From time to time I like to post a fun blog not directly related to (though sometimes informed by) my research. Past examples can be seen here and here. Regular articles will resume after this entry.

Back in 2010 I dreamed up an animation based around a modern adaptation of “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by the Finnish operatic metal band Apocalyptica. The original version of the song was composed by Edvard Grieg for Henrik Ibsen‘s play Peer Gynt in 1876. The play is based on an old Norwegian tale about a man named Per Gynt who travels the land rescuing maidens from the clutches of trolls. The music is used during the play to enhance the drama and action of a particular scene where Peer attempts to hide and then escape from the hall of the mountain king. This plot obviously shares many similarities with Journey to the West. Sun Wukong spends the majority of the novel rescuing Tripitaka from the mountain strongholds of various demon kings.

The animation would be completely silent to accommodate the music, the various notes acting as dialogue or sound effects. Below, I present the story with time stamps to indicate when the events are to take place. I recommend reading the material once, then listening to the song, and finally reading and listening in unison to better understand. You can possibly use the stopwatch on your phone and start it the same time as the music.

Apocalyptica’s arrangement of “In the Hall of the Mountain King”.

0:00 – 0:29 – The scene opens in a cave where a mountain demon is celebrating news that the Tang monk is headed to his territory. An imp runs in to inform him that Tripitaka has been spotted in the mountain with only two of his three disciples.

0:30 – 1:03 – The demon king leaves the cave and silently spies on them from afar as Tripitaka on his dragon-horse, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing walk down a path through the mountains. When it’s obvious that Wukong is off running errands for his master, the demon magically disguises himself as an elderly man or woman and waits for them, drawing them near.

• The notes in this section sound like someone is sneaking around.

1:04 – 1:42 – He reveals his true form, grabs the monk, and orders his imps to attack Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. The two fight but are over powered by sheer numbers.

• The change up from the sneaky notes is when he reveals his true self.
• Each of the high-pitched notes here represent imps attacking the disciples in wave after wave, coming faster and faster until they are overwhelmed.

1:43 – 1:52 – The monk calls out Sun Wukong’s name. I imagine the words would come out as Chinese characters that drift through the air to Monkey’s ear. He forcefully turns his head towards the sound, his eyes flash with a fiery light.

1:53 – 2:20 – Wukong lands in an explosion of multicolored clouds and light. He waves his staff in front of him, thus forcing the imps away from his brothers. He then pulls out magic hairs and blows on them, creating an army of monkeys to do battle with the imps. The monkeys do all manner of things to the imps while Wukong rolls around on the ground in laughter.

• 1:58 – Wukong creates the army of monkeys. Also, notice how a few seconds in the notes sound almost like monkeys.

“Wukong Blows His Hair” (c. 1882) by Yoshitoshi (larger version).

2:21 – 2:26 – The imps run away in defeat. Monkey stands outside the cave screaming and hopping up and down while shaking his fist in order to entice the mountain demon outside.

• 2:23 – Double hop while shaking fist and screaming obscenities. The words come out as Chinese characters. They could be “coward” or something demeaning like that. The particular sound of “bwah bwah” in the song at this point is when he screams and hops.

• 2:26 – Second double hop, same.

2:27 – 2:31 – His trick works as the demon king pokes his head out of the doors and shakes his fist back at Wukong.

• 2:28 – First fist shake and screams obscenity. Same “bwah bwah” sound but with lower register.
• 2:31 – Second fist shake, same.

2:32 – 2:50 – The demon emerges with his armor and weapon ready to fight and the two begin their bout. The earth shakes, mountains crumble, forests tumble, and the gods shiver in the realm above.

2:51 – 3:08 – Both take to their clouds, the warriors circling each other, rising higher and higher into the heavens, leaving a double helix-like pattern in their wake.

3:09 – 3:12 – The demon makes one last attack with his weapon. Wukong disappears in a puff of smoke, only to reappear instantly in his 100,000-foot-tall cosmic form, breathing fire from a mouth full of tusk-like teeth, his eyes like the sun and moon. The demon realizes he is not Wukong’s match and flees in terror.

Monkey performs the cosmic transformation for his children (larger version). Original artist unknown. Found on this article.

3:13 – 3:16 – Wukong reverts to his original form and rockets towards earth with his staff held high.

3:17 – 3:21 – He lands a mortal blow to the demon and stands over his remains.

• 3:17 – The exact moment the demon is turned into hamburger.

3:22 – 3:24 – Wukong kicks open the double door of the mountain stronghold. The view would be from the inside out (i.e. it’s dark and then the doors are kicked inward, revealing the dark silhouette of Monkey holding his staff against a bright background).

• The “boom” at the end is when he kicks in the doors.

After the song stops, the animation silently ends with them all continuing their journey to India. The entire animation would probably be around three minutes and forty seconds long. I would really love to work with an animator to make this a reality.