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MadeleiZoo β Shifu Study
Published: 2013-01-07 17:21:31 +0000 UTC; Views: 9186; Favourites: 131; Downloads: 16
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Description
Final project for one of my classes~We had to pick a character from an animated film/show, choose eight stills from the film/show, draw a literal interpretation based on each still, and then reinterpret the pose/mood/etc in a second drawing for each still. I chose Shifu from Kung Fu Panda.
My basic idea was to illustrate Shifu's opinion of Po as it changes throughout the movie, from contempt and frustration to finally respect. (The Chinese characters in the last drawing read "respect.")
First column: the actual stills from the movie
Second column (literal interpretation): pen, Copic markers, and watercolor backgrounds
Third column (my reinterpretation): pen, watercolor pencil, and watercolor backgrounds.
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Comments: 152
"The story is set in the Valley of Peace, a fictional land inΒ ancient China Β inhabited byΒ anthropomorphic Β animals." - Wikipedia.
You only need to look at the setting and the dress style of the characters to realise that it's meant to be set in Ancient China.
As for the modern English thing... Really? Well, of course it is. Most westerners wouldn't understand the movie if it was in Chinese. Modern Chinese people wouldn't understand it if an older form of Chinese was spoken. But to them, it's Chinese. That's like me trying to say the movie is set in a Western country because they speak English.
And of course there would be some things in there like glue and trampolines, but guess what? It's a movie aimed at a young audience with talking animals. It doesn't have to be 100% accurate, and it isn't. But it's still set in Ancient China. You'd have to be blind to miss that.
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The dress style isn't accurate, I'm telling you. The ancient Chinese changed their styles throughout the years, with different styles belonging to specific dynasties, and the dress style in the movie doesn't suggest a specific era, so if you place it at, like, 2,000 years ago, the Qing(1644-1911)-style clothing of some characters wouldn't make sense.
And by Ancient China, they could be meaning the ancient, long-existing land of China rather than "it is set in that time".
And there are plenty of people in China still living that way, you know. Not all of China is so modern.
At least if it's set no earlier than, like, 110 years ago, they'd have time to adopt English and all the unfixed clothing styles.
So, take back all you said, please.
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Okay, first of all, I will concede that I was using a faulty definition of "Ancient". Basically what I was trying to convey was an older version of China that is not modern, however "Ancient" suggests a much older timeframe. There's not exactly a word to call it that comes to mind which is as easily grasped as "Ancient". (Although, I don't doubt that the movie can still be set in Ancient China, however you define that to be). But even that's beside the point, because I believe my original meaning was clear in any case. But I do apologise for not being more specific.
I define "Modern China" as being "present-day China", or, at its earliest, China in the early nineties; eighties is probably pushing it.
Okay, now with that out of the way, let me get this straight.
Let's assume you're right. So, let's say the Valley of Peace is a small, fictional village existing in modern-day China, which, I agree, not all of China is so modern; mainly the cities are. So, the lack of presence of technology would make sense to an extent.
So, what you're telling me is, the whole of China has adopted English instead of Chinese in its many forms as their spoken language, and Chinese, as a spoken language, has been wiped out and replaced by English? That sounds terribly depressing to me. Not to mention, why? Why would they even do that? And if you assume that the Valley of Peace is a small, not-so-modern village in present-day-setting China, that makes no sense. If they don't have modern technology, why would they have adopted English? Adopting English would mean becoming assimilated with western culture, and modern technology, which clearly isn't the case.
And there's another important factor to consider here: the general audience. Your average Kung Fu Panda viewer, who knows extremely little about China and Chinese cultures and historical contexts, would assume the film is set in an older version of China. It's as simple as that. That assumption is there, and it would have been the intention of the movie makers. Of course the clothing styles aren't accurate (I wish they were, though). But once again, this is a fictional universe with talking animals. The movie makers didn't want it to be 100% accurate and probably didn't want to point to a specific time frame, because then there'd be loads of other historical things to consider, such as whether females are supposed to have their feet bound, and of course they wouldn't want to incorporate aspects like that. I'm pretty sure the idea was just to provide a setting that gave a general idea, a general impression of it being a historical setting. They wanted to create their own universe populated by all these wonderful characters, set it in China, but minus the specifics that wouldn't have been endearing to the target audience. For example, there are two female members of the furious five; the movie wouldn't be intentionally sexist, just in order to be historically accurate.
Furthermore, when people are simply talking about China in general, how many people do you know call it "Ancient China"? Whenever anyone says "Ancient China", I know they mean, well, Ancient China, not just China in general.
And even if it is set 110 years ago, that still wouldn't be classed as being "modern China", though correct me if I'm wrong. It may just be an issue of definitions. But 110 years ago, they still would have been using traditional and not simplified characters, and so my original comment about the characters still stands.
But anyway, I really don't understand why you're so against the idea that Kung Fu Panda is set in an older setting. And you feel so strongly about this, that you decided to respond to one of my comments which is over a year old in order to instigate some kind of argument about the matter. You'd prefer the prospect of Chinese as a spoken language being wiped out, instead of the idea that, hey, you can't really make a whole animated movie spoken in Chinese aimed at a predominantly western, English-speaking audience. (Of course, the movie was a big hit in China too).
Why do you object so strongly to the idea that these movies are set at some point in China's past, not necessarily "Ancient" times, but certainly not modern - a point in history. A fictional point in history, that is? I really want to understand here.
And hey, we both clearly love this movie as well as Chinese culture. If anything, I can see us getting along really well. I, for one, want to be your friend. I don't see the point of this argument and why you feel so convinced that this movie is set in modern-day China?
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I'll tell you tomorrow, have to go now
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Okay, all though you could have just waited until tomorrow to respond.
Also, that means you'll have to wait a bit for me to respond. I'm going to be away for three days on a school camp thing.
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Yep.
Now, I do believe you have a response to give me?
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They'd be able to adopt English without technology. They find it written on paper by westerners visiting and decide to speak it alongside Chinese. That could happen.
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That still doesn't answer my questions that I brought up in my comments; WHY are you so against the movies being set in Ancient China? It also doesn't address a lot of what I brought up.
And once again... Why? Why on Earth would they do that - suddenly decide to adopt English? There is absolutely no reason to. And...? Westerners visiting writing it on paper? I'm sorry, but that's just simply not enough to decide to abandon an entire language and adopt a new one.
Besides, they still write in Chinese, not English. And read in Chinese.
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What if the Westerners visiting taught them to only speak it, if not read and write?
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You still utterly fail to address 80% of what I am saying. So I'll repeat this question to you:
Why do you object so strongly to the idea that these movies are set at some point in China's past, not necessarily "Ancient" times, but certainly not modern - a point in history. A fictional point in history, that is?
And once again, why? Why would they adopt English? Why would they want to?
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Well, I have a psychological condition. I don't yet have time to further explain but will later today.
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It's called Asperger's Syndrome
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That doesn't answer my question. And what relevance does this information have?
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I still don't yet have time
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I think I understand. This drives you to make sense of a movie set in China where everyone seems to speak English. You can't accept a less satisfying option.
But you know the movie was shown in Chinese in China, right?
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Right.Β
I've another theory
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Okay. So you have another theory that helps you be satisfied with the movies as they are.
But you've got to understand, this is your own theory. As much as you might want to, you can't expect everyone to know about and conform to your theory. You responded to my comment originally seeming to expect my agreement. Unfortunately, that isn't the case.
Anyway, would it make you feel better that there is a version of the movie in Chinese?
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Here goes:
What if it's actually set in the future, after humans have gone extinct?
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You can believe that if you want. But you can't expect me to.
Also, if humans are extinct, why would they speak English, a human language, as opposed to developing their own common language?
Also, you haven't answered my pointing out about the movie being spoken in Chinese. The movie is spoken in a lot of languages.
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Here's the story:
Set at least 1,000 years later, humans have either died, or due to their own nuclear war, gotten so mutated they've been able to harmlessly interbreed with animals.
If that were to apply, then the supposed anthro animals are actually heavily mutated humans. Either that, or of mixed descent of normal animals and mutated humans.Β
Now I don't know what to say about the spoken language part.Β
Human documents would still exist, only humans themselves would be extinct. Plus they're descended from humans.Β
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That's just a theory.
Also Kung Fu Panda is shown in Chinese in China. Therefore, it can be set in past China.
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Would just 110 years ago be okay?
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Well, that's in the past, isn't it?
Which means you're still wrong about it being set in modern times, and I was right.
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Yes.Β
So, how about early 20th century. Like 1900-1910.
Agreed?Β
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Well, when were glue and trampolines invented, and when are they mentioned in the movies?
Because I think details like that are negligible.
I guess you COULD set it then, it would make sense, I guess, but I still feel it'd be earlier. But it could work.
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I'm willing to acknowledge that's possible. But I'm not going to suddenly assume that is the case. I, myself, still have the right to set it in Ancient China - it's intended setting. But that is a reasonable time as well.
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Is 1905 even 'ancient' by your standards?
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There's no exact cut-off point for what can be considered "Ancient China", but no, I'd still say that would be too recent - courses at university in Modern History tend to cover as far back as the 1700s. I'd say around the 1600s could be considered Ancient China, the 1700s is kinda pushing it... But I don't want to put an exact date on when Kung Fu Panda is set historically, and I don't think the creators want to either, which is why the actual time seems to be so vague. (No exact dress style, etc.)
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18th century is considered ancient by several
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Links please
I mean, I can see why you could. But I dunno, I'm still iffy about it. But I'd have to look into it more. I've asked my History teacher and she said she's gonna think about it.
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Okay, the Manchu-style clothing of some villagers suggest quite a strong possibility of being set in the 18rh to 19th centuries.
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18th century = 1700s. I'm cool with that. I wouldn't call it "Ancient" China but I can see Kung Fu Panda being set then.
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Okay, and what about the 19th one?
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Hmmm, yeah I think that may be pushing it. Hmmmm.... Yeah I might have to draw the line. I think for me it's gotta be before the 1800s.
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How about we settle on the1700s?
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Sorry, I'd prefer to go 1600s or earlier
But I can still agree on 1700s. So yeah.
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Awesome - glad we could come to a conclusion about this.
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How about,hmm, 1790s?
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I'm sorry, but I'm not going to discuss this anymore. 
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We did. Sorry to bother you.
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