Dreamworks’ ‘Abominable’ Movie Pulled Out In Vietnam For Showing China’s 9-Dash Line Map

• The ‘Abominable’ movie has sparked an uproar in Southeast Asia. The said film, which was produced by US and China-based companies DreamWorks and Pearl Studio, features a scene where China’s controversial 9-dash-line map can be spotted.

‘Abominable’, DreamWorks Animation’s latest outing, has sparked quite a controversy, especially among Southeast Asian countries. According to reports, viewers have noticed that one scene in the film shows China’s territorial claims as seen in its 9-dash line map.

The said map implies that China owns around 80% of the South China Sea, despite opposition from neighboring countries. So far, DreamWorks and its China-based film production partner Pearl Studio have not issued an official statement regarding the issue.

In Vietnam, theaters were immediately ordered to stop showing ‘Abominable’ after the map was spotted. Even movie posters were taken down from cinemas and eventually, trailers and other related information about the movie have likewise been removed in social media and from various websites.

Meanwhile, Malaysia has instructed its movie board to cut the scene showing the map.

In the Philippines, however, Teodoro Locsin, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs wrote in Twitter that for him, “calling a boycott of all DreamWorks production” is just appropriate. The film has also been banned in the country by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), following the backlash.

Some netizens also took time to point out that the Philippine map was incomplete in its portrayal as it didn’t include major islands Visayas and Mindanao.

Locsin added that a “failure to react may be seen as a kind of submission on the diplomatic level.”

‘Abominable’ is a children’s animated movie about Yi, a Chinese teenager, who discovers a Yeti on her apartment roof and befriends it. Together with her buddies, they embark in an adventure to help the magical creature return to his Himalayan home.