HONG KONG, Nov 3 — Hong Kong comedy legend Stephen Chow’s most beloved movie characters are getting a new lease of life through artificial intelligence, as a venture backed by his entertainment company looks to transform them into a global animation franchise.

Characters from cult favourites such as Kung Fu Hustle, God of Cookery and CJ7 are being reimagined as AI-generated cartoons under Shin Shin Legends, an initiative linked to Chow’s entertainment and investment company, Bingo Group.

The project aims to build a new animated universe around the characters, complete with original storylines, merchandise and licensing opportunities, taking a page from the playbooks of entertainment giants Marvel and Disney.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the venture’s creative direction is being spearheaded by Singaporean Ignatius Yong, senior adviser and spokesperson for Shin Shin Legends, who also happens to be a lifelong fan of Chow’s films.

“Chow has always been one of my idols. I have watched almost every movie of his 20 times. Hong Kong has always been able to export its movies to the rest of the world, so why not new creative content? I think in animation, it gives us a chance to do that,” Yong told the newspaper.

Among the characters getting an animated makeover are the formidable landlady from Kung Fu Hustle, the eccentric God of Cookery, the alien creature from CJ7 and Yu Fa, the cross-dressing schoolgirl character familiar to Chow’s fans.

But these are not straightforward recreations of their big-screen counterparts.

Instead, the team is developing entirely new backstories and personalities, allowing the characters to evolve beyond their original films.

“Our characters are very different [from the movies]. I would say they are inspired by the characters in Chow’s movies, but they have a totally different backstory. In this way, they are not the same,” Yong explained.

The project is also embracing AI to dramatically reduce animation production costs, which Yong said have fallen from around 300,000 yuan (RM184,000) per minute to between 3,000 and 5,000 yuan per minute.

The savings could open the door to emerging creators and independent talents who might otherwise struggle with the expense of traditional animation.

“In the end, what really sells content is the story. It has to be interesting. People have to enjoy it. We think this is a window to bring different characters that Mr Chow has created into a new universe,” he said.

For now, Shin Shin Legends is concentrating on short-form animations for Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, where its account has attracted more than 800,000 followers.

Interestingly, its biggest audience comprises children under 12, while viewers aged 50 and above form the second-largest group — suggesting the cartoons are striking a chord with both a new generation and those who grew up watching Chow’s films.

The characters have also begun making their way into commercial collaborations.

In Hong Kong, Shin Shin Legends recently teamed up with popular snack shop Chicken Egg Boy on a creation combining three local favourites: egg waffles, pineapple buns and char siu pork.

The venture has also collaborated with traditional bakery Hang Heung on a mooncake promotion and showcased its reimagined characters at Hong Kong Comic Con 2026.

Although mainland China remains its primary market, Yong has his sights set on international expansion, with plans to eventually dub the AI-generated animations into English.

“The way I see it, the characters should transcend not only Hong Kong [and mainland] China, but also into the international market. Animation reaches beyond language,” he said.

“We want the fans who grew up with Stephen Chow movies as well as younger audiences. This is fun content and suited for the whole family.”

As for Chow himself, the actor-director is not directly involved in producing the animations but receives regular updates and occasionally weighs in on their creative direction.

“He actually gives us a lot of freedom for our creativity,” Yong said.

“Periodically we will bring him some of the characters we have built and he will give input. Usually, he asks a lot of questions, like, ‘So what is so special about this character?’ and ‘What do you think audiences will like about this character?’”

“He is always thinking about how we can make it more interesting, more funny.”