,000 views on five accounts. On Douyin, it was promoted on eight accounts, with a total of 2.265 million views, 1.36 million impressions, and 5,527 clicks on the components. This resulted in a successful installation of the app on 166 devices (Android only).