User:Fountinz/Portrayal of East Asians in American film and theater

Early Film

Americans have been putting Asian characters into films since 1896; however, it was historically common to hire white actors to portray Asian characters. Although some Asian characters are played by Asian actors in early films that surround an Asian story or setting, most of the main characters are played by white actors, even when the role is written as an Asian character.

Tea House of the August Moon (1956)

The original story of this film was from a novel version written by Vern Sneider in 1952.Tea House of the August Moon film version was adapted in 1956 from the play version in 1953, written by John Patrick. This American comedy film is directed by Daniel Mann. The plot is surrounded by the concept of the United States military government trying to establish power and influence over Japan, specifically in Okinawa, during wartime. Although the cast does include actual Japanese actors and actresses that fit the Japanese characters in the film, such as Machiko Kyō, Jun Negami, Nijiko Kiyokawa, and Mitsuko Sawamura, the main character, Sakini, is played by a white American actor, Marlon Brando.

Asian Representation in American Animated Films

Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (1944)

Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips is an eight minute animated short directed by Friz Freleng and produced through Warner Bros. Cartoons as part of the Merrie Melodies cartoon series. It portrays Japanese stereotypes of the Japanese Emperor, military, sumo wrestler, and geisha through Bugs Bunny and his interactions with a Japanese soldier on an island.

Siamese Cats in Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Lady and the Tramp is an animated musical film directed by Clyde Geronimi Wilfred Jackson. Voice actors include Peggy Lee, Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Bill Thompson, Bill Baucon, Steve Freberg, Verna Felton, Alan Reed, George Givot, Dallas, McKennon, and Lee Millar. Although this animation is about dogs, the portrayal of the Siamese cats with buck-teeth and slanted eyes was criticized by many who believed that it was a racist representation of stereotypical Asians. The exaggerated accents were also mocking of the Thai language.

Mulan (1998)

The animated film, Mulan, was produced by the Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures in 1998. It is based on an old traditional Chinese folktale about a young girl, Hua Mulan, who disguises as a man to take his father's spot in the army. It boasts international popularity and distribution. This film was so successful that in 2004, Mulan II, its sequel was produced. However, Walt Disney is not the first or only company to adapt Mulan's story into an animation. In 1998, United American Video Entertainment produced an animation called, The Secret of Mulan, that uses six-legged caterpillars to represent the characters in a friendlier way for young children.

Bao (2018)

Bao is one of Pixar's animated shorts produced in 2018 and directed by Domee Shi. It portrays the importance of family and culture in the Chinese American community. The plot surrounds a story about a Chinese mother who creates a baby dumpling that comes to life to help her cope with the loneliness and grief in missing her son who has grown up.

Float (2019)

Float is a seven minute short film produced by Pixar released in 2019 about a Filipino father trying to keep his newborn son's ability to float a secret from others. It is written and directed by Bobby Rubio. In the beginning, Rubio pictured the father and son pair as Caucasian, but, after some encouragement from his coworkers, he later changed them to Filipino to better reflect his own personal story into the characters. Rubio states that the short is not "Filipino American specific", rather it intends to be a story that is universal and relevant to all audience members.

References

Lee, Joann. "Asian American Actors in Film, Television and Theater, An Ethnographic Case Study." Race, Gender & Class 8, no. 4 (2001): 176-84. Accessed May 11, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/41675001.

Troyer, Howard W. "The State of the World, circa 1952." The Antioch Review 13, no. 1 (1953): 111-18. Accessed May 11, 2020. doi:10.2307/4609617.

LAN DONG. "Of Animation and Mulan’s International Fame." In Mulan's Legend and Legacy in China and the United States, 159-87. PHILADELPHIA: Temple University Press, 2011. Accessed May 11, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14btd0g.10.

"Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips(1944) | UC Berkeley Library". www.lib.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-11.

"Lady and the Tramp (Walt Disney Pictures, 1955) | UC Berkeley Library". www.lib.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-11.

SHARMA, MANISHA. "CHAPTER SEVEN: Disney and the Ethnic Other: A Semiotic Analysis of American Identity." Counterpoints477 (2016): 95-107. Accessed May 11, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/45157189.

Dockterman, Eliana. “Here’s the Tasty Recipe for the Bao From Pixar’s Charming New Short Bao.” Time.Com, June 2018, p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=130166810&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

"'Float,' Pixar's first animated short with Filipino characters, lands on Disney+ Nov. 12 —". Asian Journal News. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2020-06-08.