The Walt Disney Co. is going multiplatform on the Disney Plus series American Born Chinese, with episodes also showing on ABC, Hulu, Roku and YouTube. The show premiered on Disney Plus May 24 and looks at a regular American teenager whose life is changed when he befriends the son of a mythological god.
Episode one is on YouTube June 21 to July 23. Episode one is on ABC Saturday, June 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Episodes one, two and three are on Hulu June 26 to July 9. Episodes one, two and three are on Roku June 26-July 10.
The series is based on the graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. “This is the story of a young man’s battle for his own identity, told through family, comedy and action-packed Kung-Fu — with USA Today declaring, “The supernatural elements of ‘Chinese’ are brought to life beautifully, playing on aesthetics from Chinese folklore, comics and animation to create worlds and scenes that pop off the screen,’ ” according to Disney.
The cast includes Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Ben Wang and Yeo Yann Yann. Stephanie Hsu is Shiji Niangniang, the Goddess of Stones; Ronny Chieng is unconventional monk Ji Gong; Jimmy O. Yang plays Dragon King, Ao Guang; and James Hong portrays Jade Emperor.
Kelvin Yu is executive producer and showrunner of American Born Chinese. Destin Daniel Cretton directs and executive produces, along with Melvin Mar and Jake Kasdan, Erin O'Malley, Asher Goldstein and Gene Luen Yang.
Gene Luen Yang’s book came out in 2007.
A review of the series in the New York Times said: “So the somewhat disappointing report is that after 17 years, American Born Chinese is an entirely typical half-hour teenage comic-drama-supernatural adventure series. On the good side, the family at its core — the teenager Jin Wang (Ben Wang) and his parents, Christine and Simon (Yeo Yann Yann and Chin Han) — are sensitively drawn and given excellent performances, and the naturalistic parts of the story that focus on their home life and Jin’s struggles at school often have humor and a quiet but sure emotional pull.”
On the not-as-good side, the Times said, “are the elements of the show that reflect the tripartite structure of the graphic novel. They’re assembled with polish and cleverness, but they’re not as imaginative or compelling as they would need to be to kick the series out of its better-than-average groove.”
