Honoring Chinese New Year - Mulan (1998)

Disney, 1998
Voices of Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, and Miguel Ferrer
Directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft
Music by Matthew Wilder; Lyrics by David Zippel

We honor the Year of the Rat with one of Disney's more unique animated films of its Renaissance era. It was also their first venture into Asian culture and folk tales, and a rare musical action movie. How does the story of a Chinese girl who joins the army as a man in place of her father look now? To answer this, we join the Huns as they prepare for battle...and a young woman preparing for the day that will change her life, in more than one way...

The Story: Fa Mulan (Wen) is a clumsy tomboy living on a farm with her grandmother and parents in ancient China. She's sent to a matchmaker to prepare her to find a husband, but can't remember what she's supposed to do and makes a mess out of the ritual. Her parents can't figure out what to do with her. They're even less happy when she jumps in front of her father (Soon-Tek Oh) after he's conscripted into the army. Her father is a veteran of previous wars, and he has a bad limp. To prevent him from going, she poses as a man and joins herself. She's accompanied by Mushu (Murphy), a small dragon guardian who's trying to get into the other ancestors' good graces, and Cri-kee (Frank Welker), a cricket her grandmother (June Foray) claims is lucky.

Her fellow army mates don't know what to make of her, either. Captain Li (BD Wong) is about ready to drop her, until he sees what she can do when she's really determined. Trouble is, she can only do it as a man. Even after she's found out, she'll still ride on to the Forbidden City to do whatever she can to save the Emperor (Pat Moriata) and China from Hun leader Shan You (Miguel Ferrer).

The Animation: Disney's animators studied the culture and architecture of China long and hard, resulting in more vibrant and delicate work than usual for them. As per Asian architecture, there's a lot of long, graceful lines and fluid curves. Some of it occasionally looks too cartoony, as in Mulan's rather potato-like horse Khan and her goofy army buddies, but it mostly moves very well. There's some first-rate battle sequences, especially the avalanche on the pass and the big finale with the fireworks.

The Song and Dance: Disney wanted to try something different with this one - their first truly action-oriented heroine. In some ways, Mulan is way ahead of her time, coming out in an era when women were only just starting to be prominent in action as more than the love interest. She may be clumsy and goofy, but she's also determined and quick-thinking. She shows the army that brains are just as important as brawn on the battlefield. Wen does well with her, showing the determination that would lead her play another Asian action heroine later, Melinda May in Agents of Shield. She's abetted by a nice cast, including Wong as her love-interest captain who wants to show his merit. Harvey Firnstein, Gedde Wantanabe, and Jerry Tondo are hilarious as her best buddies in the army, and Murphy has some nice lines as the mouthy mini-dragon who wants to be taken seriously again.

For all the funny moments, the movie works best when it explores Mulan's attempts to change gender roles in China and show just how terrible war is. The sequence when the troop goes from singing a comic number to suddenly discovering a destroyed village in less than five minutes is among the most devastating in any Disney animated film.

Favorite Number: By far the most famous song from this one is "I'll Make a Man Out of You," the army's big training routine. We see in a montage just how hard Captain Li pushes his troops, male and female, and how they finally learn discipline...and Mulan figures out how she can use brains and brawn to solve a problem. I also like "A Girl Worth Fighting For," where we learn what kind of women the more typical army troops are interested in right before they find the village, and the opening number for Mulan and her family as she's getting ready for her matchmaking rituals, "Honor To Us All."

What I Don't Like: I feel like we have two movies here. The lighter first half is more like a Warner Brothers cartoon, what with the army's macho gags and Mulan making a hash out of her ritual and all of Murphy's modern references...and it clashes badly with the darker war sequences. In fact, Mushu and Crik-kee can be funny, but they're both mostly out of place. More than half the cast isn't Asian, including Murphy. Mushu's stream of modern references can be cute, but more often than not, they tend to yank one of out of the ancient Chinese setting. Not to mention, the attempts at discussing gender roles are well-meaning, but can come off as awkward at times.

As odd as it seems to admit in a major Disney animated musical, the biggest problem here is the music. Other than the supremely silly "Make a Man Out of You," it's just not that memorable. Mulan's big ballad "Reflection" is especially dull and drippy, and probably just exists to slip a slow song in. The credits song "True to Your Heart" is catchy but a bit bland.

The Big Finale: For all its flaws, this is still one of Disney's more interesting animated films, with a uniquely diverse cast and strong heroine. If you've got a daughter who is more into action than princesses or loves stories from other lands, try this one on her.

Home Media: The most recent disc version pairs Mulan with it's direct-to-DVD sequel. It can also be found quite easily on streaming, including on Disney Plus and Amazon Prime.

DVD - Mulan/Mulan 2 Double Pack
Blu-Ray - 2 Movie Collection
Amazon Prime (Buy Only)