Panda is ours, Kung Fu is ours, why is the movie theirs?
This summer, along with the rising temperature, there is also the popularity of the Hollywood animated film Kung Fu Panda. On at least two levels, this letter is said to be "a love letter from DreamWorks to China", which has aroused widespread interest. First of all, the film is wonderful and funny, and the box office is hot. In addition, the pure China imagination of "Panda Club Martial Arts" has made many people hooked up. Secondly, I meditated on the first reaction-why did a film like "China" come from an American?
Panda knows martial arts and no one can stop it.
The panda produced by Paramount is named "Po", the delicious and sleepy son of the owner of Heping Valley noodle restaurant. Strangely, his father turned out to be a duck. Although he is too fat, Po dreams of becoming a martial arts expert all day. By a very accidental opportunity, he became the "Dragon Knight" who was "destined" to be the guardian of the Pinggu, and began to practice with Master Raccoon. However, his martial arts talent was despised by Master and five masters, namely, tiger, crane, monkey, snake and mantis. At this time, an evil villain, Snow Leopard "Tailong", came to Heping Valley. At the moment when the five masters were defeated, Master Raccoon finally took advantage of Po’s delicious nature and inspired Po’s potential. The panda unexpectedly jumped from a "rookie" to an unparalleled master. At the end, of course, justice defeated evil, and Po defeated Tyrone.
In all fairness, Kung Fu Panda is not prepared to dedicate a new story to the audience, but the surprise lies in the detailed handling of characters and movements. The immortal spirit of Master Gui Xian, the calmness of Master Raccoon’s Gu Zhuo, the toughness of the tiger, the elegance of the crane and the agility of the snake all show the creator’s understanding of nature and China culture. In terms of action, the whole set of action design of Snow Leopard Tailong’s escape from prison can be said to be soul-stirring (in the end, the volley jumped almost beyond the boundary between good and evil, which made people feel close to this muscular man), and Master Raccoon trained Po’s chopsticks skills, etc., which were taken from Jackie Chan’s early kung fu films, but it was another fun to use on Po, who was huge.
Although many aspects are not entirely satisfactory, such as how Po finally realized the Tao, the film did not explain the "empty" Zen machine clearly enough, and there was no convincing explanation for how he killed Tailong in the final blow, Kung Fu Panda was still a classic animated film. The most classic, of course, is that DreamWorks first combined panda and Kung Fu to create such a clown as Po. Panda knows kung fu, and no one can stop it. As you can imagine, when parents take their children to the zoo to see pandas in the future, they should have a lot to say. From now on, pandas are not only "national treasures" but also "treasures". They know kung fu, but they are just a little delicious and sleepy.
Mixed with China elements, or "American dream"
It’s sad to say-China Panda, China Kung Fu, China Landscape, China Music … have come together and become made in the United States. So after the audience laughed, some people soon stopped laughing. They said that the applause of the audience was actually a slap in the face of local directors; They said that the success of Kung Fu Panda actually hit the soft underbelly of China animation industry; They said, the panda is around us, and Kung Fu is here. Why didn’t you make Kung Fu Panda, but people made it?
In fact, these criticisms must have been said 10 years ago. Ten years ago, when Disney filmed Mulan, not only the characters, kung fu, music and scenery were all China-like, but even the embryonic form of the story came from the ancient China Yuefu poem Mulan Ci. The Americans took the story of China back, read it several times, thought about it, put it in their own mold, and added some seasoning to get the job done. When it was released in China, it was a great surprise. I didn’t expect the little treasure of my ancestors to be rejuvenated in the hands of Americans. In fact, after such a reversal, Mulan is no longer the Mulan Ci. The ethical focus that China Yuefu poems want to express is that the daughter is filial to her father and joins the army for her father has also become the heroic nature of "saving the world" in American movies.
Now, in Kung Fu Panda, although Stevenson, the director, has studied China paintings and Kung Fu movies for many years, and Rudolph, the French martial arts instructor, is familiar with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan’s Kung Fu movies, Po is still an American cowboy at heart. This is shown from the beginning of the film. In the dream, Po usually annihilates his opponent by chopping melons and vegetables. The mother rabbit wants to know how to repay him. The giant panda just said, "There is no charge for awe and attraction". A film critic translated it as: charm is great, and bulls don’t charge money! What a wonderful translation. The self-confidence and cynicism in this sentence have the confidence of a rich American boss.
From Mulan to Kung Fu Panda, the story framework of Americans has not changed much. From the perspective of storytelling, Kung Fu Panda is not even as mature as Mulan. In the end, justice triumphed over evil, and through a humble little person, with a little cynicism and some God’s care, after several setbacks, justice finally defeated evil bosses and saved the world.
Therefore, Po’s story is really an American story, both legendary and true. Justice and humor. It is an American dream created by Hollywood, although it is more or less mixed with Chinese.
Inject China spirit into China elements.
Since Po twisted his clumsy charming body and was born, domestic cartoons have really been scolded a lot. Limited funds, lack of creativity, and more importantly, I have not grasped the local cultural resources.
Po’s arrival really shows people once again that the United States is engaged in the efficient production capacity of "takenism" in cultural production. Let people know once again that we still have a long way to go in the competition of cultural influence. From Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Transformers to Mulan and Kung Fu Panda, American cartoons have landed in China, and they have basically made a sensation. And Chinese cartoons are still in the ascendant when they go abroad.
Po is tempered by China elements and American spirit. We have ready-made China elements here. What "spirit" should be injected to win the market and reputation? A few years ago, an animated film actually made a breakthrough-The Red Boy talks big about the Flame Mountain, which created a brand-new image of the Monkey King and Hong Haier. Aya’s voice (Hong Haier) is unique and the truth is quite China-good friends help each other, so they are not afraid of conspiracy. Take stock of your own good things, have an account in your heart, and study how to use it. This is the long-term way.
After understanding the direction, although the road is long, at least, we have enough reason to look forward to the future.
Editor: Wang Wenying
