In 2002, CCTV approached director Zhang Huimin and said that he wanted to make a children's TV series for children to watch, expressing Chinese elements.
At that time, the market was full of martial arts dramas and costume films, and Zhang Huimin felt that if he wanted to let his children improve their scientific literacy, it was most appropriate to shoot a children's drama with science fiction themes, which had "Happy Planet".
Zhang Huimin found more than thirty screenwriters, grinded the script of the first "Happy Planet" for a whole year, and then began to select actors, and before filming began in 2003, he put down his bold words: "We want to make a high-quality children's drama with vitality, and we want our work to have broadcast value after 10 years." ”
The first part of "Happy Planet" was a huge success, and almost every post-90s generation knew Ding Kaile, Lian Rongbao, polyhedra... At that time, everyone thought that China's local children's dramas had ushered in spring. Unexpectedly, more than ten years have passed, children's dramas are still very unpopular, and the only one that is still continuing is "Happy Planet". In 2021, "Happy Planet" has been filmed to the fifth part, and the protagonist Ma Jiaqi sang "What is a Happy Planet", which suddenly exploded on the Internet.
The little actors in the first part have already grown up, but none of them have chosen to become actors.
At the end of 2002, the "Happy Planet" director team began to select actors in various primary schools in Zhengzhou, and unlike other TV series, "Happy Planet" does not want stars, but chooses ordinary people.
This year, Li Rui attended primary school in Zhengzhou. Because of his excellent image, he is a small star of the school's literary and artistic performances, and he went to the TV station as a small reporter in order to exercise himself, and because of his good looks, he was directly transferred to be a small host.
< Li Rui >
After meeting nearly 20,000 primary school students, the director team took a fancy to Li Rui at a glance. Li Rui is also quite talented in acting, during the audition, the director asked him to learn the "look of the teacher fiercely criticizing the students", Li Rui opened his mouth and came: "Do you know what kind of bad impact you have brought to your classmates by doing this?!" ”
As soon as he finished performing, the director announced the result: "Okay, this is the kid today." ”
In the second round of auditions, Li Rui was directly assigned to the "Le Le Group", and "Le Le" was Ding Kaile, the male protagonist of the first part of "Happy Planet". There were a dozen competitors at the beginning, and after a few weeks, Li Rui was left. At that time, the director of the casting felt that Li Rui was very talented and persuaded his parents to let him play the role of "Ding Kaile".
Playing the main role requires a year of school break, and it is necessary to close the training, and the parents go to ask Li Rui for his opinion. Li Rui has achieved very good results since he was a child, and he is very assertive. After he thought about it for a night, he said, "I don't want to give up this opportunity." ”
After entering the group, he could not go home for several months, and after shooting for half a year, he encountered SARS, and all the crew members were locked up in the photography base. In order to catch up with the schedule, often shoot summer scenes in winter, summer shooting winter scenes, although Li Rui is a child, but because of the heavy role, the crew has high requirements for him. In winter and summer dramas, he can only wear short sleeves, and he must also have fast ice in his mouth, so that he will not spew out hot air when he speaks. The days of filming were very hard, but Li Rui gritted his teeth and insisted.
Unlike the actor Li Rui, the protagonist of "Happy Planet", Ding Kaile, is a timid and cowardly child, and there is not a single smooth thing in his life.
In the first episode, the classmates King Kong and Fat Brother grabbed Ding Kaile and had to hand over a game console before letting him go, and ran back home, and the class teacher Dongfang asked him to write a review and overwhelmed him.
When I got home, I couldn't relax, and my mother said, "Son, get up early tomorrow, and we'll have to learn English at 7:30." Ding Kaile cried, "Oh, Mom, I have a lot of homework that I haven't finished!" ”
The thoughtful mother touched Ding Kaile's head and said, "Then hurry up and write!" To eat bitterly, to be a good person. ”
Because of the unhappiness in real life, Ding Kaile opened the computer to play games, trying to escape, only to have a strange light suck him in, and the other end of the computer was the magical world - Happy Planet.
Later, as long as Ding Kaile wanted to go to happy planet, he only needed to tap the enter key on the keyboard with the pendant.
When filming this scene, Li Rui suffered enough. After hitting the enter key, the special effect will make Ding Kaile look like he is sucked in by the computer, and Li Rui only needs to pretend to run. As a result, the first time he ran he hit the computer screen, was scolded by the director, the second time he ran in front of the computer, and was scolded by the director, and ran a dozen times over and over again before passing.
During the filming process, Li Rui was not less injured, when he slapped the ball, his knee hit the stone, and he was seriously injured and went home to rest for more than ten days; filming the scene of rest at home, his head hit the glass again, his face was bloody, and he went to the hospital for five stitches.
In the play, Ding Kaile is a timid child, who always cries when there is nothing wrong, but Li Rui often can't cry, and he has to rely on some eye drops to get by.
Although filming is hard, it is good that there are many partners to play with.
At the time of filming, the adult Ding Kaile was played by wang fei, a staff member of the crew. Although he was twice as old as Li Rui, Wang Fei became good friends with Li Rui. Wang Fei is responsible for the computer technology related work of the crew, and often teaches Li Rui some computer knowledge.
Zhang Zhaoyi, who played Ice Lemon, was only 7 years old at the time, the youngest actor in the crew, and Li Rui took good care of her. Once when Li Rui fell asleep while filming, Zhang Zhaoyi put his own blanket on him.
< Ice Lemon (played by Zhang Zhaoyi) >
A small actor of the same age, as well as Sun Ge, the actor of Lian Rongbao, she is the most serious in acting, and she is often praised by the director, and she says to all her friends: "My ideal is to be a good actor." ”
< Lian Rong Bao (played by Sun Ge) >
Xing Kaixuan, a small actor who plays a polyhedron, is a genius inventor in the drama, and in real life, he is a noisy child.
< Polyhedron (played by Xing Kaixuan) >
So many children under the age of ten gathered at the shooting base, all relying on director Zhang Huimin to organize and arrange their lives. The young actors all call Zhang Huimin "Grandpa Zhang". Zhang Huimin took good care of Li Rui, saw that Li Rui was very interested in the "director", and let him personally direct several scenes.
Li Rui, who stumbled and stumbled and had no acting experience at all, and a group of friends who were also inexperienced, made the story of the first part of "Happy Planet" with a total of 52 episodes.
Today, as a children's drama, "Happy Planet" is not outdated at all, and it can even be said that it is very real and exciting.
For example, Ding Kaile's father and mother, the well-deserved "chicken baby parent". Mother Gao Shan Mei's three sentences are not far from "study well", and the theme of the dialogue with her son Ding Kaile is not only to ask him to study, but also to let him learn.
Ding Kaile learned ballet and broke his leg, and Gao Shanmei's first thought was to immediately ask her son to learn piano.
Dad Ding Xiaobao usually looks towards Ding Kaile, but he is good at side attack, and when his son celebrates his birthday, he immediately sends gifts:
Ding Kaile, who grew up in such a family, has a key character keyword of "unhappiness".
The first season had a thought-provoking story.
In episode 11 "Birthday Gift", the mother is busy at work and has no time to accompany Ding Kaile to celebrate his birthday, and the little friend of Happy Planet sends a "robot mother" to Lele, this robot looks exactly like The Mountain Sister, but has a gentle personality and cares about the child. "She" took Lele to the park and science and technology museum, and spent a happy and fulfilling day with him. In the evening, Ding Kaile said: "This birthday is so interesting, Mom, thank you." ”
Although the robot mother could not bear it, she still told the truth:
After knowing the truth, Ding Kaile was reluctant to robot his mother and said, "Mom, I don't want you to go." ”
The robot mother asked Ding Kaile: "Lele, are you happy today?" LeLe replied happily, and the robot mother was relieved: "Then my task will be completed." ”
Hearing this, Ding Kaile pondered for a moment and said, "Mom, in fact, I have already thought of it." I don't want to believe it, I don't want to ruin this good day. ”
At ten o'clock, the fake robot mother will disappear. She said, "In this world, you will never have me as a fake mother again." ”
At the end of episode 11, the empty living room is left alone with Ding Kaile, who shouts at the vanished light: "Mom! Mom! ”
Thinking back on this happy day, he burst into tears.
At this time, the phone rang, and it turned out that the real mother called him and wished him a "happy birthday". Ding Kaile replied:
"Mom, I had a great time today."
The first part of "Happy Planet" ended filming in 2003, and began to be broadcast on CCTV eight sets in 2004, and the whole country exploded. Li Rui, who was returning to primary school, was walking on the street one day and accidentally bumped into a little girl, who shouted in surprise.
Li Rui wondered, "Are you okay?" ”
The little girl said, "You... You're Ding Kaile, right? Immediately after saying that, many people gathered around, and everyone was exclaiming: "It's really Ding Kaile!" "Sign my name!"
When participating in the meeting tour, it was often full, and the children who came to see li Rui could not lift their hands. He became the "male god" of countless children, and some girls said they wanted to marry him. For a moment, Li Rui was a little overwhelmed. Li Rui, who returned to school, fell behind in a year's course, and his grades plummeted, he used to get 100 points in mathematics, and just returned to school, only taking a test of more than 60 points.
He also had to participate in the "Happy Planet" promotional activities, often disturbing his thoughts, and Li Rui, who had always been a good student, was disappointed in himself and shut himself in his room and cried. Mom came to comfort him: "Study, just work hard, you made a TV series, and your mother is proud of you." ”
Two years after the filming of "Happy Planet", there was also bad news that reached Li Rui's ears.
When the scene was finished, Li Rui was reluctant to play Wang Fei, and Wang Fei said that he would call Li Rui.
< Wang Fei >
But Li Rui did not wait for this call. At first, he thought that Wang Fei was very busy, so he forgot about himself, and simply did not want to do this, and went to study and take the exam. One day, "Happy Planet" was playing on TV, and when the end cast came out, Li Rui saw a black frame on Wang Fei's name.
Li Rui didn't understand the meaning of the black box, but he didn't know why, and he felt that something was not good. He called Wang Fei, but Wang Fei did not answer.
Li Rui and his mother said, and her mother wanted to stop talking, helped him make a phone call to director Zhang Huimin, only to learn that Wang Fei had a car accident a few months ago and had passed away.
When filming "Happy Planet", Li Rui's wish was once to become an actor, and Wang Fei joked with him: "You little fart child, what kind of acting skills do you have?" You have to study hard. ”
I didn't expect this to be the last sentence.
In the TV series, although Ding Kaile and polyhedron also have to be separated, Li Rui can still meet with his friends, but Wang Fei will never see him again. Thinking of this, Li Rui was very sad, and his mother said to him:
"This is the reality, you have to grow up, you have to learn to face the reality."
Because "Happy Planet" is too popular, the books of the same name have also been published. The crew also invited Li Rui to participate in the tour carnival, that day just entered the venue Zhengzhou Children's Palace, Li Rui was frightened, the scene crowd black pressure, more than 10,000 people came.
He had to be guarded by security guards to move forward, and people shouted his name in the play: "Lele! Ding Kaile! "You can't stop it. Enthusiastic fans circled the glyph-shaped staircase in the center of the patio, and Li Rui wanted to sign everyone's autographs, and after signing them, his entire arm was unconscious.
There is also a crazy fan who confuses Li Rui.
One day, Li Rui came home from school and was about to open the door with the key, when suddenly someone called him from behind: "Li Rui, are you Li Rui?" Li Ruileng didn't dare to turn around for half a day, and the voice behind him cried and said, "Are you Really Li Rui?" ”
Li Rui had to admit it, and as a result, the little girl hugged him and didn't let go, laughing and crying: "You are Li Rui, you are Li Rui, you are really Li Rui!" ”
Li Rui was also a 12- or 3-year-old child, completely frightened, and said: "What's wrong, you let go!" ”
Li Rui's mother rushed over, asked the little girl, and found that she was a fan of "Happy Planet". She hid from her parents and used her pocket money to take a train to Zhengzhou alone to find Li Rui, and her wallet was stolen on the way.
Li Rui's mother called her parents and learned that her parents were anxious to call the police.
And this little girl is only in the third grade of elementary school.
Li Rui felt very heavy in his heart, and he thought to himself, "What is the difference between me and ordinary people of the same age?" I hope to communicate with everyone and be friends, but I really don't want to be chased and touted as a star. ”
Three years after the broadcast of "Happy Planet", director Zhang Huimin hit the iron while it was hot and launched a sequel, this series is more than ten years, each one will change a theme, change a group of small actors. In 2016, he even made a big movie "Happy Planet", but in the end, he invested 30 million yuan, and the box office was only less than 700,000, and he lost all his money.
Although "Happy Planet" has been filmed five times in a row, only the first and second parts are memorable, and when it comes to "Happy Planet", the first thing that everyone thinks of is the male protagonist Ding Kaile of the first part.
In fact, this story has reached the fifth generation, and the protagonist has long been changed. When it came to the fifth part, the story was also somewhat out of the original track, and the "science fiction" color began to intensify, and there were villains and wars.
The rating of "Happy Planet" has also begun to decline all the way, and on Douban, the first part of "Happy Planet" is 8.7 points, and the second part is also 7.8 points. By the third part, the rating dropped directly to 6.0, and the fourth part simply failed, 5.7.
The latest fifth part breaks the convention of "Happy Planet" casting actors - only selecting vegetarians. The director team found Ma Jiaqi, a member of the Times Youth League, to play the protagonist with Xiao Shuai, but as of now, the number of people who have scored this part is not enough to open the score.
Time flies by quickly, and before you know it, the children who act and watch the play grow up. When people hear the news of the first generation of male protagonist Ding Kaile again, it is that he is getting married and becoming a father.
Successively, the children of that year were on the hot search list. Sun Ge, who aspires to be an actress, became a teacher, and she was also the first among young actors to get married. "Polyhedron" Xing Kaixuan is also a bully in real life and was admitted to Peking University. The youngest child, "Ice Lemon" Zhang Zhaoyi, is the closest to the actor, she has become an Internet celebrity, often filming her own life dynamics for fans to see.
< Zhang Zhaoyi >
Li Rui, the protagonist Ding Kaile, after the filming, was asked: "In the future, will you still shoot?" Grow up, will you be an actor? ”
Thirteen-year-old Li Rui replied: "These questions seem simple, but in fact they are inconclusive. Because society is changing, life is changing, opportunity is changing, and my thinking is also changing. ”
Fifteen years later, he graduated from the University of Sheffield in england and worked in a job that had nothing to do with acting. When people learned of him, they flocked to his Weibo and called him "The Boy God of Childhood", but soon after, he emptied his Weibo and never updated it again.
The only way people can get the news of "Happy Planet" that year is from the mouth of the "ice lemon" who became an Internet celebrity. However, Zhang Zhaoyi, who plays Ice Lemon, also answered honestly that after the shooting, there was almost no contact between everyone.
She said that it is like a friend who lived next door when she was a child, and if you leave, you will lose contact forever.
"Slowly, as time goes on, we can't talk about the topic together."
The story of Happy Planet seems to have stayed forever more than a decade ago.
There is a question on Zhihu: "Which nursery rhyme is the one that impresses you the most?" ”
One respondent wrote: "It's the ending song of Happy Planet, Moon Ship." ”
Moon ship
Goodbye Mom
I'm going to sail tonight
Don't worry about me
I have the oar of joy and wisdom
Don't tell anyone when you wake up
I was rocking the moon ship and sailing across the Milky Way
I was able to catch the moon
I will use countless dreams
Prop up countless paddles
Make my oars with courage and wisdom
Shake the moon ship into the distance
One person replied below, "This is the saddest song I've ever heard." ”
In the finale of the first season, Ding Kaile did not review well in the exam, and the little friend of Happy Planet thought of a way to let Ding Kaile copy the answer, but he refused.
In fact, as long as Ding Kaile continues to make mistakes, he can continue to come to the Happy Planet to get help, but the moment he gives up copying the answer, he grows up and no longer needs the help of his partner.
The last time Ding Kaile came to the Happy Planet, the friends were very sad, because this was the last time they met. Ding Kaile's information will be cleared from the Happy Planet, and he will never come again.
Ding Kaile listened to this and cried a lot, but finally hugged and said goodbye to everyone.
The old naughty boy grandfather said: "Lele, I hope you have a happy childhood." ”
More than a decade later, the small actors at that time have withdrawn from the entertainment industry and disappeared into the vast sea of people, but "Happy Planet" has clear resources on the Internet and re-gathered the audience of that year.
In the final episode, the grown-up children leave behind a barrage of bullets:
"Goodbye Lele, goodbye childhood, I am very touched and happy."
Some references:
[1] "Happy Me," Li Rui
[2] Zhang Huimin, director of "Happy Planet", has adhered to the "Five Small Projects" for 15 years
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Author | Few forks