No, it’s not about Nvidia’s replay system or the Joy Division single released in 1979. Disneytown, the shopping, dining and entertainment area at the Shanghai Disney Resort, right next to Disneyland has been staging the shadow puppetry since 6 September at the entrance of the town. The show is performed every day between 6:16 PM to 8:35 PM. It is an outdoor show so may be affected by weather.
The shadow play, titled “Mickey and Friends Travel Around China“, shows Mickey and Minnie visiting Chengdu, Sichuan in Southwest China, they have a taste of the famous hot pot from the region, accompanied by a local guide, a panda. Goofy and Pluto get down to business at Changsha’s neon-lit food streets while Donald and Daisy visit the Great Wall of China in Beijing, but do not taste the local cuisine, perhaps to avoid the famous Peking duck. The friends reunite on the Bund in Shanghai after their travels before the staff bring the shadow puppets to meet the crowd.
This is not the first time Disney has brought this traditional Chinese theatre to their park in Shanghai. Back in 2021, to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Ox, the park brought several Chinese street art forms from calligraphy to puppets, which also included shadow play. However, this time, it is more than a showcase of traditional craft, but instead is newly designed shadow puppets of Mickey and friends.
The shadow play is seen as Disney’s answer to the recent interest in traditional arts and culture in China, part of the “Guochao” trend and “New Chinese Style” fashion. Many comments online feel Disney’s way of paying homage to Chinese culture, both traditional and modern is admirable, especially in a fun way as presented with the performance. Disney’s glocalisation efforts have continued to be inspired and is inspiring.
