Psycho's Movie Reviews #380: Mulan (1998)

Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical adventure 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 and the ninth animated film produced and released during the Disney Renaissance. It was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with story by Robert D. San Souci and screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Chris Sanders, Philip LaZebnik, Raymond Singer, and Eugenia Bostwick-Singer. Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer and BD Wong star in the English version, while Jackie Chan provided the voice of Captain Li Shang for the Chinese dubs of the film. The film's plot takes place in China during the Han dynasty,[citation needed] where Fa Mulan, daughter of aged warrior Fa Zhou, impersonates a man to take her father's place during a general conscription to counter a Hun invasion.

Produced and released during the Disney Renaissance, Mulan was the first of three features produced primarily at the Disney animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) in Bay Lake, Florida. Development for the film began in 1994, when a number of artistic supervisors were sent to China to receive artistic and cultural inspiration. Mulan was well received by critics and the public who praised the animation, plot, characters (particularly the eponymous character), and musical score, and grossed over $304 million. It earned a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination and won several Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature. It was then followed by Mulan II in 2004, a direct-to-video sequel. A live-action adaptation directed by Niki Caro was released on September 4, 2020.

Plot

The Huns, who are led by the ruthless Shan Yu, invade imperial Han China by breaching the Great Wall. In the Imperial City, the Emperor orders a general mobilization, with conscription notices requiring one man from each family to join the Imperial Chinese Army. To the South, Fa Mulan is an adventurous and active young woman to the dismay of her family, who hope for her to bring honour to the family. She is arranged to meet a matchmaker to demonstrate her fitness as a future wife; but following a few mishaps, the matchmaker deems her a disgrace to the family.

Mulan's elderly father Fa Zhou - the only man in their family and an army veteran - is conscripted into the army. She tries to dissuade him from going, but he protests that he must do his duty. Fearing for his life, she cuts her hair and takes her father's sword and armour, disguising herself as a man so that she can enlist in his stead. Quickly learning of her departure, Mulan's grandmother prays to the family's ancestors for Mulan's safety. In the local temple, Mushu, a small red dragon, is a disgraced former family guardian who is demoted to the role of awakening the spirits of the ancestors. The Great Ancestor decides that the "most powerful of all," a massive stone dragon guardian, should guide Mulan; and sends Mushu to wake him. After accidentally destroying the guardian's statue, Mushu travels to Mulan's aid himself, desiring to redeem himself to the ancestors by making Mulan a war hero.

Reporting to the training camp, Mulan passes as a man named "Fa Ping", with Mushu providing encouragement and clumsy guidance throughout her deception. Under the command of Captain Li Shang, she and her fellow recruits—including Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po—gradually become trained soldiers, but the Emperor's belligerent counsel, Chi-Fu, threatens to dissuade the Emperor from allowing Shang's men to fight. Mushu then crafts a fake letter from Shang's father, General Li, ordering Shang to follow the main imperial army into the mountains. The reinforcements set out and arrive at a burnt village, discovering that the Huns have massacred General Li and his troops.

As the soldiers march up a mountain pass, they are ambushed by the Huns. Mulan cleverly uses a Huolongchushui cannon to cause an avalanche, which buries the entire Hun army. Shan Yu wounds Mulan during the battle, and her deception is revealed when the wound is bandaged. Instead of executing Mulan as the law requires, Shang spares her life and expels her from the army. Mulan is left behind as the other soldiers depart for the Imperial City to report the Huns' defeat. However, Shan Yu and several of his warriors have survived, and Mulan sees them heading towards the city.

Mulan enters the city and warns Shang. The Huns then capture the Emperor and seize the palace. Mulan, Yao, Ling, Chien-Po, and Shang enter the palace and defeat Shan Yu's men. Shang prevents Shan Yu from assassinating the Emperor, and Mulan lures the Hun leader onto the roof, where she pins him there with his own sword. Acting on Mulan's instructions, Mushu fires a large skyrocket at Shan Yu; the rocket strikes and propels Shan Yu into a fireworks launching tower, where he dies in the resulting explosion.

The Emperor initially reprimands Mulan, but then he and the city's assembled inhabitants praise her for having saved them, and they bow to her in honour. She accepts the Emperor's crest and Shan Yu's sword as gifts but politely declines his offer to be on his royal council and asks to return to her family. Mulan returns home and presents these gifts to her father, but he is happy to have her back. Having become enamoured with Mulan, Shang also arrives and accepts her invitation to stay for dinner. Mushu is reinstated as a Fa family guardian as the ancestors celebrate.

Production

Development

In 1989, Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida had opened with 40 to 50 employees,[4] with its original purpose to produce cartoon shorts and featurettes. However, by late 1993, following several animation duties on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, Disney executives were convinced to allow the Feature Animation Florida studios to produce their first independent film. Around that same time, Disney Feature Animation developed an interest into Asian-themed legends beginning with the optioning of several books by children's book author Robert D. San Souci who had a consulting relationship with Disney executive Jay Dyer. Around that same time, a short straight-to-video film titled China Doll about an oppressed and miserable Chinese girl who is whisked away by a British Prince Charming to happiness in the West was in development. Thomas Schumacher asked Souci if he had any additional stories, in response to which Souci turned in a manuscript of a book based on the Chinese poem "The Song of Fa Mu Lan". Ultimately, Disney decided to combine the two separate projects.

Following the opening of the Feature Animation Florida studios, Barry Cook, who had served as a special-effects animator since 1982, had directed the Roger Rabbit cartoon Trail Mix-Up produced at the satellite studio. Upon a lunch invitation with Thomas Schumacher, Cook was offered two projects in development: a Scottish folk tale with a dragon or Mulan. Knowledgeable about the existence of dragons in Chinese mythology, Cook suggested adding a dragon to Mulan, in which a week later, Schumacher urged Cook to drop the Scottish project and accept Mulan as his next project. Following this, Cook was immediately assigned as the initial director of the project, and cited influences from Charlie Chaplin and David Lean during production. While working as an animator on the gargoyles for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tony Bancroft was offered to co-direct the film following a recommendation from Rob Minkoff, co-director of The Lion King, to Schumacher, in which he accepted, and joined the creative team by early 1995.

In 1994, the production team sent a select group of artistic supervisors to China for three weeks to take photographs and drawings of local landmarks for inspiration; and to soak up local culture. Key members of the creative team at the time – Pam Coats, Barry Cook, Ric Sluiter, Robert Walker, and Mark Henn – were invited to travel to China as a research trip to study the landscape, people, and history of the original legend. From June 17 to July 2, 1994, the research trip flew to Beijing, China, which is where Pam Coats became inspired by the placement of flags on the Great Wall. They also toured Datong, Luoyang, Xi'an, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, and Guilin.

Writing

In its earliest stages, the story was originally conceived as a Tootsie-like romantic comedy film where Mulan, who was a misfit tomboy who loves her father, is betrothed to Shang, whom she has not met. On her betrothal day, her father Fa Zhou carves her destiny on a stone tablet in the family temple, which she shatters in anger, running away to forge her own destiny. In November 1993, Chris Sanders, who had just finished storyboard work on The Lion King, was hoping to work on The Hunchback of Notre Dame until Schumacher appointed him to work on Mulan instead. Acting as Head of Story, Sanders grew frustrated with the romantic comedy aspect of the story, and urged producer Pam Coats to be more faithful to the original legend by having Mulan leave home because of the love for her father. This convinced the filmmakers to decide to change Mulan's character in order to make her more appealing and selfless.

Sequence Six – in which Mulan takes her father's conscription order, cuts her long hair, and dons her father's armour – served as a pivotal moment in the evolution of Mulan's character. Director Barry Cook explained that the sequence initially started as a song storyboarded by Barry Johnson and redrawn by character designer Chen-Yi Chang. Following the story changes to have Mulan leave to save her father, the song was dropped. Storyboard artist and co-head of story Dean DeBlois was tasked to revise the sequence, and decided to board the sequence with "minimal dialogue". Assisted with an existing musical selection from another film score courtesy of Sanders, the sequence reel was screened for Peter Schneider and Thomas Schumacher, both of whom were impressed. DeBlois stated, "Sequence Six was the first sequence that got put into production, and it helped to establish our 'silent' approach." Additionally, General Li was not originally going to be related to Shang at all, but by changing the story, the filmmakers were able to mirror the stories of both Shang's and Mulan's love for their fathers. As a Christian, Bancroft declined to explore Buddhism within the film.

Because there was no dragon in the original legend, Mulan did not have animal companions; it was Roy E. Disney who suggested the character of Mushu. Veteran story artist Joe Grant created the cricket character, Cri-Kee, though animator Barry Temple admitted "the directors didn't want him in the movie, the story department didn't want him in the movie. The only people who truly wanted him in the movie were Michael Eisner and Joe Grant – and myself, because I was assigned the character. I would sit in meetings and they'd say, 'Well, where's the cricket during all this?' Somebody else would say, 'Oh, to hell the cricket.' They felt Cri-Kee was a character who wasn't necessary to tell the story, which is true." Throughout development on the film, Grant would slip sketches of Cri-Kee under the directors' door.

Casting

Before production began, the production team sought out Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, or Korean vocal talents. Tia Carrere was an early candidate to voice the title character. However, Lea Salonga, who had been the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, was initially cast to provide both Mulan's speaking and singing voices, but the directors did not find her attempt at a deeper speaking voice when Mulan impersonated Ping convincing, so Ming-Na Wen was brought in to speak the role. Salonga returned to provide the singing voice. Wen herself landed the role after the filmmakers listened to her narration at the beginning of The Joy Luck Club. Coats reflected on her decision, stating, "When we heard Ming-Na doing that voice-over, we knew we had our Mulan. She has a very likable and lovely voice, and those are the qualities we were looking for."

For the role of Mushu, Disney was aiming for top Hollywood talent in the vein of Robin Williams's performance as the Genie in Aladdin. The filmmakers initially approached Joe Pesci and Richard Dreyfuss until Michael Eisner considered Eddie Murphy. After accepting the role, Murphy initially balked when he was asked to record at the Disney studios, but then asked to record the voice in his basement at his Bubble Hill mansion in Englewood, New Jersey.

For the speaking voice of Captain Li Shang, BD Wong was hired, although his singing voice, for the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", was performed by Donny Osmond, who had previously auditioned to be the speaking voice of the title character in Hercules. Osmond's casting originated from a suggestion from the casting director, and throughout recording, Osmond studied Wong's dialogue tapes, and aimed to match his inflections and personality. Osmond commented that his sons decided that he had finally "made it" in show business when he was in a Disney film. Likewise for the role of Grandmother Fa, June Foray provided the speaking voice, and Marni Nixon supplied the singing voice.

Animation and Design The animation crew was inspired by ancient Chinese art for the aesthetics of the movie

To achieve a harmonious visual look, producer designer Hans Bacher and art director Ric Sluiter, along with Robert Walker and Head of Backgrounds Robert Stanton collaborated to establish a proper chronological location for the film in Chinese history. Since there was no general consensus on the time of Mulan's existence, they based the visual design on the Ming and Qing dynasties. An important element of Bacher's design was to turn the art style closer to Chinese painting, with watercolour and simpler design, as opposed to the details of The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Bacher further studied more than thirty-five film directors ranging from the silent era German Expressionism, British and American epics of the 1950s and 60s, and the Spaghetti Westerns for inspiration for composition, lighting, and staging that would establish settings that enhanced the characters. Additional inspiration was found in the earlier Disney animated films such as Bambi, Pinocchio, and Dumbo to establish a sense of staging.

In October 1997, the Walt Disney Company announced a major expansion of its Florida animation operations constructing a 200,000-square-foot, four-story animation building and the addition of 400 animators to the workforce.

To create 2,000 Hun soldiers during the Huns' attack sequence, the production team developed crowd simulation software called Attila. This software allows thousands of unique characters to move autonomously. A variant of the program called Dynasty was used in the final battle sequence to create a crowd of 3,000 in the Forbidden City. Pixar's photorealistic open API RenderMan was used to render the crowd. Another software developed for this movie was Faux Plane, which was used to add depth to flat two-dimensional painting. Although developed late in production progress, Faux Plane was used in five shots, including the dramatic sequence which features the Great Wall of China, and the final battle sequence when Mulan runs to the Forbidden City. During the scene in which the citizens of China are bowing to Mulan, the crowd is a panoramic film of real people bowing. It was edited into the animated foreground of the scene.

Music

In March 1994, Stephen Schwartz was attached to compose the lyrics and music for the songs for the film. Following the research trip to China in June 1994, Schwartz was contacted by former Disney studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg to compose songs for The Prince of Egypt, which he agreed. Peter Schneider, then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, threatened to have Schwartz's name removed from any publicity materials for Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Michael Eisner phoned Schwartz, and urged him to back out of his commitment to DreamWorks, but he refused and left the project. After Schwartz's departure, his three songs, "Written in Stone", "Destiny", and "China Doll", were dropped amid story and character changes by 1995. Shortly after, Disney music executive Chris Montan heard Matthew Wilder's demo for a stage musical adaptation of Anne Rice's Cry to Heaven, and selected Wilder to replace Schwartz. In July 1997, David Zippel joined to write the lyrics. The film featured five songs composed by Wilder and Zippel, with a sixth originally planned for Mushu, but dropped following Eddie Murphy's involvement with the character.

Although Danny Elfman and Thomas Newman were considered to score the film, English composer Rachel Portman was selected as the film composer. However, Portman became pregnant during production, and decided to back out. Following Portman's departure, Randy Edelman—whose Dragonheart theme was used in the trailer—and Kitarō were considered, until Jerry Goldsmith became available and signed on after dropping out of a project. The film's soundtrack is credited for starting the career of pop singer Christina Aguilera, whose first song to be released in the U.S. was her rendition of "Reflection", the first single from the Mulan soundtrack. The song, and Aguilera's vocals, were so well received that it landed her a recording contract with RCA Records. In 1999, she would go on to release her self-titled debut album, on which "Reflection" was also included. The pop version of "Reflection" has a Polish version ("Lustro" performed by Edyta Górniak) and two Spanish versions, for Spain (performed by Malú) and Latin America (performed by Lucero). Other international versions include a Brazilian Portuguese version by Sandy & Junior ("Imagem"), a Korean version performed by Lena Park, and a Mandarin version by Coco Lee.

The music featured during the haircut scene, titled Mulan's Decision, is different in the soundtrack album. The soundtrack album uses an orchestrated score while the movie uses heavy synthesizer music. The synthesizer version is available on the limited edition CD. Salonga, who often sings movie music in her concerts, has done a Disney medley which climaxes with an expanded version of "Reflection" (not the same as those in Aguilera's version). Salonga also provided the singing voice for Mulan in the film's sequel, Mulan II.

{The best song in this film is "I'll Make A Man Out Of You", Donny Osmond is amazing - he's my mother's favourite part anyway, she LOVES Donny}

Release/Reception/Box Office

Because of the disappointing box office performances of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules, Disney restricted its marketing campaign for Mulan, spending $30 million on promotional advertisements compared to more than $60 million for Hercules the year before. Instead of the lavish media event premieres of Pocahontas in Central Park and the electric light parade on Fifth Avenue for Hercules, Disney opted to premiere the film on June 5, 1998 at the Hollywood Bowl complete with Chinese lanterns and fortune cookies. Two days before the general release, McDonald's launched its promotional campaign by including one of eight toys free with the purchase of a Happy Meal. The promotion also included Szechuan sauce for its Chicken McNuggets, which would be referenced in a 2017 episode of the Adult Swim series Rick and Morty and subsequently brought back by McDonald's as a promotional item related to that show.

In collaboration with Disney, Hyperion Books published The Art of Mulan authored by Jeff Kurtti, which chronicled the production of the film. In addition with its publication, Hyperion Books also issued a collector's "folding, accordion book" of the ancient poem that inspired the film. On August 18, 1998, around 3,700 backpacks and 1,800 pieces of luggage were recalled back to their manufacturer, Pyramid Accessories Inc., when it was discovered they contained lead-based paint.

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 86%, based on 78 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The site's consensus reads, "Exploring themes of family duty and honour, Mulan breaks new ground as a Disney film, while still bringing vibrant animation and sprightly characters to the screen." In a 2009 countdown, Rotten Tomatoes ranked it twenty-fourth out of the fifty canonical animated Disney features. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 71 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade.

Roger Ebert, reviewing for the Chicago Sun-Times, gave Mulan three-and-a-half stars out of four in his written review. He said that "Mulan is an impressive achievement, with a story and treatment ranking with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King". Likewise, James Berardinelli of ReelViews awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of four praising the lead character, its theme of war, and the animation. He concluded that "Adults will appreciate the depth of characterization while kids will love Mulan's sidekick, a colourful dragon named Mushu. Everyone will be entertained by the fast-moving plot and rich animation." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the film a B+ writing "Vividly animated, with a bursting palette that evokes both the wintry grandeur and decorative splendour of ancient China, Mulan is artful and satisfying in a slightly remote way."

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune described the film as "a big disappointment when compared with the studio's other recent films about a female hero searching for independence." He was further critical of Mulan's characterization in comparison to Ariel and Belle, and claimed the "design of the film does not take advantage of the inspiration provided by classic Chinese artists, and the songs are not memorable." Reviewing the film for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan wrote "Mulan has its accomplishments, but unlike the best of Disney's output, it comes off as more manufactured than magical." While he praised the title character, he highlighted that the "by-now-standard hip patter (prepare for jokes about cross-dressing) is so tepid that not even five credited writers can revive it, and the songs by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel (with Lea Salonga and Donny Osmond singing for the leads) lack the spark that Zippel's lyrics brought to the underappreciated Hercules." Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine criticized the film as "soulless" in its portrayal of East Asian society. Janet Maslin of The New York Times criticized the lack of detail in the background art and described it as "the most inert and formulaic of recent Disney animated films."

This movie was also the subject of comment from feminist critics. Mimi Nguyen says the film "pokes fun at the ultimately repressive gender roles that seek to make Mulan a domesticated creature". Nadya Labi agreed, saying "there is a lyric in the film that gives the lie to the bravado of the entire girl-power movement." She pointed out that Mulan needed to become a boy in order to accomplish what she did. Kathleen Karlyn, an assistant professor of English at the University of Oregon, also criticized the film's portrayal of gender roles: "In order to even imagine female heroism, we're placing it in the realm of fantasy". Pam Coats, the producer of Mulan, said that the film aims to present a character who exhibits both masculine and feminine influences, being both physically and mentally strong.

Mulan grossed $22.8 million in its opening weekend, ranking second behind The X-Files. It went on to gross $120 million in the United States and Canada combined, and $304 million worldwide, making it the second-highest grossing family film of the year, behind A Bug's Life, and the seventh-highest-grossing film of the year overall. While Mulan domestically out-grossed the previous two Disney animated films which had preceded it, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules, its box office returns failed to match those of the Disney films from the first half of the Renaissance such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Internationally, its highest grossing releases included those in the United Kingdom ($14.6 million) and France ($10.2 million).

Budget $90 million

Box office $304.3 million

My Review

This is Disney's 36th full-length animated feature.

The film has the suspense, thrills and sombreness of any war-themed movies, but it is counterbalanced with the laugh-out-loud comedy and humour provided by Mushu and Mulan's fellow ragtag soldier-trio team of Yao, Ling and Chien-Po. Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy, gave the same witty, no-nonsense, hilarious and crackpot personality of the actor. Ming-Na voiced Mulan and gave a smoothing and gentle, yet determined portrayal of the character. I especially like Pat Morita's commanding, dignified and wise portrayal of the Emperor and his line, "No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it," was my favourite.

The movie is made in beautiful animation and great visual effects, highlighting many characteristics of the Chinese culture like the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, a Dragon Dance, traditional Chinese robes, a game of Chinese Chess and a spectacular fireworks show. Directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook created a non-stop fun and exciting Disney film along with a fabulous story-writing team. And, Composer Jerry Goldsmith provided a brilliant music score, with his haunting and commanding theme when the Huns come charging down the snowy hill being my favourite.

If "Mulan" was made today, instead of reviewing her lesson for the Lady matchmaker, she would be found trying some new moves with her father's sword. And the song "Reflection" would include a chorus where Fa Mulan would pull a "Let it Go" and say "But What I (Really) Want is...".

If "Mulan" was made today, the grandmother would have sided with Mulan all along and encourage her to follow her dreams. Which leads me to think that she wouldn't have alerted the family when Mulan left home to go fighting instead of Fa Zhou and maybe we wouldn't even have Mushu.

Speaking of Mushu, if "Mulan" was made today, we certainly wouldn't have Eddie Murphy as the voice actor. Though I'm not sure they would have made the effort to cast one Asian actor for every single character, the scene-stealing sidekick would have certainly been voiced by an Asian-American star. And why not? Listening to the little red dragon, I was wondering whether it was Axel Folley or the Donkey who got caught in a time loop that took him to the Han dynasty... and I wonder why they didn't try to get Jackie Chan for the part (was he that busy with "Rushmore"?)

If "Mulan" was made today, we wouldn't have the cricket because he would be as needless in 2018 than he was in 1998...

If "Mulan" was made today, she would have been a natural-born warrior impressing the soldiers with her skills from the very start instead of being that "adorkable" unexperienced maiden trying to pass for a man. Everything would have been done to tone-down the effect of her cross-dressing and reduce it to the cutting of her hair.

Speaking of which, if "Mulan" was made today, I'm not sure we'd have that badass synthetized score during the dressing moment. Not even sure we'd have so much music that scream "Nineties" (and yes, it came from Jerry Goldsmith, of all the composers!)

If "Mulan" was made today, a song like "Like a Man" wouldn't exist. (I wish they would keep the tune though because it's catchy as hell).

If "Mulan" was made today, Shan-Yu wouldn't have been turned into such a scary-looking villain in case it might offend Hunnish populations.

Now that one is risky: if "Mulan" was made today, would there be a romance? Would they keep the character of the young captain Shan?

Let's face it, "Mulan" is perhaps one of the few Disney movies where we don't get one but two heroes and Shang even follows a character arc as he starts as an inexperienced and prejudiced soldier trying to fit in his father's shoes to a more tolerant person. Mulan and Shang form a rather interesting "Yin and Yang" duo and I wonder if he would have been kept or just turned into some ruthless leader wrongly opinionated about women.

Still, let's stick to the romance. If "Mulan" was made today, would they have abandoned any prospect of a romantic relationship and avoid the possibility of two male-looking soldiers being romantically involved. Disney has so much to show, so many grounds to break, so many taboos to fight, that I don't think they would have missed that opportunity for one of the few stories involving cross-dressing. So I'll stick to my guns and say there would be a romance.

That said, if "Mulan" was made today, the romance would be one-sided and wouldn't distract Mulan from her mission. Well, as long as they keep that hilarious and risqué "river-bathing" scene...

Now, of course, if "Mulan" was made today, it would be in 3D.

But if "Mulan" was made today, the Great Wall of China would look even greater but I don't think they could have made a more impressive sequence than Huns' epic riding over the mountains. This has got to be one of the most beautiful Disney shots from any movie ever on a pure Eisensteinian or Kurosawan level.

If "Mulan" was made today, she would still save the day by causing an avalanche but maybe the writers would have found a better way for our heroes to survive. I want Mulan, Shang, Mushu and the other fellows to live like the next watcher but there are so many insults to the laws of probability in three minutes of the avalanche sequences than maybe all the Renaissance Disney pictures of Disney. And my disbelief was suspended by a looser rope than the one thrown from over a cliff to land on Harvey Fiernstein's head.

If "Mulan" was made today, the climax would have kept the concubine cross-dressing but would have ended with an iron-crossing fight between Mulan and Shao-li.

If "Mulan" was made today, she would have accepted the job as the Emperor's counsellor and never get back home to become a maiden again. Hell, Shang wouldn't have followed her. Wait a minute, of course he wouldn't have... since he's not supposed to exist so it all makes sense that Mulan ends up a counsellor, then a general, then maybe the new Empress of China.

In fact, if "Mulan" was made today, there would be at least two or three extra female characters, maybe Shao-li would have a daughter who would have been the real nemesis, maybe Mulan would have a little sister (all right I cheated for that one) or maybe the empowering message would have been even more explicit, like "Brave", "Frozen" and "Moana" and would make 1998 Mulan original look like Snow White...

My question is: are there any girls who still don't give a damn about being warriors? Mulan did that out of love for her father and I just hope that will still be the key motive in the 2020 versions but I do expect a few changes to remind me how far we are from 1998... when Mulan was considered a progressive movie.

It's a matter of opinion but I believe it is.

I love this movie, and so does my sister. I loved the fact, they based it in China, and they got the cultural aspects of Chinese life right. Bravo, Disney! The animation, especially during the avalanche scene, was spotless (loved that epic shot of the bird flying over the huns), and the music, especially in the attack of the huns/avalanche scene and the part where everyone bows down to Mulan towards the end (a real tear-jerker as was the "greatest honour is having you for a daughter" part) by Jerry Goldsmith was lovely too, Shan-Yu's theme was also haunting. The songs are better than they're given credit for, the best being "Reflection", "I'll Make a Man out of You" and the one in the end credits. I strongly recommend Vanessa Mae's rendition of "Reflection", which is extraordinary. The singing voices, from the likes of Lea Salonga and Donny Osmond, did match the voice actors, unlike Quest for Camelot. The characters are also very memorable; Ming Na's feisty Mulan (one of Disney's greatest female characters), George Takei's brooding ancestor, Eddie Murphy's hilarious Mushu- who bags most of the film's best lines-, BD Wong's handsome Shang, Miguel Ferrer's mysterious and often frightening Shan Yu (who actually is an effective and underrated villain despite having an all-too-easy and lame death scene) and of course Pat Morita's wise Emperor. Some aspects of the well-told story might fly over children's heads, but this is enthralling entertainment, that deserves a much higher rating. 9/10

{However, I will say Mulan 2 is one of the better straight to DVD Disney sequels - well one of my favourites alongside Brother Bear 2 and Lion King 2. The songs in it are a joy; especially "Lesson Number One" and "Like Other Girls"}