Mickey Mouse
Mickey
Mouse and Winnie the Pooh took the stage in North Korea during a
concert for new leader Kim Jong Un in an unusual performance featuring
Disney characters.
Performers
dressed as some of America's most memorable cartoon characters danced
and pranced as footage from "Snow White," ''Dumbo," ''Beauty and the
Beast" and other popular Disney movies played on a massive backdrop,
according to still photos shown on state TV Saturday.
The
inclusion of characters popular in the West — particularly from the
United States, North Korea's wartime enemy — is a notable change in
direction for performance arts in Pyongyang.
This
appears to be the first time Disney characters have been included in a
major performance, though Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse have been
popular among children for several years. Backpacks, pencil cases and
pajamas imported from China often feature Disney characters, and stories
such as "Dumbo" have been translated into Korean for North Korean
schoolchildren. However, it is unusual to make such images a central
part of a North Korean performance and to publicize it on state TV.
The
performance was staged Friday by the new Moranbong band, which was
making its debut after being assembled by Kim himself, the state-run
Korean Central News Agency said.
Kim,
who took power after his father, longtime leader Kim Jong Il, died in
December, has a "grandiose plan to bring about a dramatic turn in the
field of literature and arts this year," KCNA said.
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