Mulan and the Cultural Diplomacy Seminar

I would like to start off saying that I truly enjoyed reading about Mulan in the perspective that we did. I am among many who watched Mulan as a young girl, but what amazed me is how much thought went behind the making of the movie. From the story behind it, to the style in which the characters were animated, every detail had to be considered. Traditional Chinese values had to be incorporated into the movie, but they also needed to make it enjoyable for children to watch. Because Mulan was shown to people all over the world, many accommodations needed to be made. Disney brought in all types of specialists and people of Chinese descent in order to produce a popular children's movie. Joseph F. Chan, author of "Disneyfying and Globalizing the Chinese Legend Mulan: A Study of Transculturization", writes:

"The idea is to get a first-hand feel of the actual location of their screen stories. The influence of the field trip shows in the movie, as evidenced by the presence of Chinese scenes such as vilions, tomb slabs, vertical flags and Budha caves. The influence also shows in the heavy use of spareness and simplicity, a visual style often found in Chinese art" (236-237).

I thought it was incredible how much thought and communication had to happen in order for the movie to be successful. Furthermore, it was the first Disney movie that used Chinese influence and didn't use the usual "Disney formula" where there is a love interest. I think Mulan successfully mixed Chinese and American culture to form a truly amazing movie.

The seminar we went to today, really helped to tie our talk about global media and culture. I thought it was really interesting to hear from a variety of panelists and to get their take on what cultural diplomacy meant to them. Even though some thought the man talking about Russia was too specific, I actually thought what he was saying was interesting. I liked hearing about what Russians thought about our culture and was surprised to hear that they weren't as enthusiastic about our culture as they used to be. The speaker explained that the Russians seem to think that they care more about our culture than we do about theirs. They also take culture a lot more serious and believe it makes up their identity. I enjoyed hearing about this alternate perspective on American culture. The different studies that were discussed and various points about the arts promoting diplomacy made me realize how important cross-cultural communication is. Without it, we would not have dialogue and would not know anything about other cultures. We would ultimately become isolated. Overall the seminar was fun to hear and I learned a lot.