China's Deng stars in computer-animated movie

SINGAPORE--Old leaders never die...they just move into cyberspace. Deng Xiaoping, who ruled Communist China for over twenty years and set in motion the country's economic transformation, is now the star of a computer-animated movie. This is despite "moving on" in 1997.

The three-minute film will show the late Chinese leader in Mao suit doing taiji exercises. In the same piece, a younger version of Deng, clad in Western clothing, plays with a cat, while French music from the 1920s play in the background. The feline is a reference to Deng's famous quote: "A cat that catches mice is good, regardless of whether it is white or black."

The animated filmlet was created in Hong Kong by 3D Computer Animation Production Company and cost U.S. $256,427 to make. --Susan Tsang, Special to ZDNet News