HONG KONG — Disney's latest China strategy doesn't involve Mickey, Minnie or Goofy. It's all about an enchanted vegetable.
The Walt Disney Co. China announced this week that it will release a Chinese-language movie, "The Magic Gourd," this summer -- its first co-production with the state-run China Film Group.
The movie, based on a novel written by the late Chinese children's writer Zhang Tianyi, is about a boy who discovers a gourd -- a squash-like vegetable -- that grants him wishes.
The movie, a mix of live action and animation, marks a departure from Disney's established strategy of promoting its mainstay stories and characters.
Disney's famed animators are not prominently credited in "The Magic Gourd." Hong Kong special-effects studio Centro Digital Pictures, which worked on "Kill Bill," made the movie.
