CHINA JEALOUS OF HOLLYWOOD'S PANDA SUCCESS

The box-office popularity of Kung Fu Panda in China, where it has earned $20 million since its release in late June, has led to a debate in the country about why a film with many Chinese symbols and settings could not have been made in China itself, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported from Beijing today (Tuesday). The newspaper quoted from a blogger named Mu on the Sina.com website: "Although the 'theft' of the Chinese symbol of the panda gives us pain, at least it makes the Chinese movie industry consider why we are always one step behind in globalizations war of creation." The film was also the center of a debate by a parliamentary cultural-affairs committee, which concluded, according to the Xinhua News Agency, that there are too many government controls imposed on film production. "Although there is no secret ingredient to filmmaking success, the government ought to relax its oversight," the committee said.

08/07/2008