I heard about this vintage Japanese animated film from 1958 depicting a version of the Lady White Snake story and just had to watch it. It is available on Amazon for viewing, though the colors are washed out to the point of zero contrast in some frames:
The main characters have the same names as the traditional Lady White Snake story, but in this story, the snake is connected to the storm specifically, and her encounter with the young boy take place in a single lifetime. When Xu Xian is a boy, he has a white snake as a best friend whom he wants to see again and is trying to find now that he is an adult. The magical snake, in the meantime, has turned into a beautiful woman. She has her maid as her sidekick as usual, but Xu Xian has a cartoon talking panda and fox as his sidekicks.
The couple reconnects one day as Xu Xian plays the flute at his house and hears Lady Bai playing the erhu in the distance accompanying him, but when he goes to the source of the sound, she has vanished. Panda and fox, however, retrieve her abandoned erhu, which he takes home with him so he can pine over her. Interestingly enough, the erhu, which is a two-stringed traditional Chinese instrument not a lute like the English translation of the film calls it, has a drum typically covered with a python’s skin, which is a wonderfully evocative touch to the story. It provides a subtle reference to the character’s snake identity. The adaptation is a lovely beginning for the film, and I am currently covering the traditional tale on my main blog from an original Chinese storybook for comparison.
Their adversary is Fahai, who has a crystal ball that tells him when a spirit is near though he’s not explicitly identified as a Buddhist monk in this version. He senses Lady Bai and her attendant are nearby and decides he needs to get rid of them. Meanwhile, Lady Bai’s maid Xiao Qing uses the erhu to lure Xu Xian to their magically transformed house for a visit.
Clocking in at a little over an hour, the storyline departs from the traditional tale and introduces a whole lot of unrelated subplots and dramatic plot twists, but it has some sweet depictions of the young couple’s love affair and fun moments with the sidekicks dancing in the grand house, though this leads to a jewel heist that tips off Fahai, who is already on the trail of the snake woman.
When Xu Xian is arrested and condemned for sorcery, he is taken away to do hard labor for his crime as part of Fahai’s plot to separate the lovers. And this isn’t even halfway through the film. The story then pivots to the antics of the White Pig criminal gang and the work camp Xu Xian is assigned to as Fahai whips up crowds against the evil snake spirits and tries to convince Xu Xian to renounce his ties to Lady Bai. By the end, Lady Bai must decide whether to give up her supernatural powers to save Xu Xian.
It’s a nice little film that could easily compete with Disney productions. This film would have been released around the time of “Sleeping Beauty” and “Lady and the Tramp,” though it’s a shame the color wasn’t preserved as well. Strongly recommended for all ages.
I am covering the Chinese storybook version of the traditional tale on my main blog starting here:
A Beautiful Snake Woman Searches For the Man She Loves Across Many Lifetimes – The Story of White Snake, Part 1 – Literati Corner