Walt Disney is credited for creating such wonderful things as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. However, he cannot take the credit for creating other well-loved characters, such as Cinderella and Snow White. They are almost automatically associated with Disney because Disney turned old fables(寓言)into cartoon movies.

The original Cinderella varies very much from the Disney version we know today. It started off with the girl mourning her mother’s death and going to her tomb three times a day. In addition, there were only birds that helped Cinderella; there was no such thing as a fairy godmother or helpful mice, nor was there mention of a horse and carriage.

The stepsisters were cruel: they always threw Cinderella’s food into the ashes of the fire, and made her sleep on the ashes on the floor, hence(因此)her name.

In the original story, the king’s ball actually lasted for three days. With the help of the birds, the girl, beautifully dressed, danced with the prince on all three nights and the prince fell in love with her. However, she broke away from him to rush back home each night. On the last night, the prince placed something sticky on the stairs; as Cinderella made her escape ,a shoe got stuck on it.

Here now is where the story becomes unpleasant: when the prince went to the house looking for the girl whose foot fit the shoe, the wicked(邪恶的)stepmother told one of her two daughters to cut off her big toe to fit into the shoe. The daughter did as told. So, the prince took her away to be his bride. But, when they passed the tomb of Cinderella’s mother, the birds called out to the prince, “Turn and peep, there’s blood within the shoe; The shoe is too small, the true bride waits for you.”

Realizing he had been tricked, the prince returned the daughter to her mother; the other then had to cut off part of her heel in order to fit into the shoe, with the same result. Only Cinderella’s foot fit perfectly and so the prince chose to marry her. The story ends with the wedding day: as Cinderella’s two stepsisters followed her, pretending to be devoted to her so that they could enjoy the king’s riches, two birds flew by and plucked(啄)out their eyes. Because of their wickedness and falsehood, they had to spend the rest of their days blind.

The original Cinderella is so different from the Disney version. Thank goodness Disney made such changes; it indeed was a wise move.

Hollywood is getting more confident in the recovery of the US film market after Warner Bros’ monster mash Godzilla vs. Kong scored huge box office returns in early April. Meanwhile, Hollywood is also eyeing the Chinese market, with offerings including Universal’s action film Fast and Furious 9. However, they should realize that after the deadly pandemic, Chinese audiences have more interest in movies that tell a good Chinese story.

James Cameron’s documentary The Six and Marvel’s superhero film Black Widow are scheduled to be released on April 16 and July 9 respectively, and DC comics has produced a new superhero, Monkey Prince, based on the Chinese legendary Money King. Obviously, Hollywood is hoping to earn big in the world’s largest film market.

But looking back to the Hollywood blockbusters in 2020, their box office performance in China was a big disappointment. According to China’s ticketing platform Maoyan, Disney’s Mulan, DC’s Wonder Woman 1984 and Warner Bros’ Tenet earned 278 million yuan ($42 million), 167 million yuan and 456 million yuan, respectively.

Meanwhile, homegrown Chinese films are getting more popular, which can be seen from the box office during China’s Lunar New Year holiday in 2021 and the Qingming Festival. Chinese feature film Sister, which deals with sister-brother relationships, quickly defeated Godzilla vs. Kong during China’s Qingming Festival holiday.

Many observers said that Chinese audiences want to watch films that tell a good Chinese story, and the tear-jerking comedy Hi, Mom is a perfect example. The film tells a warm story of a mother-daughter relationship and has grossed 5.397 million yuan as of Thursday, according to Maoyan.

Maybe it is because of the COVID-19 epidemic that Chinese people are turning their eyes more toward their own stories. If Hollywood still cannot really understand and respect Chinese culture and just randomly mixes some Chinese elements into their films, it will lose a large amount of its fans in China.

Plays are an important part of British culture. The West End theatre district in London is the best place to watch a professional play, but acting also takes place in every school and village hall across the country.

There are over 2,500 non-professional drama groups in the UK today and they are an active part of community life. People from all walks of life take on acting roles in addition to their regular jobs. They do it for fun, for the love of acting and as a way to meet new people.

Not everyone in a drama club is a skilled actor, but enthusiasm is considered to be more important than talent. Friends, family members and neighbors enjoy getting together to watch the final performance and telling the people they know to “break a leg”. It’s a great way of bringing communities together. Also, in many rural parts of Britain, non-professional theatre is the only chance people have to see plays for miles around.

Many people get a taste for acting at school. Every school puts on a play at least once per year, usually at Christmas, and parents love coming to watch their children perform. Ask any British person and they’re sure to have happy memories of being in their school’s Christmas play, whether they played the role of Mary or Joseph or perhaps even a sheep or a donkey.

Another Christmas theatre tradition is the pantomime(童话剧). Pantomimes are a type of musical comedy for families. The audience is encouraged to participate in the performance—singing along with the music and shouting to the actors. Pantomimes are really fun to watch, especially for children.

British people love going to the theatre, professional or not, and many of them also enjoy performing. If you have the chance, go and see a play in the UK.