Film

Princess Iron Fan

Name: Princess Iron Fan
Genre: Fantasy, Animation, Drama, Music
Released: 1941
Cast: Hong Bai, Jiang Ming, Han Lan-Gen, Xiucen Yin, Furong Ge

China's first feature-length animated film, a hand-drawn adaptation of a Journey to the West episode. Wan Laiming's 1941 masterpiece transforms a folk-tale duel into a gorgeous, melancholy meditation on power, mercy, and the cost of vengeance. Gorgeously crafted, genuinely moving—a historical treasure that resonates far beyond its era.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love hand-drawn animation from the early days of the medium, where a folk tale is told with songs, bold brush-like movement and the rough charm of a studio still inventing its craft.

Skip it if the look is dated and the pace of the sung interludes can feel slow if you want modern timing; it is a historical curio more than a fast-moving adventure.

What it asks of you: It runs a brisk 73 minutes, so time is light, but it wants patience with its sung passages and flat-coloured frames that move in a deliberate, unhurried way.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Ugetsu1953

Mizoguchi's supernatural masterpiece shares Princess Iron Fan's melancholy beauty and its interest in female rage. A man pursues power and pleasure; his wife's quiet suffering becomes the moral centre. Exquisitely composed.

But It's slow-moving and deeply sad. There's no magic to lighten the emotional weight—only consequence and grief.

Spirited Away2001

Miyazaki's ferocious, colour-drunk animation draws a direct line from Laiming's artistry. A young girl navigates a world of spirits and greed; beauty and darkness coexist in every frame. Endlessly rewatchable.

But Its popularity can feel suffocating. If you've already seen it five times, there's no revelation here.

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya2013

Isao Takahata's haunting final film: a Japanese folk-tale adapted with watercolour dreaminess and devastating emotional clarity. Grief, duty, and the cost of beauty intersect. A masterwork of hand-drawn animation.

But It's deliberately paced and deeply melancholic. Not a film for escapism—it demands patience and breaks your heart.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Princess Iron Fan

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Goemon2009

Both films treat classical folklore with absolute seriousness, using visual splendour to explore honour, sacrifice, and power. Neither condescends to its source material; both see timeless meaning in ancient stories.

Kazuaki Kiriya's wild, digitally-rendered samurai film looks like an animated painting come alive. It adapts a Japanese legend with the same folk-tale sincerity as Laiming brought to Monkey King. Visually gorgeous and morally complex.

But The plot is deliberately mythic and non-linear. If you want clear narrative causation, you'll be frustrated.

Mahoutsukai no Yome2017

A Japanese anime series steeped in folklore, magic, and emotional depth. A girl sold into servitude finds agency and love. Beautifully animated, genuinely interested in old stories and their power.

But Fantasy romance isn't for everyone. The first arc moves slowly, and some find the premise unsettling.

Fantasia1940

Disney's experimental musical animation from the year before Princess Iron Fan. Pure visual music: ambitious, sometimes awkward, always earnest. A sibling achievement in animated ambition from a different tradition.

But It's dauntingly abstract in places. Some segments feel dated or precious. It demands you sit with strangeness.

Akira1988

Cyberpunk anime that proves animation can be as visually sophisticated and thematically complex as live-action cinema. The craftsmanship is astonishing; the story is lean and brutal. A masterpiece of the form.

But It's violent and sometimes nihilistic. The plot moves fast and can feel overstuffed on first viewing.

The Last Unicorn1982

Both employ technical innovation (hand-drawn animation in 1941, rotoscoping in 1982) to create a mood of elegy and folk-tale reverence. Both are deeply serious about their source material's emotional weight.

Ralph Bakshi's rotoscoped fantasy: live-action traced into animation, creating an eerie, dreamlike register unlike any other film. A quest narrative about beauty and mortality, animated with genuine strangeness. Haunting and weirdly moving.

But The animation technique is hypnotic but unsettling to some. The pacing is deliberate. It feels nothing like a normal animated film.

The Flowers of War2011

Both center a female character of power and vengeance—Princess Iron Fan with her magic fan, the courtesan with her dignity. Both films ask what happens when a woman's agency collides with circumstances beyond her control. Both are steeped in Chinese cultural tradition while asking modern moral questions.

Zhang Yimou's ravishing, brutal drama about Japanese occupation and a Chinese courtesan's acts of mercy. Lush cinematography, complex moral questions, a female character of tremendous dignity facing impossible choices. A Chinese epic about suffering and grace.

But It's set during wartime atrocity. The beauty of the visuals can read as dissonant with the subject matter. Heavy and dark throughout.