The two people behind Gorillaz made an opera out of journey to the west

The animation is GORGEOUS! Jamie Hewlett can either have beautiful artwork or grotesque designs with disturbing images. He's a great inspiration either way.

Looking at this makes me excited for the Gorillaz animated show Edit June 2020: this aged badly,tho I think by "show" they meant Song Machine's episode format.

Murdock waterbending in ancient china as fuck

Lyrics: I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad I got sunshi- WOOPS! Wrong video.

Work from Jamie Hewlett and Daemon Albarn is always a combination of Beautiful animation with Hypnotic music.

Jamie and Damon are so cool

The best advert BBC have ever had for the Olympics , 8 years after and this is still is in my playlist for running :D

I would pay so much for a full television show featuring these guys

So many years later and I still love this.

It's been almost 9 now, damn. I can still remember being blown away seeing this for the first time when I was only 8. I'm 16 now and I still love this video.

Should have been called 'Journey to the Nest'

i love how they incorporated many of the main events of the Olympics into the story of this animation

The original saiyan.

This animation makes me so freakin happy, not even sure why :D

1:45 You gotta appreciate monkey’s falling animation cause it’s just so goofy

Here you go :D 0:55 Discus Throw 1:05 Hurdles 1:12 Pole Vaulting 1:16 Javelin 1:19 Gymnastics 1:28 Martial Arts 1:31 Diving 1:34 Swimming 1:31 Sprinting/Racing/Running Hope it helped :3

I don't think any Olympic intro will ever beat this.

THAT LOWKEY CLINT EASTWOOD INSTRUMENTAL

The Olympics? THE BATH

Huh, the music and animation reminds me of Gorillaz for some odd reason. *checks description* WAIT DAMON AND JAMIE MADE THIS?! Go figure.

Jamie needs to make an animated Gorillaz cartoon show! :D (Start agree comment train here)

this gave me chills!

I NEED A MONKEY KING SERIES WITH THIS STYLE RIGHT NOW

14 years later it’s still good.

Imagine if Jamie Hewlett collaborated with Studio Ghibli

i'm glad bbc chose the best British animator and best british music producer

Jamie Hewlett and his art work inspires me each and every day to become a better artist. 😊

I love the scenery, mythological aspect, music, artstyle, animation and consistency too. When I say consistency I mean - Monkey King is always the closest to the goal and it stays like that throughout the video, Pig is always second and the dude that emerged from water is always third, even tho they are competing, they still help each other out in midst of competition, Pig saved Monkey King and then few moments later Monkey King saves Pig, they have respect for each other, and at the end when Monkey King wins... Pig was happy for him and accepted the loss, the other guy wasn't happy cuz he was probably super serious about winning. Good stuff.

dang this was 8 years ago ? time flies

I don't know why but this reminds me of my car.

Chinese is such a beautiful language

I swear, Jamie Hewlett can't do no wrong

Damon and Jamie are such a power duo! Everything they touch turns to gold and they're so talented and I love how they work so well off of each other.

Dude, the fact that Damon can make music thats so different and no song is alike (besides people and DARE but lets just let that slide) And Jamie can create some amazing things as well. He has such amazing art and i would love to have his art book. Such creative people comming togther to make a great band thats so amazing

I KNEW IT IT HIT ME KNOW IT WAS JAMIE OFC

BBC better bring back Jaime Hewlett and Damon Albarn to do a continuation of this or something similar for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Man the Gorillaz influence is awesome

as soon as i saw those mangled teeth i knew it was jamie hewlett lmao

I love Jamie's artsyle oml

Imagine if Jamie got his own animated series, I'd love that

We need an HD version of this masterpiece.

I remember this so well- can't believe it was a decade ago. Also, BBC, do this again for Tokyo 2020. The oppurtinuty is ripe.

This reminds me of gorillaz, both art style and music.

Absolutely mindblowing. The best Olympic theme ever.

This brings back the memories

1:53 Jamie's fascination with green men never ceases to amaze me. In all seriousness though, this animation is lovely.

Animation looks like a stylistic mix between the Gorillaz music videos and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

This should have been released as an official track.

Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn are the best duo of animation yet.

There is something magical behind this animation... I watched it 7 years ago, and Now I am here cause I just wanted to watch it again

2d was the monkey. Russell was the pig. Noodle was the women singing in the sky. And murdoc was the green guy. Lol

I only know noticed that the video features some olympic sports; spear throwing, running, swimming, diving, pole vault, single bar and probably more that i must have missed

0:30 - 0:48 is my fave part

I love this I wish there was a higher quality version of this

Having grown up watching the classic Monkey tv show, I would love to see a full animated series covering Journey to the West in this art style.

So many nostalgic vibes from this. It really takes me back to the time I got my first PC and spent ages browsing UKposts. It is oddly uplifting and emotional at the same time.

Who’s here before Tokyo opening ceremony?

I LOVE YOU ALL FOR STILL WATCHING THIS !!!😍😍😍😍😍😍

Jamie made an amazing work omg

* *see the thumbnail* * I would recognise this artstyle anywhere...

Se nota muchísimo el estilo de Jamie Hewlett ❤ dibuja genial

If you guys look closely you can see a lotta olympic sports in here e.g. hammer throw, javelin, gymnastics, diving etc

A beautiful song with well crafted animations. Brings back some good memories!

Lyrics I grabbed from Yahoo Answers cause I thought it was weird they aren't here 悟空恭喜wukong gongxi， Congrats, wukong. 取经来了qujing lailiao, time for you to retrieve the sutras( i assume you know the story Journey to the West) 为了希望荣耀weliao xiwang rongyao， for hope and glory 燃起梦想rangqi mengxiang， flares up dreams 生死与共shengsiyugong。 till death parts 穿越世界毫无阻碍chuanyue shijie haowu zuai， reaching all parts of the world with no obstacles 艰难困苦勇往直前jiannan kunku yongwangzhiqian overcome all difficulties courageously 冲破恐惧chongpo kongju conquer fears 为了追求weiliaozhuiqiu to chase (dreams) 为了希望与荣耀weiliao xiwang yu rongyao。 for hopes and dreams 璀璨绚丽的梦想cuicanxuanli de mengxiang colorful dreams 把灵魂融为一体ba linghun rongwei yiti。 unites all spirits 为了希望weiliao xiwang for hopes x3

❤️👌👌👌💯 Any one in 2021?

we all want more of this kinda stuff :)

How has Jamie not made his own series with this style? This proves that it would work.

Man, I wish there was an HD version of this

The song is an alternative version of Monkey Bee from the Original Soundtrack for the musical Monkey Journey To The West.

Damn I come back to this video every few years cause it's just such a vibe, the BBC would never comission something as amazing like this as a promo anymore :/

For those who want to know the song, it's called "monkey bar journey to the west (Journey to Beijing version)"

I freaking love how the chorus gradually joined the singer at the end of the animation

Love how Hewlett's characters smile :)

I've watched this many times and I love everything about it. The visuals, the music and just basically everything. Damon and Jamie's creations are just beautiful.

Best BBC olympics advert ever and for me, Beijing Olympics 2008 the greatest in living memory.

As someone who adores Asian cultures, I am in love with this. Not to mention it’s made by the same amazing people who did the freakin’ GORILLAZ!

I wish NBC did this instead of just playing the olympic theme song from John Williams every 4 years.

I absolutely love this animation Jamie's art is amazing

2019, I'm still watching this amazing video

When you realize that those characters are the Gorillaz in a different universe

To those wondering, yes, this was by Damon Albarn, creator of Gorillaz, look up Jorney to the West, he made the music for the stage adaptation, as well as the accompanying soundtrack.

this song is so gorgeous and gives me chills! the animation, too

The animation is absolutely a wonder, but the musical score, is just as wildly fantastic. When the princess says "Wukong gong xi." I damn near fell in love!

i think they should do a journey to the west movie with this animation.

o.0 I wonder which kind of meat that pig is eating. I mean, if everybody in this is a sentient animal, then that pig must have committed murder or at least robbed a grave...

LOVE hewlett and his artwork. LOVE this advert...gives me goosebumps everytime

Olympics are fantastic! Went to the London Olympic this summer and it was the best weekend of my life. Gotta love the BBC intro videos!

1:29 Chinese Noodle Confirmed XD

Gorillaz Dragon Ball. Nice.

This video has released 4 years before I was born because I am 10 now and when I was born this video is released 4 years ago. The video is so nice.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! This is so beautiful!

Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn are so much more than just Gorillaz

I knew the style looked familiar

0:29 ugh this part is my favorite, the beat drop with the vocals peared with a sgunning background

The moment I saw the art style, i got excited :D i was like "i know this artist!" Awesome and wonderfully made!!!

the moment that dragon appeared i was like "E X T R A T H I C C"

I WAS LOOKING FOR THIS VIDEO SINCE FOREVER FUCK

I remember this. I saw it on the BBC in summer 2008 when I was eighteen years old. The animation looks amazing. Hewlett sure did a great job. I really like his cartoons.

I instantly knew Jamie drew this from the thumbnail