How local spirits animate Disney

For the first time, Timon and Pumbaa, two best friends of the Lion King's main character Simba, spoke in Mandarin recently, that too in a dialect used in China's northeastern provinces whose intonation is viewed as funny by the rest of the country.

In the first Mandarin production of the Disney's landmark musical which opened on June 16 at the Walt Disney Grand Theatre at Shanghai Disney Resort, Timon even dressed up and sang in Chinese Peking Opera to a full house and evoked peals of laughter.

In the entertainment shows presented at the Shanghai Disney Resort, a group of acrobats from Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, performed daily in Disney's enchanting musical "Tarzan: Call of the Jungle". The 30-minute show with Mandarin lyrics, adapted by Chinese choreographer Li Xining, has included dozens of Chinese acrobatic skills. Similarly, dining at the resort is designed to appeal to Chinese appetites and reflect the diversity of flavors in the country. Some 70 percent of the food is from Chinese cuisine, 20 percent Asian and 10 percent Western. Visitors will find noodles with braised pork, Mongolian beef and Kong Bo chicken as well as Peking Duck pizza on menus throughout the park.