Singapore—A parody in Hokkien of a scene from the recently released live-action remake of Mulan from Disney posted by local rappers Yung Parents has been taken down due to copyright infringement, reported AsiaOne on September 16.
The rap duo, PRC Ning and đoke $achok, posted the AsiaOne article on their Facebook page, with the caption, “Thank you everyone! Glad you enjoy our nonsense.”
The video was uploaded by Yung Parents (who are neither young nor parents) on Sunday (Sept 13) and got more than 11,000 views, as well as hundreds of shares, on social media.
However, due to its content, it was also flagged by Disney.
The video is a humorous, dubbed-over clip in Hokkien wherein Mulan’s father, Hua Zhou, struggles over his recruitment to the imperial army.
And while the video clip was enjoyed by many, Disney Enterprises was not too thrilled by it. Therefore, Facebook sent a Matching Content Notice by September 16, and took the video down.
The notice said, “Your video matches one minute and 14 seconds of video owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc.”
However, đoke $achok, whose real name is Andre Brinstan Frois, posted an edited clip on his personal account, with the caption, “Disney took down my dubbed Mulan video so I edited it and here is the re-up.”
https://www.facebook.com/drefrois/videos/10163930369410214
Speaking to AsiaOne, Mr Frois said “I saw that in the new Mulan film, the Mulan character (who is legendarily of Northern Wei descent) was placed in a tulou (traditional Fujian rural dwelling). I found that comical ’cause living in a tulou means Mulan speaks Hakka or perhaps one of the 90 other Fujian dialects. And that would also mean she rode at least 2,000km north to the Mongolian war front.”
Furthermore, he acknowledged that Disney was within its rights to remove the video, but added, “The warm reception re-emphasised to me that Singaporeans want something to call ours. Most Singaporeans are westernised and mostly unsure of what Singaporean culture is, so I’m really happy to be able to shine the spotlight on these little nuggets of identity — stuff that we can celebrate, y’know?”
It looks like Mr Frois has been thinking of Mulan a lot lately, based on numerous posts related to the movie. In a widely shared post on September 12, he wrote, “If Mulan lived in a 土楼 tǔlóu, that indicates that she’s from Fujian and speaks one of the many forms of Hokkien.
So a remark like “I will abscond from my father and mother to fight for my country. Women are not allowed to enlist, but I can pretend to be a boy and make amends for my country.”
… translated to her native tongue might sound something like:
“Kan wa lao beh lao bu ke chiong sua. Zha bor beh sai zho peng, dan si wa eh sai kayseow dan zho ta pou kia, ka ho hia di bo siu.”
https://www.facebook.com/drefrois/posts/10163910152015214
Those who would like to get to know the rap duo’s music can do so on their YouTube channel or on their Facebook page.
—/TISG
Read also: Two Asian Hollywood stars join in the criticism of Mulan remake
Two Asian Hollywood stars join in the criticism of Mulan remake