Mulan

Mulan came around at a time when Disney was trying to regain their footing again after a decline in quality during the mid to late 90s after the huge success they had with their renaissance period. When the film came out in 1998, it was generally seen as modest hit by critics and by audiences, with many still holding the film fondly in their hearts all these years later. While not the most groundbreaking of Disney flicks and certainly carrying its own flaws, you can see why it would connect with a lot of people. Set in an unspecified time in China, a young woman named Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) fails to fit into the roles that society deems she is expected to follow, but fate seems to throw her an opportunity when news reaches her village that the Huns have invaded China led by the evil Hun Chieftain, Shan Yu (voiced by Miguel Ferrer) and the Emperor (voiced by Pat Morita) has decreed that a man from every family be conscripted and go to fight. Knowing her disabled army veteran father, Fa Zhou (voiced by Soon-Tek Oh) will likely die in battle if he goes, she dresses up as a boy and runs away from her to enrol in the army herself. Her ancestors fear her safety and unwittingly send a tiny dragon Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy) to keep her alive. Once she arrives, she finds it hard to adapt to the roles of war, especially under the eyes of recently appointed commander Shang (voiced by BD Wong). She must overcome these hardships and prove to herself and China that she can save them from the Huns. Being a romanticized version of the famous Chinese folktale and Ballad originally documented by Guo Maoqian, the film doesn’t go far enough with the premise that it has and maybe goes a bit too cutesy and childish for a set-up that could’ve been far more epic, but still manages to stand out amongst the crowd for its likeable characters, expressive animation, memorable songs, and its prominent girl-power mentality,  As such, it does have a lot going for it; very nice animation, memorable music, likeable characters,  an overall entertaining atmosphere and plenty of cool women action.

The film follows the layout of the original folktale nice enough to be a solid representation while also containing its own modern flairs and Westernized elements to make it approachable and digestible for audiences at the time. The original idea for the film came about from Disney’s desire and interest in Asian-themed legends and followed the outline of children’s book author, Robert D. San Souci, for the inspiration for this film’s narrative (he also wrote the story for the film). The original outline for the film was much more rom com like in nature, with Mulan and Shang being betrothed, and Mulan running away from her family after her father carved her destiny into a stone tablet. It’s safe to say that this wasn’t the most authentic portrayal of the legend, which is what animator and writer for the movie, Chris Sanders, thought and convinced the producers to follow the legend more, resulting the story taking a more serious and less melodramatic tone. With this in mind though, it starts to explain why this movie seems to have a bit of a tonal issue. For a story that could be grand and epic in scale, it’s played pretty straightforwardly and doesn’t really inject many new things for an animated movie of the time. There is a soft contemplative nature to the story that the film occasional taps into, but it has to contend with very over-the-top goofy humor and modern elements that aren’t necessarily bad but do turn this film into something other than what it arguably deserves to be. The cultural element is appreciated, and you can definitely feel the effort put into the film in this department from the animators, but it doesn’t really play too much of a factor into the movie outside of the music and the background and character designs. It’s nice that the film, despite giving the impression that it’s going to dumb down its material, doesn’t shy away from that rough harshness that’s required for this story as it still shows the consequences of war with a lot of off-screen deaths, and that mature edge does help out in the long run as it doesn’t feel like a dishonest picture in any way. Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft, who co-directed the film after working as animators on previous Disney films, do a solid enough job trying to balance these elements together with the emotional arcs of the characters, and while it doesn’t all come together, its patched up in a way that does work for what it’s trying to get across.

The cast of characters in this film are pretty solid and do a good job at staying memorable even if they don’t feel like most distinct or fleshed out roles. This is definitely true for the lead heroine herself, as Mulan is easily the most focused on character in the film and she’s given a lot of attributes that are admirable, given a very solid and popular actress to voice her whose perfect for the part, and allowed to control her own story in a way that no other previous Disney female lead has been able to do to the same level (seeing a ”Disney Princess” type character wielding a sword at the time was definitely new and cool to see) . While this is great and all, it is a little sad that she really isn’t that unique of a character from a writing standpoint. This isn’t to say that she is by any means bad in any sense because she’s not; she’s made to be very likeable, her goals are clearly established and relatable, watching her grow and adapt to this new and even scary situation is great stuff, and the character is definitely given a personality, it’s just that all of these usual traits are stuff that’s prominent in every Disney female lead at the time. The message for the film is very obvious and for the standard that it’s being presented as, it is done okay, but it does feel like that element of ”girl-power” is the one new defining trait for Mulan and not really a unique character trait (although her acting like a boy is pretty great stuff). Shang as a character is also done okay; not given nearly enough screen time to get his own character arc, but the scene’s he’s given with Mulan and BD Wong’s performance make him simple but likeable enough. The three soldiers that eventually befriend Mulan named Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po (voiced by Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Watanabe, and Jerry Tondo) are given some good funny moments, pretty memorable designs, and distinct enough personalities that they stand out pretty nicely. Most of Mulan’s family act as a nice support and even the pencil pushing councilor in the army voiced by James Hong gets a few good lines every once and a while. Mushu is easily the most conflicting character in the film as everything about his presence does feel more forceful and ”pushed in for modern audiences” than any other character in the film (especially with someone like Eddie Murphy voicing him). The idea of him as a guardian for Mulan isn’t a bad one and occasionally Murphy gets a good funny line and even a nice dramatic moment, but there’s more than a few times where he can be a little too much and feel a little too out of place. The villain is definitely the worst part of this movie and might even be one of the worst villains Disney has ever had. He leaves no impression at all, and he has nothing that makes him stand out; his design is awfully bland, his plan is very generic, his dialogue is forgettable, his actions are definitely extreme but also feel empty and hollow because of how little investment there is in him, and there is zero depth or personality to him at all.

The aesthetics of the movie does capture the artistic styling of Chinese Paintings with the watercolor usage and simpler designs. A lot of the characters have basic outlines, but given very expressive features and mannerisms to make them feel more lively, the backgrounds can look very pretty and occasional the film does tap into the style to the point where they go a little more in-depth and experimental, but it overall still works as a very solid animation job that knows when to be cartoonish and wacky with its visuals and characters, but also knows how to be emotional and dramatic and there are several moments where the lighting, drawings and even the shot composition really feel cinematic and cool (the scene where she decides to leave the family is a very well done moment). The music is pretty good, not just in the score composition done by Jerry Goldsmith which is appropriately orchestral and epic-sounding and benefits from the culturally specific instruments to give it a historic but still cool factor, but also from the songs written by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel. They all sound really great, the lyrics are clever, the melodies are hummable, and they act as great new additions to the Disney playlist. Reflection is very well sung and despite being so short, actually carries with it a simple but poignant message about identity that means a lot more nowadays, I’ll Make a Man Out of You is infamously known for its great melody, clean-cut lyrics, and fantastical ability to pump you up, and A Girl Worth Fighting For may not be the best number, but is still fun, nonetheless. Ironically, despite all the grim truths and harsh moments that it insinuates, the movie actually is pretty funny in parts. The script for the film written by Sanders, Rita Hsiao, Phillip LaZebnik, Raymond Singer, and Eugenia Bostwick-Singer may feature some elements that not don’t entire work and feel a little too modern and expected, but even if the film didn’t need to have these comedic, some of them are handled pretty well. While moments with Mushu and some of the Chinese ancestors (who bickering like old folks in a nursing home) can be a little grating, the stuff with the army is very entertaining. Seeing Mulan pretend to be a boy and failing horribly works really well thanks to Ming-Na Wen’s great voice acting, the supporting characters are given their own moments to shine and become pretty likeable, the overall atmosphere is definitely silly but in a likeable sense the physical comedy is quite good and comes through in the great expressive animation, and it delivers the awesome girl-power along with one of the best and most iconic montage song sequences in any movie.

Mulan manages to deliver a solid retelling of the famous Chinese legend through a movie that, while nothing amazing, proved to be likeable and engaging enough for audiences at the time to result in one that they remember for a long time to come. The characters are likeable, the music is very memorable, the animation is very good at times, it has a good sense of humor but also knows when to dial it back and be serious, and for the time, it was just cool seeing this kind of girl-power in a Disney flick. If elements like the villain and even some of the story components could’ve been improved upon more or if it was allowed to be a touch more grounded and not have to rely on the sassy talking snap dragon, something truly special could’ve come from this but as it is, it’s still worth checking out and those who love it will continue to fight for it.