Japan Synopsis
白蛇伝
“The adventures of a cute little panda, a dragon god and an evil serpent.”
As a young boy, Xu-Xian is forced to free his pet, a small snake. Unbeknownst to him, the snake is actually a young snake goddess named Bai-Niang and she is in love with him. Many years later, when they are both adults, the princess is magically transformed into a human and sets out to find her love. But the local wizard believes her to be a vampire, and banishes Xu-Xian from the village in order to save him. Xu-Xian's pet pandas Panda and Mimi set out to save him and bring him, in the process becoming leaders of an animal gang.
Other Titles From Toei Animation
Animation + Fantasy in Japan
1095 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Animation and Fantasy genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding The Tale of the White Serpent itself).
The 1957–1959 Japan Window
In the crowded 1957-1959 Japan release window, The Tale of the White Serpent sits at #23 of 32. The leaderboard below contextualises its neighbours.
The 1950s Japan Landscape
1958 was the decade’s peak output year for Japan — 12 titles released, including The Tale of the White Serpent. Bars below show how the 1950s stacked up year by year (76 total).
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 11 other Japan films in 1958.
The 111th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
28 audience reviews — more than 48% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 60th percentile among Japan films.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #3,469 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (24th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is -0.6 points below the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Animation productions specifically: #2,131 of 2,532 (top 84%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Toei Animation |
| Runtime | 1h 19m |
| Release Date | September 3, 1958 |
| IMDb | tt0051694 |
| Official Site | lineup.toei-anim.co.jp |