Real animals cast in Chinese film Animal Rescue Squad

Director Feng Xiaoning (right) and his main cast including a little girl and a dog pose at a promotional event held on April 23, 2019 for their upcoming film Animal Rescue Squad. [Photo provided to China Plus]

A film titled Animal Rescue Squad, focusing on real animal protagonists, is due out in Chinese cinemas on April 30th.

Director Feng Xiaoning has long been dedicated to wildlife protection. He's proud of making a film about animals using real animal actors.

"It's quite often in both domestic and international productions that human characters still stay at the center in the films about animals. In most animal-genre films, the animal images are primarily created by computer. In fact, few films employ a cast of real animals, and this genre is almost a blank area in China."

Animal Rescue Squad is about a girl with the ability to talk with animals. She leads her animal soldiers in a fight to save humans from being poisoned by a ship full of toxic waste.

Feng Xiaoning says he hopes to raise public awareness about animals and the environment.

"I shot a film 30 years ago titled The Ozone Layer Vanishes, which has brought two generations of Chinese people under certain influence in terms of their care of the environment and animals. If Animal Rescue Squad may continue such an influence, I would feel quite fulfilled."

The film, featuring a variety of animal species including parrots, seagulls and sea lions, took the film director more than a decade to make.

A poster of Chinese film Animal Rescue Squad, which will be released on April 30, 2019. [Photo provided to China Plus]