#40 The ‘Mulan’ debacle
Middle Earth - China’s cultural industry podcast
English - September 22, 2020 19:44 - 39 minutes - 26.9 MBTV & Film Arts china chinese culture film movies music censorship ipo education the world of chinese Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
“If Mulan doesn’t work in China, we have a problem,” said Alan Horn, the co-chairman of Walt Disney Studios, to the Hollywood Reporter. Unfortunately, the film had a lot of issues: inaccurate storytelling, cultural appropriation, and political scandals, not to mention a poor showing at the box office. What were the hurdles the movie faced and how Mulan could be a lesson for film studios hoping to tell Chinese stories for international audiences?
Featuring
Hank Liu : Film Editor
Elaine Yau : Journalist at the South China Morning Post journalist
Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch!
Recommendations
- The Chinese animation film Ne Zha 哪吒 (2019).
- The U.S. animation film Coco (2017).
Answers to the quiz
- Mulan fought in the Northern Wei army.
- At least 12 feature films were made out of Mulan’s story.
- Wēn Míngnà 溫明娜, who voiced Mulan in 1998, is the actor doing a cameo in the 2020 remake.
With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support.