Disney's 'The Secret of the Magic Gourd' (China)

[Tom Morrow]

Disney's The Magic Gourd to open in China



Disney tries its hand at Chinese content with new fairy tale movie (http://www.news1130.com/news/entertainment/article.jsp?content=e051623A)
Disney's latest China strategy doesn't involve Mickey, Minnie or Goofy. It's all about an enchanted vegetable
News1130 All News Radio- Vancouver, Canada

The Walt Disney Co. China announced Wednesday it will release a Chinese-language animated movie, The Magic Gourd, this summer - its first co-production with the state-run China Film Group. The movie, based on a novel written by the late Chinese children's writer Zhang Tianyi, is about a boy who discovers a gourd - a squash-like vegetable often used in Asian dishes - that grants him wishes.

The movie marks a departure from Disney's established strategy of promoting its mainstay stories and characters including Mickey Mouse, Minnie and Donald Duck. Disney's overarching approach to cracking the Chinese market has been to flood the country with its content.

"In addition to bringing more Disney family entertainment content to China, we attach great importance on finding locally relevant and appealing content which complements our existing story values," Stanley Cheung, managing director of Disney China, said in a statement. "We respect and appreciate the deep-rooted rich Chinese local culture."
complete article (http://www.news1130.com/news/entertainment/article.jsp?content=e051623A)


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[Tom Morrow]

Disney's Magic Gourd makes $1M in China




Disney's 'Gourd' Makes $1M in China (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sns-ap-china-disney-movies,0,6938904.story)
Orlando Sentinel - FL

The Walt Disney Co.'s first non-Hollywood movie made more than US$1 million (euro740,000) at Chinese box offices in its first week, but The Secret of the Magic Gourd, lagged far behind two of this year's biggest American releases, the company said Monday. Disney's first major venture into localized Chinese content, made more than US$1 million (euro740,000), or 7.6 million Chinese yuan in the week since its debut on June 29, the company said in a statement.

By comparison, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, earned 80 million yuan (US$10.5 million; euro7.7 million) in China in its first week since its June 12 release, while Spider-Man 3 brought in 70 million yuan (US$9.2 million; euro6.7 million), according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency. The Chinese cinema market is much smaller than its U.S. counterpart. While an American hit can make hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars, a box office take in the tens of millions would be considered a success in China.

Still, Disney said it was pleased with the performance of Magic Gourd, pointing out that the movie, taken together with Pirates, "gave Disney a nice position at the Chinese box office."

Magic Gourd is the first-ever Disney-branded movie made outside Hollywood. Disney's famed animators were not involved. Magic Gourd, based on a famous Chinese children's story, is about a boy who's troubled by his magical vegetable, which steals from others to please him.

Disney says it plans to launch a story book and merchandise linked to "Magic Gourd," as well as rolling out other Chinese Disney characters to complement its more traditional ones. It's a significant venture into local-flavored programming for a company that has until now mainly banked on its mainstay characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
complete article (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sns-ap-china-disney-movies,0,6938904.story)




Sent from Ezra (http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/z/Ezra/)

[Ezra]

Here is a link to the Chinese language website for the movie,
where you can view the trailer:
The Secret of the Magic Gourd (http://www.disney.com.cn/hulumimi/index.html)
The links for the trailer look like this:
http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/gallery/files/15227-magic-gourd-links.gif