Chinese didn't like 'Mulan'?

[snopes]

Comment: This is something that I remember hearing about a few years ago: When the Disney film Mulan was released in China it bombed because the
Chinese people thought that the characters looked/acted too "foreign".

Basically a movie that was set in China wasn't very Chinese.

[Eddylizard]

Chinese unimpressed with Disney's Mulan

[Dropbear]

Originally Posted by snopes

Comment: This is something that I remember hearing about a few years ago: When the Disney film Mulan was released in China it bombed because the
Chinese people thought that the characters looked/acted too "foreign".

Basically a movie that was set in China wasn't very Chinese.

Golly gee willikers! You mean that maybe Disney's over-simplified and westernised portrayal of ancient chinese culture didn't go down too well?

How can this be? It's Disney!

Yeesh.

Dropbear

(I'll add that I always though Mickey was smug and self-satisfied and I never understood a word Donald said either - and the Goofy character was ludicrous.)

[inkrose115]

Originally Posted by Dropbear

(I'll add that I always though Mickey was smug and self-satisfied and I never understood a word Donald said either - and the Goofy character was ludicrous.)

According to my libraryon creating and animating characters, Goofy conforms to a cross between the teenager body type and a country hick.

[The Goof]

"and the Goofy character was ludicrous.)"

Hey buddy, thems fightin' words.

After watching some Japanese animated movies, I can see how Mulan might not make sense. It took a while to get "into" the Japanese style, and I bet the Chinese would have difficulty getting "into" the American version of Mulan.

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

After watching some Japanese animated movies, I can see how Mulan might not make sense. It took a while to get "into" the Japanese style, and I bet the Chinese would have difficulty getting "into" the American version of Mulan.

But are you talking about Japanese movies set in America, or Japan? There's quite a difference between watching, to use your example, a movie created by Japanese filmmakers/animators that is set in Japan and a movie created by American filmmakers/animators that is set in China.

[Tenko]

Mulan is weird enough. Mulan is Chinese, but her legend was written in both Chinese and Japanese and there are some differences between the two. I don't know which legend Disney went with, but if a company is doing an Americanized kiddy movie based on a Japanese legend about a Chinese girl, some things are bound to be lost. It's, like, having the Brer Rabbit stories adapted by Koreans, which in turn are used as the base of a children's film in Japan. If I watched that movie, I'd probably feel like something was missing.

Mulan might have been a real person (there certainly have been real-life women warriors in Chinese history), but which region she came from and which dynasty she lived is open to debate. She has risen to truly legendary status.

Mulan's origins most likely arose as a merger between the Tuoba (Toba) clan of the Xianbei culture and the Han Chinese. The Tuoba, whom originated from the far northeast, managed to conquer and rule northern China during the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534) despite being vastly outnumbered. Although some of the military aspects of Xianbei culture remained, the new rulers began adopted Chinese customs to maintain control over their subjects. Just as society became a blend of two cultures, Mulan is both a dutiful Chinese daughter and an accomplished soldier.

Obviously, the exact time and place in China where Mulan is set in an imaginary dynasty in an imaginary part of China, based on real customs and lands. Artistically, the film is influenced by artwork from the Han and Tang Dynasties. Judging from the technology and costumes, Disney's Mulan would be set much later than the Northern Wei Dynasty.

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

Originally Posted by Tenko

It's, like, having the Brer Rabbit stories adapted by Koreans, which in turn are used as the base of a children's film in Japan.

I so want to see this movie.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

Originally Posted by Tenko

It's, like, having the Brer Rabbit stories adapted by Koreans, which in turn are used as the base of a children's film in Japan. If I watched that movie, I'd probably feel like something was missing.

I wounder if the South Americans and Caribbeans would reconise their Ananse's Stories (Brer Rabbit in the US) if sent back to them. They may, but I think they would still prefer there version over ours.