Day 36: Mulan

Mulan (1998)

Starring: Ming-Na Wen, Lea Salonga, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Watanabe, Jerry Tondo, James Hong, Soon-Tek Oh, June Foray, Marni Nixon, Pat Morita, George Takei, Miriam Margoyles, Freda Foh Shen, James Shigeta, Frank Welker, Chris Sanders, Mary Kay Bergman

Songs: "Honor to Us All," "Reflection," "I'll Make a Man Out of You," "A Girl Worth Fighting For," "True to Your Heart"

Mulan is the thirty-sixth animated Disney feature, based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan.  It tells the story of Mulan, a young woman who dresses as a man to take her father's place in the war.  The idea for the movie came about in 1994, when a team of Disney artists took a trip to China for inspiration.  Disney was planning a story called "China Doll" but it was suggested that the movie be based on the poem "The Song of Fa Mu Lan."

Disney wanted to make this movie look different than previous films and convey a Chinese aesthetic, so they took inspiration Chinese paintings and used more simple backgrounds than they had for the last few previous films.  Disney hoped the film would be popular in China, but one complaint was that Disney altered the story too much.  The film, however, does adhere more to the source material here than it has for some other films.

Overall, this is a really good movie.  I have always loved it, and Mulan is an especially awesome character.  I did tag this post with my posts about the other "princess" movies.  Technically, in the story, Mulan is not a princess but I felt this was appropriate because Disney does consider her (and Pocahontas) officially a part of the Disney Princess line up.

What I Liked: Grandma.  She's hilarious.  Also the whole "I'll Make a Man Out of You" sequence.  Just wonderful.

What I Disliked: Pretty much nothing.

Should You Watch This Movie: Yes.  Definitely.