The first full-length animated film made in China, Princess Iron Fan was the work of twin brothers Wan Lai-ming and Wan Ku-chan. Despite adverse financial and technical conditions, the brothers developed an original style based on the use of clay and human models to trace movements and action. The plot is freely adapted from Journey to the West, an epic romance of the sixteenth century that relates the hardships and adventures of a Tang Dynasty monk. Made during China's war with Japan, Princess Iron Fan contains a hidden political allegory: only by coming together as one will China's people emerge victorious over the Japanese occupiers, symbolized by the fire-breathing Diabolical Ox King. The Wan brothers had made China's first silent animation, Disturbing the Studio, 1926, inspired by Max Fleischer. They emigrated to Hong Kong after the war, returning to Shanghai in the fifties.