CHINESE animated film “Realm of Terracotta” is set to hit theaters in China this Friday.

Debuting at the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 20, the fantasy movie features one of China’s world heritages — the Terracotta Warriors. The film sees the statues come to life as a mysterious girl joins up with one of the terracotta warriors to fight monsters in an underground city.

The story was developed by Mike de Seve, a story consultant for “Shrek 2” and “Madagascar,” and Billy Frolick, who was part of the team that wrote the latter film.

Fantawild, the Shenzhen company behind the film, held a few prescreening events and so far the audience reception has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I’ve seen many Chinese animated films over the years, and I saw big improvement with this one,” said a netizen on social media.

“The Terracotta Warriors are one of the Eight Wonders of the World. It is interesting and creative to put living ones into a magical world on the screen,” another netizen said on Chinese reviewing website Douban.

Fantawild has produced six “Boonie Bears” films in just seven years, which have collectively brought in more than US$415 million at the Chinese box office. The property is also a popular TV series, on air since 2012, and hauls in about US$390 million of merchandising revenue each year.

“Fantawild always wishes to spread the Chinese culture to the world. The Terracotta element is a well-known symbol of China that we feel is inspiring but also great material for animation and the international market,” said Fantawild Group executive president Daisy Shang.

(SD-Agencies)