On October 23, the second of the autumn series of planned meetings of OP Secondary education winners took place. English language and literature. Psychology with American Peers from Florida State University. The topic of the meeting, as planned, was the discussion of the influence of global media culture on Ukrainian national media culture using the example of the full-length animated adaptation "Mavka: Forest Song" based on Lesya Ukrainka's drama extravaganza "Forest Song". The event attracted considerable interest from the Americans, and almost 40 FSU students joined it. At the beginning of the meeting, the Ukrainians briefly introduced the American students to the classic plot of the drama-fire. After that, there was an interesting discussion. American students shared their opinions on the question of whether a Ukrainian product would have been successful in the global commercial market of animated films without making thematic and plot changes. Opinions differed, but most agreed that the potential consumer in the global market has certain expectations created by decades of watching quality animated films from such influential studios as Disney, Pixar and others. With the help of gamification, namely the use of the kahoot game, the attendees found out which aspects create the "gold standard" of Disney animation: plot construction techniques, character types, the main type of conflict, moral lessons, the quality of animation, music, etc. Everyone agreed that Disney animated culture dominates the world thanks to a unique combination of creativity, marketing, technology and the ability to evoke emotions in viewers of all ages.
Therefore, the creators of the Ukrainian product faced an extremely difficult task - to create such an animated film that would meet the expectations of both global and national consumers. The process of creating the film was told by prof. Svitlana Yarozhinsky. She especially emphasized the fact that Ukrainian artists completed work on the film already in extremely difficult conditions of full-scale Russian aggression - the film was released on March 2, 2023. Despite this, they managed to release on the global market a product of Ukrainian animation that meets world quality standards. "Mavka" became an important tool of cultural diplomacy precisely at the time when it was necessary to draw attention to Ukrainian cultural identity.
Alisa Koroleva, winner of the 406a group, made a presentation about the commonalities and differences between a literary work and its animated representation. American and Ukrainian students discussed in groups the advantages and disadvantages of the changes made to the classic plot, and also discovered the features of the Disney animation standard in the Ukrainian film.
The students came to a common conclusion that despite the use of a classic Ukrainian work, national folklore and mythology, the film's Ukrainian authenticity was weaker than expected due to the fact that "Mavka" imitated many global cultural traits from Disney. At the same time, this influence allowed Ukrainian creators to reach a wider audience and compete on the world market, while preserving their cultural identity.
Such meetings contribute not only to the understanding of global cultural influences, but also improve mutual understanding between young people of different nations, and contribute to the development of English-language communication skills of the students of GIIIM.
