Calabash Brothers or Hulu Brothers is a Chinese animation TV series produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio and directed by Hu Jinqing, Ge Guiyun, and Zhou Keqin. It was extremely popular when it aired on TV in 1986–1987.

Names

The series can be variously translated as Calabash Brothers, Hulu Brothers, Gourd Brothers, Seven Brothers or Pumpkin Brothers. In China, the series is popularly known as Huluwa.

Background

In the 1980s the series was one of the most popular animations in China. While it has been praised as much as Havoc in Heaven domestically, it was released at a point when the Chinese animation industry was in a relatively downed state compared to that of the rest of the international community. Still, the series was translated into 7 different languages. The episodes were produced with a vast amount of paper-cut animations, led by Zhou Keqin, who became the director of paper-cut animations in 1975.

Story

Legend has it that two demons were jailed in the Calabash Mountain, one a Scorpion spirit and the other a Snake spirit. One day, a pangolin happens to drill a hole on the slope and the two spirits escape from the cave, causing grave harm to the nearby residents. The pangolin hurries to an old man and says that only by growing calabashes in seven colors can they annihilate the spirits. So the old man spares no time in growing seven calabashes, each a different color of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. The calabashes ripen sequentially, falling off their stems to the ground, and transforming into seven boys. Each has a unique supernatural ability such as super-strength, enhanced hearing and sight, invisibility, and pyrokinesis, as well as a weakness. Each of them also have above average strength and speed given that all of them have shown the ability to lift items several times their own weight and leap several metres. With a combined effort, they set on a mission to defeat the demons in a 13 episode-long adventure. Upon defeating the demons, the seven brothers seal themselves together into a mountain with all the colours of the rainbow, ready to awaken to fight evil should it ever arise again. In a sequel series called "Calabash Brothers: Little Golden Steel", it is later revealed that there was a third demon, specifically the sister to the snake spirit, that had been in hiding underground during the whole battle. The only survivor from the defeat of the two demons, a humanoid toad with a blinded eye, comes and desperately reports the news. Naturally, the demon is enraged and attacks the mountain that contains the seven brothers, releasing and defeating each of them. However, upon their defeat they fuse together into a single boy with the powers of all seven (official name is "Golden Steel Brother") who successfully vanquishes the final demon. After crushing the snake sister in a giant Calabash formed from the seven brothers (who came back into being from the Golden Steel Brother), the Golden Steel Brother changes into a mountain, forever at peace. Can be found on youtube

Characters

Main characters

Villains/Soldiers

Creators

Awards

In popular culture