In 1998, Walt Disney released a movie Mulan based on the Chinese legend. The movie had created a big shot at that time. At the same time, it gained more than $300 million box office earnings. The movie kept some Chinese traditional elements. But, the image of Mulan was completely changed. Mulan was portrayed as a brave girl who made great efforts to achieve self-worth and pursue love. In 2009, the Chinese director Ma Chucheng made a film Hua Mulan. After the movie released, its box office earnings was 4.5 billion in five days. The Chinese version conformed to the history and tradition. However, the movie had not received the same effect as the Disney’s version.
The two movies were all adapted on a same story. While, there are too much differences between the two versions. These differences are the fruits of different cultural values. Therefore, the object of my thesis is on the basis of two versions of Hua Mulan to make a comparative analysis of the different cultural values between Chinese and America in order to explore the practical significance of culture and tradition.
1.2 Academic and Practical Significance
Nowadays, it is obvious that people from different countries hold different values. With the development of civilization and culture, inter-cultural communication has become inevitable events in daily life. It covers many fields such as, economics, arts, politics, culture and many other areas among which culture plays a significant role. However, different kinds of culture may have conflicts when they first meet. In order to avoid the misunderstandings and realize the cultural integration, we need to find a balanced point. The two versions of Mulan is a great example. The successful integration of the Western culture and Chinese culture provides us with valuable experiences. In the process of global integration, we should build up correct attitude towards inter-cultural communication.”Select the essence and discard the dross as well”.
Besides, in the highly developed society, movie has become one of the important parts of modern civilized life. As a media of communication, it presents the culture of a nation. Since the movies were all adapted from the Chinese poem, they are comparable. It is really important to study the two versions. A large amount of study has been written from the perspective of character, communication, but few from the culture values. Therefore, the study of the paper is necessary and innovative.
2 Culture
There are numerous definitions of culture. It has been interpreted in many ways and forms. Because of its persity and complexity, up to now, there is no standard definition that has been recognized by the society. 从文化价值观角度比较中美《花木兰》(2):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_28456.html