The Disney Movie "mulan" Cross-cultural Research

In the background of Globalization, the Chinese traditional story about Mulan joining the army in the place of her father was adapted by Walt Disney Pictures twice as well as shown as Mulan and MulanII in 1998 and 2006 all over the world. The reconstruction of classical works in different cultures by Walt Disney Pictures is always imprinted with typical American values. In an attempt to discuss the aforementioned intercultural reconstruction, this thesis mainly focuses on analyzing the series of Mulan films from the perspective of image studies of comparative literature and narratology.The whole thesis is divided into six parts. The exordium makes a brief introduction of the production and box office of Mulan films. On this basis, it raises the theme of this thesis, that is, to analyze the differences in theme and narration between the original text and the films which were reconstructed by Walt Disney Pictures as well as to explore the relationship between such differences and the tradition of imagining China in the American culture. Chapter One illustrates the reasons for which Walt Disney Pictures chose the story of Mulan after giving a detailed analysis of the market demand in the background of cultural industrialization as well as the cultural foundation in accepting this story in America. Chapter Two mainly deals with the themes of Mulan films with the emphasis on the change of themes in the series of Mulan films, that is, from"self-sacrificing, keeping loyal and filial"to"self-fulfilling, love is all". It also discusses the influence of core American values on the theme of Mulan films. Chapter three mainly analyzes the narration of Mulan films. Through analyzing and comparing the narrative grammar of the series of Mulan films in terms of narratology, this chapter summs up the evolution of narrative grammar of Mulan films and the traditional Mulan Balad as a result of intercultural reconstruction. Chapter four focuses on the inheritance and breakthrough by the series of Mulan films of the tradition of imagining China in American movies. Last but not least, on the basis of analyzing the adaption and reconstruction of the weal cultures by the strong ones in the background of Globalization, which is reflected in the series of Mulan films, the epilogue points out that we Chinese people should accept such phenomenon with tolerance while the Chinese cartoon circle should make full use of national resources and carry out mutual communication with its counterparts overseas.