Among the many highlights of the Beijing Olympics are the BBC's trailers and tiles that promote and bookend coverage across a full range of media.
Created by the men behind Gorillaz - Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett - Monkey and his friends will be the faces of the BBC's Beijing Olympics coverage.
The inspiration for the campaign is the tale of Monkey King as featured in the 16th-century novel Journey to the West, thought to be written by Wu Chen-En.
Characters:
Monkey King - Hatched from a stone egg, the immortal Monkey King is as highly skilled in the art of magic as he is in speed, strength and agility
Sandy - Sandy, the Sand Monk, was banished to a river of sand many centuries ago as punishment for past wrongs
Pigsy: Exiled from heaven and the result of an accidental re-incarnation, Pigsy is the strongest of the three
Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy will use Olympic sports on their Journey to the East, to Beijing and the Bird's Nest stadium. Sports represented in the animated sequence include gymnastics, hammer throw, sprinting and diving.
A (very) brief description -
Journey to the West is a classic Chinese mythological novel. It was written during the Ming Dynasty based on traditional folktales. Consisting of 100 chapters, this fantasy relates the adventures of a Tang Dynasty (618-907) priest Sanzang and his three disciples, Monkey, Pig and Friar Sand, as they travel west in search of Buddhist Sutra. The first seven chapters recount the birth of the Monkey King and his rebellion against Heaven. Then in chapters eight to twelve, we learn how Sanzang was born and why he is searching for the scriptures, as well as his preparations for the journey. The rest of the story describes how they vanquish demons and monsters, tramp over the Fiery Mountain, cross the Milky Way, and after overcoming many dangers, finally arrive at their destination - the Thunder Monastery in the Western Heaven - and find the Sutra.
