Koreans take issue with scene from Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’ that allegedly depicts hanbok as Chinese hanfu

Korean online communities are claiming that Pixar’s upcoming film “Turning Red” depicts a Korean hanbok as traditional Chinese clothing after a teaser trailer showed two children wearing attire that allegedly resembles a hanbok rather than a hanfu.

In the film, a 13-year-old Chinese Canadian student, Meilin “Mei” Lee, learns about her Chinese ancestry after developing the ability to transform into a giant red panda. The teaser trailer shows a scene in which Mei looks at a scroll showing a red panda with children to illustrate the historical connection between the red panda folklore and her Chinese heritage.

Many Korean internet users, however, pointed out that the scene shows the children wearing hanboks rather than the traditional Chinese dress, a hanfu, and criticized the film for allegedly depicting traditional Korean attire as originating from Chinese culture.

One Twitter user, @ja_ryo_retweet, uploaded a post that has garnered nearly 4,000 retweets claiming that “Turning Red” was using “the Goryeo clothing as Chinese style” while accusing the film of using the hanbok to “promote” the film.

“I’m really annoyed and this is ridiculous,” the user wrote in their post.

View post on X

Users on the Korean online community platform Theqoo posted illustrations of traditional Chinese clothing to draw comparisons with the film’s depiction, reported Koreaboo. One user pointed out that the children in the film are wearing short jackets on top of a long dress, drawing claims that the film was depicting a hanbok and “disguising” it as “Chinese style”.

This criticism is one of many recent hanbok versus hanfu controversies, as tensions have risen over frequent debates about the historical and cultural origins of traditional attire. A similar debate occurred during the Beijing Winter Olympics when a woman was seen wearing a hanbok during China’s opening ceremony.

Feature Image via Pixar

Share this Article