CUL 610BB
China and the World
Professor: K.Sproul
Jasmine Chenyu Fu
010784148
Mar 11, 2015
Chinese Cultures in Kung Fu Panda 2
Nobody can say Kung Fu Panda 2 is not a successful movie. It is fun to watch, not only for the kid but also for adults like me. Also the whole Kung Fu Panda series earned a huge success in film industry. As a big fan of this movie, I watched it couple times. The story line is not that unique. It is like other Disney movies, some normal guy turns to be a super hero and fights the bad guys. If the story were moved to a regular Hollywood movie, it would not be such successful. People love this movie because it talks about China, and the goofy panda, but mostly because of China. As one of the most mystery countries in the world, its culture in this movie makes everything 100 times attractive. There are so many interesting culture reflections in this movie. I can tell the producers digged deeply to present their understanding about China. Since there is so many can be talked about, I will pick three main points which catch my eyes, the historic objects, the food, and the religion.
The time line of Kung Fu Panda 2 is put into the ancient time. It is difficult to say the specific dynasty, because it is cartoony. However, the historic symbolism is everywhere. The architecture in the movie is quit old Chinese style. It remains me the residential building in South China, like Anhui or Jiangsu. Those old building are still useable and using by local village residents. The Hui-style of these architectures immediately brings me back to the warm moist but cute Jiangnan. It really creates the setting of the story. Another interesting symbol is the instruments in the Musician Village, AKA the Pig Village. All the instruments are realistic. The sounds and the appearance of the instruments are so real. They seem like could be found in history books or museums. All these details are handled so intensive. The audiences know they are watching a movie talked about China because of these details. As my favorite part, Chinese food is another important symbol can be found in the movie. All the food appears in the film is really realistic. For example, the buns what Po playing at the beginning of the film are traditional Shanghai Sheng Jian; and Mr. Ping’s proud noodles are Sichuan noodles. Also in the market of capital city, the vegetables, such as radish and cabbage,