Pu-Tai is said to have been so kind that he has become the incarnate of the bodhisattva who will come at some point in the distant future as the Maitreya. Buddhists look forward to a future date when the Maitreya will come to earth bringing with him world peace and harmony between warring factions. According to legend, from time to time throughout the history of mankind, Maitreya is born among men. Though he is recognized as a generous and wise man, he is never recognized by the men of the age for who he really is. The Maitreya lives his life around those who never know the real person.

Pu-Tai is represented as a heavy, bald, laughing man. These characteristics symbolize happiness, good luck, and fortune. Sometimes he is shown with children, other times he has a fan in his hand. The fan is a symbol used by nobility to communicate to their vassals that their wishes will be granted. So, a statue of Pu-Tai holding a fan represents that he is coming to take away the sorrows and unhappiness they feel and replace them with happiness and wealth. Pu-Tai images in statues often also have a bag of money or Chinese coins in their hands.

The image of Pu-tai is not limited to China. This image and story has traveled across the world wherever Buddhism has been transported. In Japan he is known as Hotei. In North America it is not uncommon to see statues of Pu-tai or Hotei in restaurants, temples or worn on amulets. In Western culture, the image of the Happy Buddha comes to mind when people think of Buddha.

There is a strong cultural tradition that rubbing the fat belly of Pu-tai or the Happy Buddha will bring good luck, fortune and prosperity. This isn’t actually a part of Buddhism, but it is a common practice to carry small happy Buddha statues in your pocket. The legend states that there is nothing that will bring more happiness to Pu-Tai than watching all the sorrow and suffering of mankind changed to happiness and prosperity. His inner smile is so bright that it radiates throughout his entire being and is certain to bring happiness wherever he may be. Set this Happy Buddha in a place of honor where he may work to lift the burdens you must carry.

Sometimes, for in many countries, especially in the east, the existence of gays are still not accepted by society. Homosexual still suffer discrimination both in law, economics, education, politics and so forth. Whereas most gay men don’t disturb other people, they tend to be closed and will understand their position, so that they can socially adjust.

Discrimination against homosexual has been much criticized by gay activists in various parts of the world. They demanded that the state and society to admit it. They want to be treated as an ordinary human.

Up
Why not start with Pixar. In the last years their films have dominated this category and there have been rumblings that some of their films should in fact compete with life action films for Best Picture of the year. Their films are that good. Winners in the past few years have included The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and Wall-E.

This year, their film Up has garnered the highest praise from critics being called the best animated film since, well…since Wall-e. An old widower sets out to achieve his wife’s lifelong dreams by floating his house with thousands of balloons and travelling to South America.

Ponyo
Hayao Miyazaki is one of the greatest and most successful film makers in Japan’s history. Like Pixar, Miyazaki’s movies are constantly on lists for the best films of the year, each and every year and if you come across a list of the top 10 animated films of all time chances are there will be more than one of his films represented. Miyazaki has won only once before in this category for the masterpiece, Spirited Away. This year his retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid garnered praise from all circles, even if not quite living up to his previous best.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
Adapted from a children’s book with the same bizarre name this film is about honouring the strange and unique facets of humanity and how human ingenuity has the opportunity to solve seemingly impossible problems. At least that’s my take on it. Also a lot of big food falls from the sky. Highly regarded by most critics the film was produced by Sony Pictures Animation who have had previous nominees including Surf’s Up.

Coraline
Adapted from a book by Neil Gaiman this is a stop motion animated film produced by Laika films and directed by Henry Selick. Coraline is the story of a young girl who discovers an alternate reality where she finds another set of parents who at first seem to be everything she has ever wished for. As this is a rather gothic dark piece you can imagine things don’t stay that way. The film was highly regarded by critics not only for its story but the beauty of the animation technique.

Princess And The Frog
Surely this will be the academy’s sentimental favourite. Disney Animation Studio’s first 2D animated film in six years and their first since amalgamating with Pixar, garnered praise from critics worldwide. A twist on the traditional tale where a young princess kisses a frog who turns out to be a prince under a curse, this film is notable as its protagonist, Tiana, is Disney’s first African-American princess character. Given the studio’s salient place in animation they have never won the Oscar for best animated film.

It has been a rich year for animated feature films in 2009 and other possible films in contention include The Fantastic Mr Fox with outside chances from Astro Boy and Monsters vs. Aliens.