Disneyland rip-off

Did I say Disneyland? I meant Shijingshan Amusement Park, an amusement park in Beijing that has absolutely nothing to do with Disney.

Some have claimed that the park is illegally copying Disney’s Minnie Mouse. However, the park’s operators have insisted that the character is not a mouse. It is a cat with very large ears!

With its slogan “Disneyland is too far,” Beijing’s Shijingshan Amusement Park features a replica of Cinderella’s Castle, with staff dressed like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and other Disney characters.

None of this is authorized by Disney - but that has not stopped the state-owned park from creating its own counterfeit version of the Magic Kingdom in a brazen example of the sort of open and widespread copyright piracy that has Washington fuming.

The United States announced Monday it would file a case at the World Trade Organization over rampant copyright piracy in China, a practice which US companies say deprives them of billions of dollars each year.

But 31-year-old housewife Zhang Li betrays a typical Chinese attitude on the issue while chasing her young son around the park.

“I don’t understand why that is such a big problem. Shouldn’t others be able to use those characters besides [Disney]?” she asks.

The President of the park tells us that nothing is copied from Disney and that all the characters are original creations. However, a little girl we encounter tells us that she sees Disney characters, and even the people inside the character costumes admit that they’re based on Disney’s creations.