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Kim Jong Un Enjoys Unauthorized Disney Show
30 November 2012
North Korean state television has shown images of Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh taking the stage during a concert for new leader Kim Jong Un, in an unusual – and unauthorized – performance, according to a report in The Telegraph.
Disney characters danced onstage as video screens showed footage from popular Disney movies including Snow White, Dumbo and Beauty and the Beast. The newspaper said “the inclusion of characters popular in the West particularly from the United States, North Korea’s wartime enemy, is a notable change in direction for performance arts in Pyongyang.”
The show in Pyongyang is the first known occasion that Disney characters were included in a major performance, though growing numbers of North Korean children have become fans of Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse. School supplies and clothing imported from China often feature Disney characters.
The performance was staged by the new Moranbong band, which was making its debut after being assembled by Kim himself, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
Kim, who took power after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in December, has a “grandiose plan to bring about a dramatic turn in the field of literature and arts this year,” KCNA said.
