Animation Magazine Gives First Look at ‘Journey to the West – The Lost Five Hundred Years’ From Utopai Studios and Huace

Still from Journey to the West – The Lost Five Hundred Years: an animated young monk holding a straw broom beside a large white horned goat in a sunlit temple courtyard

Animation Magazine has the first look at “Journey to the West – The Lost Five Hundred Years,” the AI-animated series that Utopai Studios is developing with Huace Film & TV. The teaser was revealed at MIPCOM in Cannes as an exclusive for the magazine.

According to the report, the prequel is set before the pilgrimage in the classic Chinese novel. It follows Jin Chanzi, a celestial monk condemned to ten reincarnations, as he searches across lifetimes for the companions meant to protect him, including the defiant Monkey King, Sun Wukong.

Haidong Ren directs. The writing team includes head writer Li Zelin and screenwriter Wu Linfeng. Carlos Lutterbach, Head of Animation at Utopai Studios, tells the magazine that the series is driven by scripts, storyboards, drawings, designs and the filmmakers’ creative decisions, with the technology there to amplify that work rather than replace it.

The series builds on the partnership announced in June 2026 and is planned for release in 2027, with plans for theatrical expansion. Read the full report at Animation Magazine.