Mulan (1998)

Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical action comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan and was Disney's 36th animated feature. It was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with a story by Robert D. San Souci and screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer. It starred Ming-Na, Eddie Murphy, the late Miguel Ferrer, and B. D. Wong in the English version, while Jackie Chan provided the voice of Captain Li Shang for the Chinese dubs of the film.

Plot
Fearful that her ailing father will be drafted into the Chinese military, Mulan takes his spot. Though, as a woman living under a patriarchal regime, she is technically unqualified to serve. She cleverly impersonates a man and goes off to train with fellow recruits. Accompanied by her dragon, Mushu, she uses her smarts to help ward off a Hun invasion, falling in love with a dashing captain along the way.

Why It Brings Honor To Us All

 * 1) The film stays true to the Chinese culture and is also very faithful to the original Chinese legend that the movie was based on, despite a few inaccuracies.
 * 2) The film has incredibly splendid animation, which is pretty spectacular considering that this was the first film of three to be made at the animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios.
 * 3) The film has fabulous vocal performances supported by an amazingly talented cast such as Ming-Na Wen as Fa Mulan, Eddie Murphy as Mushu, Harvey Fierstein as Yao, and BD Wong as Li Shang.
 * 4) Mushu (Eddie Murphy) is a great comic relief character.
 * 5) * Mushu's infamous line, "Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow''", is funny to the point where it has gained some memetic mutation.
 * 6) It delivers a nice female empowerment message that women can be just as brave, strong, and heroic as men. It is also perhaps one of Disney's most action-packed and female-empowering films of all time.
 * 7) The film has a wonderful music score by Jerry Goldsmith.
 * 8) The film has a ton of cool action scenes, notably the ones involving Shan Yu and the Huns, especially the final battle, complete with the highest body count of any Disney Princess movie ever.
 * 9) Awesome songs such as Reflection, I'll Make a Man Out of You.
 * 10) Shan Yu is considered to be one of the darkest characters in terms of Disney villains.
 * 11) ”You missed! How could you miss!? He was three feet in front of you!!”

Bad Qualities

 * 1) While very intimidating and dark, Shan Yu is a really forgettable villain.
 * 2) Some historical inaccuracies. For example, Mulan cutting her hair to disguise as a man doesn't even fit historically as Chinese men usually kept their hair long just like the long-haired Chinese women.
 * 3) Chi-Fu can be unlikable throughout most of the movie, with the way he treats Mulan due to his outdated misogynistic beliefs, though this does build some more tension in the film.
 * 4) Its sequel, Mulan II, and it's 2020 live action counterpart were both pretty bad.

Trivia

 * The film is based on the Chinese legend of “Hua Mulan” – a female warrior who disguised herself as a man to prevent her father from being conscripted into the army. The earliest record of her story appears in the poem “The Ballad of Mulan,” which has been passed down for generations.
 * Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida – a satellite animation studio located in Walt Disney World in Orlando – produced three feature-length films, starting with Mulan in 1998.
 * This is the first Disney animated film to feature an Asian heroine.
 * Mulan was voiced by two actresses – one for speaking and one for singing.  The speaking role went to Ming-Na Wen, but the songs were performed by Tony Award winner Lea Salonga. You may recognize Salonga’s voice as she also performed the songs for Princess Jasmine in the Disney classic Aladdin. Mulan was not the only character that was voiced by multiple actors. Actor BD Wong shared the role of Shang with Donny Osmond who sang “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.”
 * Disney animators often pull characteristics from the voice actors when designing their characters – and Ming-Na Wen, the voice of Mulan, was no exception. After noticing that Wen had a habit of touching her hair, the artists decided that Mulan would, too.
 * Jackie Chan did the voice for Shang and performed the song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” in the Mandarin and Cantonese versions of the film.
 * The character of Mulan is the only Disney Princess before Moana who isn’t actually royalty. She wasn’t born into royalty, nor does she marry a prince.
 * Christina Aguilera, a former Mickey Mouse Club member, made her debut on the charts in 1998 at the age of 16 with the song “Reflection” from the Mulan soundtrack.
 * The film’s directors, Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft, make a cameo in the film – they can be seen as the men lighting the fireworks near the end of the movie.
 * Due to the success of the animated classic, Disney produced a live-action remake of Mulan, set to be released in 2020. Niki Caro is the second female director to helm a $100 million film for Disney after Ava DuVernay for A Wrinkle in Time.

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