Sunny Piggy

Sunny Piggy is a 2000 Chinese romantic fantasy comedy-drama television series. It stars Xu Zheng as Zhu Bajie, a foolish pig (and farting machine) who wanted to become human, and Tao Hong as a kindhearted dragon princess who loved him unconditionally until her death. Most characters, including Zhu Bajie, are taken from the 16th-century novel Journey to the West and/or Chinese mythology.

Sunny Piggy
Also known asThe Sunshine Pigsy[1]
Traditional春光燦爛豬八戒
Simplified春光灿烂猪八戒
MandarinChūn Guāng Càn Làn Zhū Bājiè
CantoneseCeon1 Gwong1 Caan3 Laan6 Zyu1 Baat3-Gaai3
Written byLi Tianze
Directed byMeng Ji
Ye Chongming
StarringXu Zheng
Tao Hong
Sun Xing
Chen Hong
Yvonne Yung
Lee Li-chun
Opening theme"Hao Chun Guang" (好春光) performed by Wu Tong
Ending theme"Juan Jie Pan" (卷睫盼) performed by Chen Lin and Wu Tong
Country of originChina
Original languageMandarin
No. of episodes38
Production
ProducersFan Xiaotian
Ma Zhongjun

The series was filmed in 1999 jointly by Jiangsu Television, Zhejiang Television, Sichuan Television and Dragon Television, in conjunction with Suzhou Southern Pai Culture Media, China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Corporation, and Sky Creation. Copyrights were sold to 13 national television stations, which began broadcasting it almost simultaneously in January 2000.

It achieved ratings over 30% in several provinces, prompting over 20 smaller local stations to show its reruns.[2] Xu Zheng, virtually unknown before the series, rode its popularity to stardom. He and Tao Hong became close friends, and eventually married in 2002.[3]

The show has since spawned several sequels and remakes.

Cast

International broadcast

Sequels and remakes

Producer Fan Xiaotian, who became known as the Piggy Godfather, has since produced 4 live-action TV series and a number of animation TV series derived from the series. These include:

  • Lucky Piggy (福星高照豬八戒), a 2004 sequel, starring Huang Haibo as Zhu Bajie, also starring Fan Bingbing and Han Xue.
    • Happy Piggy (喜氣洋洋豬八戒), a 2005 sequel to the 2004 series, starring Gao Hongxian as Zhu Bajie
  • Sunny Piggy, a 2006 animation remake
    • Sunny Piggy 2, a 2010 sequel, also an anime series
  • Sister Sunny Piggy (春光燦爛豬九妹), a 2011 spin-off, starring Joe Chen as Zhu Jiumei (Zhu Bajie's female version)
  • The Happy Marshal (春光燦爛之歡樂元帥), a 2012 remake, starring Leo Ku as Zhu Shuaishuaige (essentially the same character as Zhu Bajie), also starring Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung.

However, none of them was nearly as popular or well-received as the original.

References
  1. Liu, Jin (2013). Signifying the Local: Media Productions Rendered in Local Languages in Mainland China in the New Millennium. ISBN 9789004259010.
  2. 《春光灿烂猪八戒》攻擂《西游记》
  3. "First online photos of Tao Hong and Xu Zheng's baby girl". China Daily. 3 January 2009.
  4. (THVL) Tây du ký – Trư Bát Giới
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