Pikalong - The dragon that "de-sacred" the dragon

A strip of green trees trimmed into a dragon shape has been kept in its original shape for a long time and yellow flowers have been added to it. Interestingly, when left as is, no one paid attention, but after flowers were added, the entire strip of trees became very attractive to the public. Many people found this to be the "strangest dragon of all time", but others found it cute and pleasing to the eye. One of those people is artist Bui Dinh Thang, nicknamed Thang Fly.

Pikalong shape with conical hat and famous Sao Vang Balm product

Artist Thang Fly, who was already famous for his comic drawing skills at the time, later recalled: "Right from that moment, I found this animal really cute. Actually, the original dragon was already very cute." From the yellow bush that looked like a cross between a dragon and the cartoon character Pikachu, he created a new cartoon character - a dragon but not very winding, the mouth still had the "shape" of a dragon's jaw, the nostrils flared like many dragon heads in movies about dragon kings. This cartoon character still had a tail and a few dragon "scales" on its back.

In the first version, Thang Fly let the animal say loudly: "I'm beautiful!!!". This is the "reverse" message in the image of a mascot. This dragon rejected the sacred and stereotypical nature to become more ordinary. Later, from the "spirit" of the dragon and Pikachu, the artist named it Pikalong.

Bui Dinh Thang also continued to develop Pikalong in the direction of comic and cartoon characters by telling Pikalong stories. In 2019, the first book with the character Pikalong, called Pikalong - Long loves Vietnam, was released. The book is classified as 15+ even though it does not contain any "hot scenes" or incite violence. Bui Dinh Thang explained: "Maybe because Pikalong often talks back to adults, in a somewhat mischievous way. Adults who read it jokingly will understand that it is not meant toeducate young children. Choosing 15+ is the safest for them and we chose it ourselves."

The theme of Pikalong - Dragon loves Vietnam shows a smooth combination between the new dragon image and daily life. Pikalong has "thoughts" debating whether men should wash dishes, sweep the house or not, and suggests whether Chi Pheo should be removed from textbooks because of the violent elements or not. Those stories are all developed with concise dialogue, critical and highly self-deprecating.

One of the leaders of Vietnamese comics - screenwriter Nguyen Khanh Duong said that on the occasion of Thang Fly's book launch, the ComiCola group founded by Duong displayed a giant stuffed Pikalong measuring 1.52 m tall at the Comi Store. Following that, Pikalong-shaped products were born, including cups printed with Pikalong's image that continue to be sold to this day.

In addition, the creative team of artist Thang Fly continues to develop content related to Pikalong. New members of the group, those who are new to drawing comics, will be given the opportunity to practice creating humorous content with Pikalong and then post it on the Thang Fly Comics page. The content of these stories once again "de-sacred" the dragon image. Pikalong in later stories is sometimes like an ordinary Vietnamese citizen, having discussions and thoughts on current topics such as donating money to support his idol, protesting the "cow tongue line" map...

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/pikalong-chu-ronggiai-thieng-rong-185240128122315369.htm