---
name: "Jiaozi"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jiao-zi"
fi1m_id: "jiao-zi"
imdb_id: "nm1169562"
tmdb_id: 2367353
wikidata_id: "Q66470849"
roles: ["Director","Writer"]
born: "1 January 1980"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "director"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-10-05T16:54:34.482312+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jiaozi

## Identity

Jiaozi

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jiao-zi
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jiao-zi
- **IMDb ID:** nm1169562
- **TMDB ID:** 2367353
- **Wikidata ID:** Q66470849
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi_(director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q66470849, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1169562/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2367353

Director and writer. Born 1 January 1980 in Luzhou, Sichuan Province, China.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer
- **Born:** 1 January 1980, Luzhou, Sichuan Province, China
- **Active:** 2019–present
- **Also known as:** Jiao Zi, Jokelate, 饺克力, 饺子, 杨宇, Yang Yu
- **Frequently works with:** [Chen Hao](https://film.one/person/chen-hao.md), [Joseph](https://film.one/person/joseph.md), [Liu Wenzhang](https://film.one/person/liu-wenzhang.md), [Lu Qi](https://film.one/person/lu-qi-2368849.md), [Mo Han](https://film.one/person/han-mo.md), [Yanting Lü](https://film.one/person/lu-yanting.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as director, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 72 (1), 2020s 67 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi_(director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q66470849, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1169562/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2367353

## Streaming the US now

- **Peacock:** [*Ne Zha*](https://film.one/film/ne-zha.md) (72)
- **HBO Max:** [*Ne Zha 2*](https://film.one/film/ne-zha-2.md) (67)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Jiaozi

> Jiaozi gives Chinese mythology a troublesome child worth caring about, then risks losing him among the explanations and battles. We value his animation and his affection for difficult characters; his storytelling needs more restraint.

The child at the centre of *Ne Zha* (2019) is allowed to be a nuisance, and Jiaozi is right to let him stay one. Voiced by Yanting Lü, the young hero refuses to let an unfair fate decide what sort of person he can be. We warmed to him because the film never made good behaviour a condition of deserving fair treatment. The parents trying to protect him give the adventure enough warmth to survive some muddled mythology, though the action can become exhausting.

Jiaozi moved from the short *See Through* (2008) to his feature debut with *Ne Zha*, before expanding the same mythology in *Ne Zha 2* (2025). He wrote and directed both features, and the sequel repeats several of the first film's strengths and weaknesses. He puts rebellion against an assigned fate alongside parental love and jokes about bodily functions. The first film gives its awkward child enough attention for that mixture to work; the sequel keeps asking us to take an interest in new relationships before the existing ones have settled.

The battles show how carefully he thinks about movement. Producer Liu Wenzhang and composer Wan Pin Chu have worked on both features, while Jiaozi personally acts out scenes for animators and insists on frame-by-frame refinements. In *Ne Zha 2*, the inventive combat and elaborate settings, from heavenly palaces to oceanic lairs, reward that care. We can follow a confrontation through its movement even when the storytelling has left us unsure why it matters to everyone involved.

The difficulty is how much he asks us to absorb at once. At 144 minutes, *Ne Zha 2* keeps adding explanations and renewing the fighting until both become wearing, even for those of us who admire the animation. The earlier film also struggles to make its shifting rules clear enough for us to understand the immediate danger. Start with *Ne Zha* for the child and his parents; approach the sequel only if elaborate fantasy mythology is a pleasure in itself.

## Biography

Jiaozi, whose real name is Yang Yu, is a Chinese animation director, screenwriter and producer. Born in 1980 in Luzhou, Sichuan, he graduated from Sichuan University with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy. After working briefly at an advertising agency, he taught himself 3D animation and began creating short films under the pseudonym Jokelate.

His debut feature, the animated film *Ne Zha* (2019), which he directed, wrote and produced through his studio Chengdu Coco Cartoon, became one of China's highest-grossing films. He returned as director and writer for the sequel *Ne Zha 2* (2025). Earlier shorts include *See Through* (2008) and *The Boss's Woman* (2013).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, polygon.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Ne Zha 2* (2025), Fi1m 67, as Rat Boss (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/ne-zha-2.md)
- *Ne Zha* (2019), Fi1m 72, Producer, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/ne-zha.md)

## Complete filmography (5)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Ne Zha 2* (2025), as Rat Boss (voice) · Director, Writer, Story — Fi1m 67, [page](https://film.one/film/ne-zha-2.md)
- *Ne Zha* (2019), Producer, Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/ne-zha.md)
- *The Boss's Woman* (2013), Director, Writer, Editor
- *See Through* (2008), Director, Writer
- *Ne Zha 3*, Director, Story, Writer, Screenplay

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jiao-zi