"Juan Jie Pan" (卷睫盼) performed by Chen Lin and Wu Tong
Country of origin
China
Original language
Mandarin
No. of episodes
38
Production
Producers
Fan Xiaotian Ma Zhongjun
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 Chinese mythology.
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.[citation needed]
Vietnam - Vĩnh Long Television (THVL) — June 2011[4]
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
^Liu, Jin (2013). Signifying the Local: Media Productions Rendered in Local Languages in Mainland China in the New Millennium. ISBN9789004259010.