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China’s own Kung Fu Mulan takes on Disney and becomes another 2020 flop
- Kung Fu Mulan was pulled from cinemas just three days after opening to terrible reviews and poor turnout
- Gold Valley Films is known for productions that look like Disney knock-offs, highlighting the struggles of China’s animation industry even after hits like Nezha
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When Disney’s new live-action Mulan was released in September, audiences in China were not kind. The film was swiftly slammed online, with people saying it misrepresented Chinese culture and some comparing it to Western Chinese food.
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Now a new Chinese-made animated film about Mulan is trying to rectify that.
Kung Fu Mulan is being billed as featuring “real China, real Mulan”, as a poster for the film reads. Unfortunately for the studio behind it, the film turned into an even bigger flop than the Disney epic.
The new 3D animated film comes from Chinese studio Gold Valley Films and hit cinemas on October 3 — a few days into China’s “golden week” holiday celebrating National Day. Holidays in China are usually considered opportunities for domestic films, but it does not appear to have helped Kung Fu Mulan.
Immediately after its release, the film received a barrage of negative reviews online. Just three days later, the film was pulled from theatres.
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“Someone else made a Mulan [film], [people] cry out that they smeared Chinese culture. Now Chinese people make a Mulan like this. I have nothing to say,” one person posted on the Chinese review site Douban.
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