This show started with a content warning, maybe for a couple stereotypes that are bit distasteful in today’s sensitive era.
I could see it being annoying but it seems overblown in today’s plethora of awful options on YouTube. To be honest, the Shang Chi’s lousy execution was more offensive to my Asian Asian American identity than ten seconds of a buck tooth Siamese Cat playing drums with chopsticks.
Aside from the content warning at the start, this was one heck of a fun animation, Siamese and all!
Like 101 Dalmations, it tells a fun short story with a few memorable scenes, especially the one of the alley cats (including Shun Gon the Siamese) are really wailing on the music.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost interest in challenging art. I might be able to handle half an hour of an avante garde jazz album while falling asleep, but movies and TV shows are too visceral. I can handle a little cringe, like that Siamese cat, but I don’t have the emotional wherewithal to focus on heavy stuff for 90 minutes (much less 10 hours!).
I just want well crafted fare that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Turns out Disney+ was a godsend for me.
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BTW I found Eva Gabor’s accent on the mother cat delightful, it made the movie feel properly European (if not exactly French). And Phil Harris’s all-American accent was perfect foil as Thomas O’Malley.