Kim next took on his most ambitious project to date with '' Mr. Go '' , which had a ( ) budget ( one of the largest budgets in Korean cinema history ) , with funded by China-based Huayi Brothers . Based on Huh Young-man 's 1984 manhwa '' The 7th Team '' , the film centers on a 15-year-old girl ( played by Xu Jiao ) who tries to save her grandfather 's circus after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake by becoming the sports agent of a baseball-playing gorilla named Ling Ling ( inspired by Christian the lion ) . '' Mr. Go '' was filmed in stereoscopic 3D , and Kim founded a new visual effects company Dexter Studios to develop and innovate motion capture and facial motion capture techniques , and a digital fur production program to make the gorilla as realistic as possible ; a team of more than 500 animators and CG professionals spent four years on the production and over a year editing . '' Mr. Go '' was released in South Korea and China simultaneously in 2013 ; it was not a commercial success in South Korea , ending Kim 's winning streak at the domestic box office . However , it fared better in Mainland China where it was marketed as a children 's film and shown exclusively in 3D theaters ( with premium ticket prices ) , making more than double the South Korean gross . '' Mr. Go '' also made a name for Dexter Studios , now recognized as a VFX pioneer in Korea
2008 Sichuan earthquake
2008 Sichuan earthquake
Kim Yong-hwa