The film was produced and released under the term of chairman Mao Zedong when the cultural revolution was still ongoing. The plot backdrop is based on the National Revolutionary Army's 8th Route Army division, when it was under the control of Communist Party of China instead of the opposing Kuomintang. Despite numerous movie adaptations, this is the only animation piece ever produced on the subject. A story book was also released as a companion to the film.
Reviews
Very well executed
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.