Director Xin Yumeng and his mother Sun Lifang spent half a decade constructing the film entirely by hand. Produced by Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media and distributed by Tianjin Yamazaki Film, the plot follows a cowardly calf named Niu Lai who fears snakes and deep water. The calf forms an unlikely friendship with a leopard named Baola, only to be separated by the severe prejudice of their respective herds. The story ultimately leads to a devastating wolf attack where the mother sacrifices herself so the young calf can survive. Despite this heavy narrative, the execution featured disaster-level 3D modeling and voice acting entirely handled by the mother-son duo, who relied on electronic pitch modulators to differentiate the cast.
This sheer lack of studio polish quickly became its strongest asset. In an era saturated with flawless, AI-generated art and predictable blockbuster sequels, audiences felt a strange affinity for this raw, purely human effort. The initial box office sat at a dismal 7,000 to 7,700 yuan during its first ten days in theaters, with daily tracking data showing some days pulling in as little as 200 yuan. However, as audiences shared clips and memes online, a wave of reverse psychology took hold. Young moviegoers flocked to theaters simply to witness the spectacle for themselves, pushing the total box office to an astonishing 51.63 million yuan.
A misunderstood pun further accelerated the film's chaotic rise. In one pivotal scene, the calf trips over a rock and hands it to his mother. Through a play on words where the term for a "tripping body" sounds exactly like "semiconductor" in Chinese, the mother's angry reaction was misinterpreted by thousands of internet users as an elaborate, cynical piece of dark humor. Local Dalian cinemas eventually pulled the film from screens out of concern for the city's public image, and Xin Yumeng confirmed the standard theatrical run ended on August 16, though THY LAB still managed to host a special IMAX 80mm screening at a performance art venue in Hong Kong.
The film's momentum inevitably bled into the digital economy and gaming space. By August 19, 2026, an interactive 3D game titled Niu Lai (牛来) appeared on the Sbox Game platform, shortly followed by a companion trivia application on Google Play. A dedicated meme coin launched on the BNB Chain, reaching a staggering market capitalization of approximately 1.56 billion Thai Baht by August 23. The trend even crossed borders into the Philippines, where mobile players of Honor of Kings began actively tying the character Lapu Lapu (Niumu) to the ongoing Niu Lai social media craze.
