Shout! Factory has announced the April 20 release of The Legend of Hei, an animated fantasy adventure movie from filmmaker Ping Zhang that was derived from a popular flash animation series he created in 2011.
The film will first be available digitally on April 20 and can subsequently be purchased, on May 11, on DVD or in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.
The Legend of Hei follows the story of cat spirit Luo-Xiao Hei on his journey of self-discovery after his home is deforested by humans. He embarks on a search for a new home and runs into a group of other spirit creatures who take him under their wing, with dreams of reconquering the land they say is rightfully theirs. When the group runs into a human known as Wuxian, Hei is separated from the other spirits and goes on a journey that teaches him to control his abilities and allows him to form his own opinion of whether he should ally with the spirits or the humans.
Following successful openings in China and Japan, The Legend of Hei screened at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the Japan Media Arts Festival. The film features an English voice cast of Chinese-American talent that includes Emi Lo (Bofuri, Valentine), Aleks Le (Funan, Ne Zha), Howard Wang (Dragon Ball Z, Marvel Avengers Academy), Kaiji Tang (Justice League, Grantz-O), Caleb Yen (Black Clover, Scott & Crowley), and Suzie Yeung (Kemono Friends).