Mulan and Kung Fu Panda are two animated films produced by American Hollywood industry in 1998 and 2008 respectively. With the cultural background and characters originating in ancient China, the films present a fascinating audio-visual world to the audience in which the compatibility and conflicts of the American values and Chinese traditional elements exist simultaneously.
The compatibility is a result of the ongoing cultural globalization while the conflicts arise as a sign that there are still some irreplaceable peculiarities of Chinese traditional culture.
In terms of cross-culture study, the attitude of American film makers towards Chinese culture is worthy of our penetrating thinking. Besides, how should Chinese deal with the products that contains Chinese traditional element but are produced by foreigners also needs our discussion.
Keywords: Mulan; Kung Fu Panda; American values; Chinese elements; compatibility; conflicts; cultural globalization; cross-culture
摘要
美国好莱坞的迪斯尼公司和梦工厂公司分别于1998年和2008年制作了两部动画巨片——《花木兰》和《功夫熊猫》。通过把故事背景和角色设定在古代中国，影片给观众创造了一个神秘古老的东方世界。同时，影片中美国价值观与中国传统元素的融合与冲突也是两部影片不可忽视的特点。
作为文化全球化的产物，美国价值观与中国元素的融合是合情合理的。但是那些不可避免的冲突也在提醒着我们，中国文化依旧有一些无可取代的特性，它们绝不会随着文化全球化的深入而消失殆尽。
从跨文化研究的角度来看，美国电影人对待中国文化的理解和态度值得我们深思。同时，中国应以何种姿态应对这种文化借用也是需要我们讨论的问题。
关键词: 花木兰；功夫熊猫；美国价值观；中国元素；融合；冲突；文化全球化；跨文化
The Compatibility and Conflicts between American Values and Chinese Elements in Animated Movies Mulan and Kung Fu Panda
美国价值观与中国传统文化元素的融合与冲突——以动画片《花木兰》和《功夫熊猫》为例
I Introduction1.1 The Synopsis of Mulan
As one of the representative work of ballads in ancient China, Ballad of Mulan is a celebrated folk tale which has been widely told from generation to generation in China for hundreds of years. It tells a story about a girl named Hua Mulan who is born and raised in a traditional Chinese family. However, unlike other populous Chinese families, Mulan has neither brothers nor sisters. When the war breaks out, Mulan substitutes for her aged father and joins the army to defend the country against northern invaders. Mulan’s filial loyalty, valiantness and outstanding military ability make her one of the most respected heroine in Chinese history.
In 1998, American film tycoon, Disney company produced an animated film Mulanbased on this well-known Chinese folk tale. The main characters and plot remain same: the brave Mulan, her old, sick father and the vicious enemies. However, while the yellow-skinned, black-haired girl evokes some warm and approachable feelings in many Chinese audiences’ hearts, some of them find that the image of Mulan which represented in the American film is somewhat different from the traditional heroine image in Chinese textbooks. Therefore, the film Mulan is a story with a Chinese traditional structure but in essence, it is filled of American spirit and western values.
1.2 The Synopsis of Kung Fu Panda
In June, 2008, DreamWorks Animation Studio released globally another animated blockbuster Kung Fu Panda, choosing one of the most popular and renowned Chinese traditional elements, martial arts as the core element of the film.
The synopsis of Kung Fu Panda looks like something like this: a clumsy panda named Po lives with his foster father, a duck, in Peace Valley. On the surface, Po may look like just like another portly panda, but beneath his fur, he bears the mark of the chosen one. By day, Po works faithfully in his family’s noodle shop, but by night, he dreams of becoming a true master of the martial arts. When an ancient prophecy has come to pass, Po realizes that he is the only one who can save his people from certain destruction. In the end, with the help of the legendary Furious Five, Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper, Monkey and their wise mentor, Master Shifu, the noble Po masters the martial arts and somehow transforms his greatest weakness into his greatest strengths. It is these incredible strengths that beat the malevolent snow leopard Tai Lung. He fulfill
