‘Kung Fu Panda’ a hit in China despite protest

Chinese audiences do not seem to mind having their culture filtered through Hollywood and handed back to them as family entertainment. KUNG FU PANDA, DreamWorks SKG’s animated kung fu comedy has been performing strongly at the Chinese box office since its release there on June 20th.

The film has already earned $1.45 million in wide release across China and is expected to earn a record 1 million yuan in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan which is still recovering from a massive earthquake where as many as 90,000 people have lost their lives.

The release in Sichuan, home to the giant panda, had been delayed following a protest by performance artist Zhao Bandi, who employs panda images in his work, after he complained that the film was in poor taste and disrespectful to the earthquake victims.

In response, Zhao’s comments prompted a backlash online with the general sentiment being that people living in the quake zone might need some cheering up from the movie.

Source: Variety Asia Online, Xinhua

Update: June 25, 2008

As an update to this story I came across additional information about the leading Chinese protester of KUNG FU PANDA and what his real motivations may have been. See a related article at Danwei.org for details.