Although Journey to the West (86 Edition) and the sequel to Journey to the West are called two works, they are actually in the same vein and are not very different. The 86 version of Journey to the West was created by CCTV in 1982, led by director Yang Jie, based on the classic masterpiece "Journey to the West". Originally scheduled to shoot 30 episodes, CCTV premiered 11 episodes in 1986, which attracted much attention and high ratings. In order to meet the audience's expectations, the film crew made persistent efforts and increased the filming to 25 episodes, which were finally presented perfectly on February 1, 1988.
However, due to the limitations of funds and technology, the regret of this version of Journey to the West is inevitable, and the five episodes of "Distress to the Heavenly River", "True and False Monkey King", "Hindered Lion Camel Ridge", "Accepting the Green Bull Essence", and "Saving the Child's Bhikshu Country" are missing.
Time flies, and in 1998, CCTV once again joined hands with director Yang Jie and the original crew of the 86th version to shoot the sequel to "Journey to the West" in the name of "reproducing the classics". This time, in addition to completing the missing five episodes, a number of plots were added, and it finally became a masterpiece of 16 episodes. On January 28, 2000, the sequel premiered on CCTV 1, reliving that fantasy journey with the audience.
The two works are in the same vein, both are based on "Journey to the West", from the script to the cast. Although it has been 12 years, the sequel has taken its filming technology to the next level, making it more enjoyable than its predecessor.