Chinese characters in American cartoons

[Shawanna W]

Do people like the way Chinese characters are portrayed in American cartoons?

You had Chop Socky Chooks, Shaolin Showdown, Jackie Chan adventures, Juniper Lee, American Dragon, etc. on TV recently.

Jubilee from the X-Men was the farthest thing from a stereotype.

 

[Treasan]

That one's a UK/Canada co-production, so the USA's not to blame.

 

[I love the smell of rain]

Blame Canada! Blame Canada! Oh, and the UK

 

[Kim D.]

I'll always be surprised that no one complained about Omi in Xiaolin Showdown.

 

[/-=GT=-\]

He kind of reminded me of the Yellow Kid.

Is Avatar okay?

 

[ahavahforjesus]

I think Gwen from Mighty B is Chinese, and she talks like she a gangsta or something, so yeah...

 

[Kings Knight]

Avatar isn't really applicable, IMO, since it takes place in an alternate universe with flying bison that's got no real relation to China, therefore, they're not Chinese.

However, it could always be argued that a lot has Asian (including Chinese) influences in culture, martial arts (I don't recall what style(s) influences bending, I'm not that heavy a fan), and I keep snesing some hints of daoism, which is Chinese, so I guess it could count. In a roundabout way.


But on the topic of Chinese characters, I'd say everyone in Kung Fu Panda more than qualifies, and what's more, give a very homage to Chinese culture. Or at least, China sure seems to think so.

 

[iamon69]

Yeah but the show was created by a Chinese American woman.

 

[caity mae]

I think the world of Avatar is a good example of what TV Tropes calls a "Fantasy Counterpart Culture".

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FantasyCounterpartCulture

 

[KCW]

The only one I can think of right now is Asian correspondent Tricia Takenawa from Family Guy, but she wasn't a major character.

 

[Ilikeit]

umm, that's a Japanese last name.

 

[Romel S]

Oh. That was a stupid mistake.:sweat:

 

[fillojeta a]

The closest thing to a stereotypical Asian family is the Proud Family that I've seen.

These triplets excel in school and have a stubborn father who pushes them to do a lot of hard work.

 

[Anner]

There were twin siblings Kim and Kam Chin on Class of 3000. But I'm not sure if they count since they're Chinese-American kids who were born in Ohio.

 

[Eusebius]

Jubilee was Chinese? I don't remember that at all, but maybe it was played down on X-Men: The Animated Series?

 

[K N Swamy]

Well, Jubilee is short for her full name Jubilation Lee. The last name is definitely Chinese.

 

[Jed F.]

Technically Jubilee is Chinese-American.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(comics)

 

[Baby Owen due feb.10.2010]

She was stereotypical in ways, just not asian stereotypes

She was a foster kid and pretty much lacked any of her biological parents culture

 

[Wes H]

Robert E. Lee, Spike Lee, Jason Lee, and Christopher Lee would probably disagree with you. OK, Robert E. Lee wouldn't but only because he's kind of dead .

But yes, Jubilee was Chinese-American, even though I don't think the distinction was important for the original question. I don't think it ever got played up on any of the animated series, which is cool in a way. I actually like Jubilee quite a bit because she was one of the first major Asian characters who completely defied the "model minority" stereotype that was prevalent at the time.

-- Ed