The Monkey King is based on one of the four great Chinese literary classic, The Monkey King. The story begins with the birth of Sun Wukong and lasts with his battle against armies of demons and gods in the heavenly palace, starring Donnie Yen and Chow Yun Fat.

Key VFX sequences delivered by Studio 51 (S51) include the epic establishing shots of 'The Mountain of Flowers and Fruit and the Water Curtain Cave' and the VFX battle sequence between the Monkey King and Giant Stone Monster.

Lead by VFX Supervisor Adrian Chan, the team at S51 created extensive environment work, including the main 'Water Curtain Cave' and its massive mountain cliff landscape. Art Director, Daniel Fu Dong, had a very strong vision of what the environment around the Water Curtain Cave should be like. "Because the live shooting and VFX work span over a period of time, for additional scene, we had gather up a lot previous footage that was shot in the studio as reference and recreate it in a real environment to look like they are shot at the same place," explains Adrian, "we found two locations in Guangdong and took two days to set-dress and prep before shooting."

The decision for the characteristic of the Giant Stone Monster was made at the start. "The Giant Stone Monster runs, waddle, fall and sway just like a clumsy drunk," said Director Pou-Soi Cheang. The animation team had great fun exploring the character and created some really dramatic 3D fight sequence.

Other work undertaken by S51 involved the Howling Dogs, Buddha, and demon army.