The film was created at the height of the Chinese animation industry in the 1960s, and received numerous awards, earning the brothers domestic and international recognition.

The stylized animation and drums and percussion accompaniment used in this film are heavily influenced by Peking opera traditions.

The Dragon King, amused by the arrogance, orders his soldiers to bring progressively heavier weapons, but Wukong dismisses them all as being too light and flimsy.

The pillar is in fact the As-you-will Cudgel, a magical staff weighing eight tons that can change size and Sun Wukong happily takes the weapon.

General Li quickly offers to send an army, but the God of the North Star suggests that Wukong be given a minor post in Heaven so that he can be kept under close supervision instead.

The God of the North Star travels to the Flower and Fruit Mountain and tricks Wukong saying that he was to be honored with a title and a post in Heaven.

An omitted part of the original release shows General Li interrupting the Emperor's tour of his land, requesting additional troops.

When he hears that the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea had been invited, but not the ‘Great Sage Equal of Heaven’, Wukong realises he has been tricked again and flies into a rage.

The drunken Monkey King suddenly becomes homesick and steals the entire banquet, putting it into a magical bag for his subjects.

He then leaves for the Flower and Fruit Mountain but becomes lost due to his drunkenness, ending up at Lao Tzu’s workshop where he eats the Emperor's Pills of Immortality.

Sun Wukong fights and defeats the Four Heavenly Kings, who use a variety of weapons ranging from a sleep-inducing lute to a magical snake.

Seeing that Erlang and the Monkey are equally matched, Lao Tzu interferes, knocking Wukong unconscious, where he is quickly captured.

Lao Tzu suggests incinerating the Monkey King in his eight-way trigram furnace, since he is extremely durable due to his earlier consumption of the Pills of Immortality and the peaches.

The film's aspect ratio was changed from 1.33 to 1.78 by adding additional art to the backgrounds and at times moving the character placement within the frame.

Countless cartoon adaptations that followed have reused the same classic story Journey to the West, yet many consider this 1964 iteration to be the most original, fitting and memorable.

[7] Around the time of its release, the film was also used as a joke metaphor for the "havoc" being caused by Mao Zedong (the monkey) in "heaven" (China).

[8] At least two loose sequels were produced subsequently: The main character of the movie has a cameo appearance in the second episode of the 2014 animated series "Super Wings" in a form of theatrical show.