#40 The ‘Mulan’ debacle

<p>“If <em>Mulan</em> 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. Joining <a href='https://www.linkedin.com/in/aladin-production-services-china-news/' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>Aladin Farré</a> are film editor <a href='https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5106900/' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>Hank Liu</a> and South China Morning Post journalist <a href='https://www.scmp.com/author/elaine-yau' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>Elaine Yau</a> to explain what hurdles the movie faced and how <em>Mulan</em> could be a lesson for film studios hoping to tell Chinese stories for international audiences. </p><p>Middle Earth is made by <a href='http://bit.ly/34glLBk' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>China Compass Productions</a>. If you have a China-themed cultural project, please get in touch!</p><p>With thanks to <a href='http://www.behance.net/bgonsalves' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>Brenden Gonsalves</a> for graphic design and <a href='http://soundcloud.com/ramon-calvo-music' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>Sean Calvo</a> for music support.</p><p><strong>Recommendations:</strong> </p><p>The Chinese animation film <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ne_Zha_(2019_film)' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'><em>Ne Zha</em></a> 哪吒 (2019).</p><p>The U.S. animation film <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_(2017_film)' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'><em>Coco</em></a> (2017).</p><p><strong>Answers to the quiz:</strong></p><p>Mulan fought in the <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Wei' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>Northern Wei</a> army.</p><p>At least <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Mulan#Films' rel='noopener noreferrer' target='_blank'>12 feature films<