Abstract

    In 1998, Disney introduced its 36th cartoon film Mulan which was based on the famous Chinese The Ballad of Mulan and received nearly three hundred million dollars in box office receipts finally. Although the classic work Mulan was a very famous legend in Chinese traditional history, Disney found the exchange value in it and made the transculturation in their own way so that they managed to win good reputation world widely.
Through the comparative analysis of traditional Chinese The Ballad of Mulan and the American Animated cartoon film Mulan, this essay tried to find out why the same subject, for China and the United States, there are different explanations from the perspectives of individualism, feminism and attitudes towards social activities and timing preferences. Only in this way can the audience better understand the differences of cultural values and cultural psychology between western countries and China.

Key words:  The Ballad of Mulan  Feminism  Individualism  Time Orientation  Activity Theory

摘 要

1998年,迪斯尼公司推出了其第36部卡通电影《木兰》。这是一部基于中国著名民谣《木兰辞》改编的电影，最后收到了近三亿美元的票房收入。尽管《木兰辞》是一个非常著名的传说，在中国传统历史中也十分经典，美国的迪斯尼公司却发现了其文化转换价值,用他们自己的方式进行文化嫁接，把《木兰辞》搬上银幕，制作成为大型动画片《木兰》，从而赢得了全世界的赞誉。
本论文试图从个人主义、女权主义，社会活动的态度和时间偏好等角度，对比分析中国传统的民谣《木兰辞》 和美国动画电影《木兰》为什么基于相同的主题,会有如此迥然不同的诠释。只有通过这种方式，观众才能更好地理解中西方国家之间的文化价值观和文化心理差异。

关键词： 《木兰辞》  文化差异  女性主义  个人主义  活动理论  时间  指向理论

1. Introduction
Cultural differences between China and the United States have always been a research focus. In 1998, Disney introduced its 36th animated film Mulan which was based on the famous Chinese ballad Mulan to the whole world and received nearly three hundred million dollars in box office receipts finally (Ai, 2009).
Although both of the Chinese ballad Mulan and American animated film Mulan describe the story that female disguised as men and joined the army for her father. In Disney’s animation industry packing, the character Mulan is quietly replaced by the American values and concepts, rather than the Chinese traditional cultural core.