To celebrate the 50th anniversary of martial arts classic Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee has announced that a new animated series, House of Lee, is on the way from Bruce Lee Entertainment, Shibuya, and the platform’s co-founder Emily Yang.
Set to premiere next year, the series already has a trailer that will appear ahead of anniversary screenings of Enter the Dragon next week.
The trailer was directed by Yang and storyboarded by Phuncal; the two handle character designs together. Beijing-based Shockunit Studio animated the clip. Animators were Wang Ying and Zang Ya, compositing was handled by Kim Ho and Yang, editing by Yang and Maciej Kuciara, and color grading by Maciej Kuciara.
The series is billed as an action/fantasy story in which Bruce Lee will assemble a group of Dragon Warriors to save the world from dark forces. According to Deadline, which announced the series, the show takes inspiration from one of Bruce Lee’s most often repeated quotes: “Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light.”
Shannon Lee says the decision to work with Shibuya was made after she saw the animated short The White Rabbit, available to stream with English subtitles here.
Shibuya was co-founded a group of animation and vfx artists last year and raises funds for its projects by collaborating with fashion brands, music labels, media outlets, and other businesses, and selling NFTs. According to the Deadline report, the platform has already raised the funds necessary to produce House of Lee.
Shibuya’s website explains its philosophy as follows:
Our mission is to change the way films and shorts are made. Our platform provides high-potential films with an all-in-one solution to crowdfund, build community, and incorporate interactive storytelling elements into films and shows.
Speaking with Deadline, Shannon Lee explained, “I love Emily and Shibuya’s perspective. They are such creative, hard-working, skilled artists with an amazing brand, I just knew that they would be perfect collaborators. The organic way it all came together spoke volumes of our potential collaboration, and it’s been great.”
