Zoonauts in CHINA
Our delegation met with the creator of the Shenzhou V, China’s first
piloted space vehicle, which orbited earth for 21 hours in mid-October.
The US team started their adventure in Shanghai. From there, Richard
Mueller and David Simons flew to Hangzhou, Beijing and Changchun for
more meetings, lectures, and book research.
The trip combined publicity of
ZOONAUTS: The Secret of Animalville and research for the next
Zoonauts book, to feature famous Chinese pandas given to the US in 1972. The sequel,
Panda Adventure, will feature Xsing Xsing and Ling Ling leading the famous animals to
China for many adventures.
Looking for inspiration for his next book on a panda adventure,
Richard Mueller headed to the animal’s homeland - China, but the whole
idea for
Zoonauts started much earlier, from the creative mind of David Simons.
"Around 34 years ago I came up with the idea of making a cartoon show
of America’s most famous animals, but it took until now to develop
the right formula for a
Zoonauts series" said David Simons, Mueller's partner and the man who created the original book concept.
"China is progressing so much today that Westerners want to know more
about the country. I hope children can learn Chinese culture and
cultural differences through the funny experiences of these cartoon
characters."
Mueller and Simons held a lecture for students at Jianping Middle
School and High School in Shanghai on their first Saturday in China.
They were enthusiastically received by a large crowd of fans, all eager
for autographs and promotional copies of
Zoonauts,
to read and share with their friends. The crowd was excited to know
that the sequel will take place in their homeland.
"These students were very eager to learn and through them I
received great inspirations," Mueller said. The US delegation went on
to hold events at many other schools, including Northeast Normal
University High School and Changchun Taxation University. "I will soak up everything in China, absorbing all the sights and
sounds," the author said, noting this is his first visit.
Richard Mueller has written four books and 140 TV scripts since
1992, including many cartoon series, such as X-MEN and Batman, besides
many other science fiction works.
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For cultural research, the science fiction writing team of Mueller and
Simons visited many famous sites, such as the Great Wall and the
Forbidden City of Beijing. Here is a photo of the Shangri-La
Publications group (left to right) You Min, Richard Mueller, host Wu
Ying, Director of International Copyright Office, Zhejiang Juvenile and
Children’s Publishing House, David Simons, and publisher Sheldon
Gosline, who came up with the name "
Zoonauts" in front of a famous temple in Hangzhou, China.
While at the nation’s capitol, Beijing, the
Shangri-La Publications
group consulted with Professor Wang Daheng, Director Emeritus of the
Chinese Center for Space Sciences and Applied Research (CAS) and chief
designer of the Shenzhou V spacecraft that recently carried astronaut (
taikonaut)Yang
Liwei into space and back. This successful mission has been a lifelong
dream for Dr. Wang Daheng. In more ways than one, science fiction met
science fact.
Dr. Wang Daheng’s spacecraft design is now famous throughout China
and the world. Some replicas are quite expensive. This Hong Kong
fashion model shows off a HK$500,000 (US$64,350) gift modeled on the
Shenzhou V spacecraft, presented to astronaut Yang Liwei in recognition
of his historic space flight. The gift is made of 550 grams of gold and
a cluster of diamonds.
In this picture, Dr. Wang Daheng is explaining to Richard
Mueller and Sheldon Gosline some technical points of how his spacecraft
design released its solar panels while in orbit. We were all amazed by
Dr. Wang’s knowledge. This scientific information will also aid Mueller
in his writing of the next
Zoonauts adventure.
Meanwhile, parts of the actual space capsule and space suit were on
exhibit at several locations in China, that Mueller was able to visit.
Parts of Shenzhou V were on display at the China Centenary Altar, in
downtown Beijing and the capsule was featured at the Fifth Shanghai
International Industry Fair.
Among the first visitors were Yang Liwei, the first Chinese astronaut,
and his son, Yang Ningkang. The astronaut’s son led a dozen young
students in a space launch simulation, with a televised space mission
for background. The audience cheered the children’s performance.
Lately, many space explorations have concerned Mars. This composite 3D image of Mars was taken after the January
3rd landing of NASA’s Mars rover, Spirit, in the Gusez Crater, Mars.
The image taken by the navigation camera shows a 360-degree
panoramic view from where rover landed on Mars. For the Chinese,
the historic space flight by Yang Liwei is even more exciting than this
recent US Mars expedition, which also will be part of the next
Zoonauts adventure. Click
HERE
or on image of Mars to visit the NASA site, describing the Mars mission.
In China, Astronaut Yang Liwei was conferred the title of "Space Hero"
at a high-profile rally celebrating China’s first manned space flight.
Science fiction has become science fact.
Science fiction writer, Richard Mueller, left the People’s Republic
of China with a new appreciation of their history, their people and
their technology. He is excited to start his next
Zoonauts book,
Panda Adventure, which promises to be a great tale. Mueller expects to finish the new book by next spring. Click
HERE to view Richard Mueller's complete artistic resume. Find out what author Richard Mueller is doing NOW!
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Shangri-La Publications’ mission to China was also a great success.
Besides being a major press event, we negotiated a publishing contract
with Zhejiang Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House, to translate,
print, and promote
Zoonauts throughout China. This, the most selective and prestigious
Chinese children’s publishing house, is excited about our project
because of the story’s high quality and timely space adventure
subject. Chinese children are captivated by space adventure now, so this book is very timely to release in China. Several animation houses in Hong Kong and mainland China are expressing interest in producing a
Zoonauts TV series or feature film.
Shangri-La Publications is also exploring the realm of science fact.
During this same October 2003 trip, publisher Sheldon Gosline signed an
historic publication agreement with Dr. Chen Jia An, Vice-President of
Zhejiang University, to co-publish the first journal of Chinese
scientific research in English. Pictured here (left to right) Deng Jun
Qi, Chen Jia An, Sheldon Gosline, and Fu Yan. This contract is to be
the model for several new journal agreements that
Shangri-La Publications is currently negotiating. The word Zoonauts is the creation of Sheldon Lee Gosline and a trademark (TM) of
Shangri-La Publications. Permission from Sheldon Lee Gosline is required for any commercial use of the word Zoonauts.
Here is the store from Richard Mueller's Visit to China in Chinese!
建平学生考问超人之父
□ 记者 万仁杰
理查德·穆勒希望进一步了解中国，这位在电视剧本中成功塑造超人和蜘蛛侠的剧作家，对下一本书的主角兴兴和玲玲缺乏足够的把握新角色的原型是一对中国大熊猫。
上周六，穆勒与他在香格里拉出版社的同事们来到建平中学，给同学们带来的是他与戴维·西蒙合作的《ＺＯＯＮＡＵＴＳ》（中译名《太空动物》）一本由猩猩、鹦鹉、人类与外星来客组成的少儿科幻小说。签名赠书前，穆勒就提了一个要求：给我些创作大熊猫英雄的建议与灵感。
而让他颇感意外的是，中国中学生要给他的不止这些。一位学生似乎对这位留着美式络腮胡的剧作家还不够信任，他问道：您怎么能保证您写的大熊猫有着中国人的性格，而不是烙上美国文化的大熊猫呢？
在中国学生眼中，美国烙印在穆勒身上就有着最好的体现，甚至在面对这略显尖刻的问题时，他仍报以那种不加掩饰的美国人的开怀大笑。笑完之后，他的回答迂回而巧妙：兴兴和玲玲是中美建交时中国送给美国的礼物，它们曾让美国人大感欣喜，事实上它们旅居美国３０年了，我要写的是中国熊猫在美国的经历，科幻经历。
而一位名叫傅乐和的同学貌似简单的问题最具想像力：冰融化后变成什么？对穆勒而言，这个哲学意味浓郁的问句比先前的电影中的暴力内容对文化的影响、美国人对中国了解多少都难应付。他只能将水的各种形态类比于丰富多彩的生活，并称这是个美好的问题。而意在测试这位科幻小说家想像力的傅乐和对他的临场发挥评价是比较满意。
Here is an announcement about our working on a Chinese story for Zoonauts featuring the famous pandas Xing-Xing and Ling-Ling
剧作家理查德·穆勒访问中国
在电视剧本中成功的塑造了超人和蜘蛛侠的美国剧作家理查德·穆勒近日访问中国，他希望进一步了解中国，以便更好地描写他下一本书中的主角兴兴和玲玲这对新角色的原型是一对中国大熊猫。他这次推出了与戴维·西蒙合作的《ZOONAUTS》（中译名《太空动物》）的中文版这是一本由猩猩、鹦鹉、人类与外星来客组成的少儿科幻小说。
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Here Richard and David enjoy Shanghai’s night sights with Shangri-La Publications guide, You Min. Below is same group at the Great Wall. Click either to read Richard Mueller’s trip story. This space science fiction delegation intentionally chose October to visit the People’s Republic of China, to coincided with the first Chinese manned space flight.
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