After Niulai became more widely discussed, readers looked for public statements from its creator to understand the original intention behind the animation.
Public discussion describes the project as a long-term independent creation concerned with life and growth. It also contrasts the creator's intended work with the many jokes and meanings later added by online audiences.
That gap is important: public circulation can create interpretations that were not planned during production. An interview can clarify an author's stated intent without fixing a single definitive meaning for every viewer.
This entry should link directly to each interview or dated report it draws from. Until those sources are attached, the details here remain editorial context rather than quoted record.
What the reporting establishes
The most useful primary-style material available to this guide is the interview transcript reproduced by Guancha, recorded before the release. In it, Xin Yumeng describes beginning the project around 2021, working through production difficulty and making the film without AI. BBC also summarizes that interview while noting the broader context of the film’s later circulation.
An interview is valuable because it distinguishes a creator’s stated intention from later audience interpretation. It should still be read as a source with a date and context, not as a complete answer to every public claim about the production or a mandate for how every viewer must interpret the film.
How to read this topic
When a search query asks what a creator “said,” it is worth separating a direct statement from a later retelling. This guide links the available interview transcript, names its publication date and avoids converting an explanation of production difficulty into a universal claim about every aspect of the finished film.
The interview also helps explain why the creator story became newsworthy. It offers a documented account of learning, long production time and family help, while the later viral reaction belongs to a separate stage of the story. Keeping those stages separate makes the page more useful than a headline-only summary.
Sources & method
Published reporting consulted for the factual context of this page. Links open in a new tab; dates refer to the source publication date.
- 观察者网 — 《牛来》导演信雨萌访谈全文 ↗ (2026-08-18)
- BBC News 中文 — 《牛來》為何爆紅？ ↗ (2026-08-19)
Read the site-wide Sources & Method note for selection, updates and corrections.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Editorial method: this independent explainer separates reported facts from editorial interpretation. Figures, production details and public reactions are tied to dated reporting below and should be read in their reporting context.