Abstract

Mulan, a cartoon movie made by Walt Disney Company, is a fit case of successful transculturation. Although the movie is originated from an ancient Chinese story, it is uniquely integrated with the American culture. This paper intends to analyze the phenomenon of transculturation reflected in Mulan from two aspects: cultural globalization and cultural localization. As the study has demonstrated, the original story has been significantly adapted in character images, structure, and ideology. Because of this, Disney Mulan has accomplished a successful transculturation and gained great popularity in the world. This kind of American-style innovation on culture is no doubt of great reference value to world traditional cultural transmission: we must learn to seek common grounds while sharing differences and to absorb the essence while discarding the dross.

Key words: Mulan, transculturation, cultural globalization, cultural localization，reference value

摘   要

迪斯尼公司出产的《花木兰》是成功进行文化转换的一个范例。影片虽然取材于古老的东方故事，却赋予它浓厚的美国文化色彩。本文从文化全球化和文化本土化两方面探讨了迪斯尼动画《花木兰》中的文化转换。研究表明，影片不论是在人物形象、故事结构，还是在主题思想上都对原版的《花木兰》进行了一定程度的改编。正因为如此，迪斯尼《花木兰》才取得了较为成功的文化转换，受到广泛欢迎。美国迪斯尼在文化上的这种创新对世界传统文化的传播有着深远的借鉴意义，那就是要求同存异，取其精华，去其糟粕。

关键词：《花木兰》；文化转换；文化全球化；文化本土化；借鉴意义

1.    Introduction
Nowadays, with increasingly frequent communication in the areas of trade and commerce, the world is taking on a trend of “integration”. Moreover, this trend is also spreading to the field of culture and ideology now. Under this background, local cultures can be transformed into global cultures through transculturation. So, in order to diversify cultural resources and products, and at the same time, to earn more profits, many companies such as Walt Disney Company have been looking for inspiration from foreign cultures. Mulan, an animated film made by Walt Disney Company in 1998, is adapted from an ancient Chinese story. It has gained great popularity among the world, and become a fit example of a successful transculturation.