Disney hopes Gourd works magic in China
From azcentral.com:
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HONG KONG – Disneys latest China strategy doesnt involve Mickey, Minnie or Goofy. Its all about an enchanted vegetable.
The Walt Disney Co. China announced Wednesday it will release a Chinese-language movie, The Magic Gourd, this summer – its first co-production with the state-run China Film Group.
The movie, based on a novel written by the late Chinese childrens writer Zhang Tianyi, is about a boy who discovers a gourd – a vegetable often used in Asian dishes – that grants him wishes. The story has already been adapted into a TV cartoon by state-run CCTV.
The movie, a mix of live action and animation, marks a departure from Disneys established strategy of promoting its mainstay stories and characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
Disneys famous animators are not prominently credited in The Magic Gourd. Hong Kong special-effects studio Centro Digital Pictures, which worked on Kill Bill, made the movie.
“We respect and appreciate the deep-rooted, rich Chinese local culture,” Stanley Cheung, managing director of Disney China, said in a statement.
I understand the need to maintain relations with the Chinese, but this seems like a weird story to come out mere weeks after the reporting of the counterfeit “Disney” park, also run by the Chinese state.