When Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, the representatives of Disneyland, greeted the New Year dressed in hanbok, some Chinese netizens expressed discomfort.
On the 18th, Walt Disney's Disneyland released a video on its official Instagram account showing the Lunar New Year celebration held at Disneyland in California.
The video featured the phrase "Happy lunar new year" along with New Year greetings written in Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Notably, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse made their first appearance in hanbok during this event, drawing attention.
In the Western world, where the concept of the Lunar New Year is relatively unfamiliar, the term "Chinese New Year" has been used up until recently. This is interpreted as being influenced by large-scale celebrations conducted in Chinatowns in major Western cities. Consequently, Disneyland only showcased characters emphasizing Chinese culture, but recently, there has been an increasing effort to understand the Lunar New Year as an overall East Asian festival, reflecting various cultural elements from East Asian countries.
In response, netizens commented positively, saying things like "The hanbok is cute," "Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse are wearing hanbok," and "Wishing everyone a happy New Year in advance."
However, some netizens presumed to be of Chinese descent expressed displeasure, using the Chinese flag emoji. They commented on the social media account, saying, "Happy Chinese New Year," "It's not the lunar New Year but the Chinese New Year," and "Calling the Chinese New Year the lunar New Year is a clear cultural distortion and cultural invasion." Some Chinese netizens are showing discomfort towards the 'lunar New Year' celebration culture. Last year, the British Museum faced criticism from Chinese netizens after using the term 'lunar New Year' and had to change it.