Before the American movie “Kung Fu Panda” debuted in China, it seemed destined to set off controversy that foreign filmmakers were appropriating Chinese tradition for profit. Performance artist Zhao Bandi, who uses pandas in his own work, led the protest against the DreamWorks Animation film. He called for the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) to ban it for “uglifying the image of the panda … and harming Chinese’s feelings.”

His action seems to have not lessened interest on the film. Tickets of the movie have been sold out for weeks in Beijing film theaters. In the first 10 days of its mainland release the movie made $14 million. But the biggest debate was not over the popularity of the animated feature, but why Chinese couldn’t do it themselves. Film director Liu Bingjian says the film is “wonderful” and “I can’t help watching it twice.” Liu says he learned from this work, which handles the Chinese culture elements well and presents them in a global way. He explains the film includes classic humor, splendid martial arts, compelling story-telling and high tech animation.

© Xiao Qiang for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chinese nationalism, Kung Fu Panda, nationalism
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The blockbuster success of an American animated movie that’s set in ancient China, highlights Chinese culture, mythology and architecture and stars a kung fu fighting panda has filmmakers and ordinary Chinese wondering: Why wasn’t this hit made . . . in China?

“Kung Fu Panda” follows a slacker panda named Po, who works in his father’s noodle shop and eventually fulfills his dream of becoming a kung fu fighter, and features the voices of Hollywood stars Jack Black and Angelina Jolie. So far it’s taken in $350 million at theaters worldwide.

Many here blame a lack of imagination that comes as a result of tight government controls over the film industry and hypersensitivity over how China is portrayed to the outside world. With a month to go before Beijing invites the world’s attention by hosting the Olympic Games Aug. 8 to 24, the conversation is a timely reflection on whether China can view itself as the rest of the world sees it.

© Liu Yong for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: film industry, hollywood, Kung Fu Panda, movies
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Lu said the government was stifling the creativity of China’s filmmakers, explaining how he had been asked to make an animated film for the Olympic Games, which will be hosted by Beijing in August, but decided to walk away from the project.

“I kept receiving directions and orders on how the movie should be like,” he said. “The fun and joy from doing something interesting left us, together with our imagination and creativity.”

An advisory body to the country’s rubber-stamp parliament debated this week why a film like “Kung Fu Panda,” produced by DreamWorks Animation, had not been made in China, Xinhua reported.

A standing committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress said that, though there was no secret ingredient to filmmaking success, the government ought to relax its oversight. Opening more space for Chinese artists would allow more innovation, ultimately giving China greater cultural influence abroad, they concluded.

© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: art censorship, film industry, hollywood, Kung Fu Panda
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Sometimes it is important to take a political stand. And sometimes it is just fun to watch a cartoon panda trying to do kung fu.

… The film, from DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures, has already grossed over $12 million after less than two weeks in release, making the film’s opening one of the strongest in China in recent years.

Globally, the movie has brought in $275 million, Paramount said Sunday.

Some Chinese critics had asked consumers to protest the film because Steven Spielberg, a top executive at DreamWorks, resigned last February as artistic adviser to the 2008 Beijing Olympics after failing to persuade Chinese officials to do more in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Another group, backed by the Chinese artist Zhao Bandi, who uses pandas as an inspiration for his work, also called for a boycott, saying the animated film is exploiting a national symbol.

But on June 21 the film opened to huge crowds in Beijing, Shanghai and other big cities. Chinese audiences have praised the quality of the film’s animation and its colorful and clever depiction of various aspects of ancient Chinese culture, architecture and scenery.

The trailer for ‘Kung Fu Panda,’ via YouTube:

See the state-run media’s take on the exploitation debate here.

© Zhaohua Li for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: film industry, hollywood, Kung Fu Panda, nationalism, pandas
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