Shijingshan Amusement Park, located in Beijing, is apparently based on Disneyland, and has costumed characters that apparently resemble such classic Disney characters as Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Tigger. Other mascots can be seen to resemble non-Disney characters such as Hello Kitty and Shrek. The park’s operators claim that the characters are original creations and deny copyright infringement. For example, they claim the mouse mascot is a “cat with very large ears.”
Strange, since there IS a Disneyland in Hong Kong. I just showed the link to my Thai wife, who IS ethnic Chinese, and she said, “Typical Chinese.” 
We’ll be in Beijing later this month, but I don’t we weren’t planning to check this place out anyway.
“In other news tonight, the sun set in the West.” :dubious:
I sometimes wonder if I’m alone in being utterly unable to see the appeal of Disney characters. They’re universally ugly* and just generally ick me out. Still, you’d have thought the Chinese could come up with some butt-ugly anthropomorphic animals off their own bat.
- Well ok, except for the Little Mermaid.
I for one say good. It’s not like Disney has never stolen anything from anyone before. Google “Kimba the White Lion” and look at Disney with new eyes.
When I was in Chengdu in 2005, Starbuck’s opened five or six branches simultaneously in order to saturate the market to block out the inevitable imitators who would appear within weeks. As the Chinese woman who told me this said, “Typical Chinese”.
ETA: Brilliant: “It’s not a mouse, it’s a cat with very large ears.” I love it.
The Chinese have zero respect for copyright. I know that’s not news.
But, I know craftspeople (artists with original designs and handmade products) who have had their ideas completely ripped off, mass produced in China, and then sold to Target and other department stores.
Try selling one of your pieces for $300, when Target is selling a shit-ass knock-off for $40. Not that this amusement park is less egregious, but it ain’t enough to put Disney out of business. It is enough to destroy an artists’ livelihood.
“It’s not a Mouse – It’s a Cat With Big Ears”
Right. And a non-hare-lipped cat with a protruding snout at that. And all ducks wear blue sailor suits with sailor hats…
Looking further down on that linked page I find this page about a Chinese woman who, judging from the video, is vacuuming her breasts to make them larger. And apparently it’s only 35,000 Y !
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=1071
Wait’ll I tell Pepper Mill that I found a new use for our Dyson!
Those aren’t rip-offs- they’re completely original characters, like Rickey Rouse and Monald Muck.
Normally I hate copyright infringement, but it’s Disney, so screw 'em. Isn’t Snow White a public-domain fairytale character, anyway? Personally, I’m tired of Disney acting as if they created Winnie the Pooh (books by A.A. Milne) and Pinocchio (novel by Carlo Collodi).
Disney may not have created the characters, but they created the particular images used. So you can use Cinderella or The Little Mermaid, but not if they look like Disney’s versions. Nobody else’s interpretation of Pinocchio looks like the Disney version. And, although there’s a Cricket in that story, only in Disney is he named Jiminy Cricket *
Similarly, Disney’s depictions of the Winnie-the-Pooh characters differs from A.A. milne’s, and their versions of Alice in Wonderland characters don’t look like anyone else’s (especially Tenniel’s classic illustrations), so they can claim ownership of the images.
- "Jiminy Cricket seems to have been a mild bucolic euphemism – you used it in place of “Jesus Christ!” (same initials). Characters in other Disney films sometimes say “Jiminy” or “Jiminy Cricket”, as in Peter Pan. I suspect it’s a reminiscence from Disney’s Plains childhood (And other Disney animators, a lot of whom came througfh the Kansas City Film Ad Company, like him.)
Who gives a shit about Disney? I say good on China. I like it when they steal from Microsoft too. I find it gratifying.
No surprise on Disney’s end either- they have actually threatened lawsuits on places like daycare centers for having Disney characters painted on the nursery walls without permission, and this is a million times “worse”.
And Hollywood? Los Alamos? Good on China? If you draw the line at all, where does it lie?
No, you’re not.
It’s also astounding how many people you see walking around with that shit on tehir clothes, or figurines in their houses.
It’s been said, “nobody thinks that they have bad taste”.
If that’s true, I wonder if people who wear/display that shit have any concept of “taste” at all.
So would you prefer that intellectual property have no legal protection? It’s one way to go, but would, I think, tend to retard the development of software and entertainment like books and movies. Or do you want to deny protection only to the big companies?
I don’t want to change any laws. I just don’t feel sorry for giant corporations. They aren’t really getting hurt. It’s like shoplifting from Wal-Mart. The victim isn’t really a victim.
First of all, as Trunk mentioned, the rampant piracy in China affects small artists and small companies as well as giant corporations. And I don’t agree that IP piracy is OK if the companies “aren’t really getting hurt.” Theft is theft. (Although if you feel that way about shoplifting at Wal-Mart, I look forward to hearing how that works as a defense in the trial.)
I’m all for China pirating movies, at least. Corporatocracy is more of a threat to America than China. It gratifies me to think of those fat corporate weasels squirming impotently while China does whatever the fuck it wants with their precious “intellectual property.”
Nuke tech is (obviously) something else.
I don’t shoplift at Wal-Mart. I won’t set foot in a Wal-Mart. I just don’t care if other people shoplift in Wal-Mart.
I don’t believe that China hurts small artists or companies. Giant corporations hurt small artists and companies. The biggest enemy of small business is big business, not petty theft from China.