"A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men." -- Willy Wonka
"A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men." -- Willy Wonka
Member since:07.09.2003
Reviews:30
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Okay, let’s get this straight from the start: I LOVE Disney. And also, a little part of me wants to be Mulan. In my opinion, she is without doubt the single coolest Disney heroine around! So whilst I will obviously writing a balanced, objective op, I’m sure you will understand if every now and again there is a definite tone of admiration to it, or a touch of non-professional bias. But here goes!
Mulan is the only daughter of Fa Zhou, a well-known war hero in Imperial China. Her spirited personality and irreverent ways make her a misfit in her home town and she regularly gets into scrapes, disgracing her family’s name in a world where honour and dignity is everything. Mulan loves her family, and would do anything for them, but she just can’t seem to help herself.
When the Huns invade China, the Emperor decrees that one man from every family must sign up to fight in the war. Fa Zhou is ready
to take on this task for the honour of his country, a desire that Mulan simply doesn’t understand. Her father has already done his part, and would most likely be killed if he were to go off to war. So Mulan, in her usual impetuous fashion, steals her father’s conscription notice and uniform and flies off to train for war in her father’s place, posing as his imaginary son, Ping. Her family are heartbroken; they can’t go after her as if they blew her cover, the penalty would be death.
Now this could conceivably make for an entertaining film, but that’s not all the story. Mulan and her family traditionally pray to their ancestors for help in emergency situations. The ancestors awake, and they must choose a guardian to send to help Mulan. They settle upon the Great Stone Dragon, and send Mushu, a disgraced guardian, and general go-fer, to wake him. Unfortunately Mushu only manages to destroy the statue, and, rather than admit his fault to the ancestors, goes with Mulan to war, hoping to lead her to glory and regain his status.
Phew! So there’s the plot, more than I would normally put into a review, but this only covers the background of the film, I’m not giving anything away. It’s a lot more complicated on paper than it seems when I’m watching it!
Mulan is full of laugh out loud moments. I think it’s funny, my nine-year old sister thinks it’s funny, and my mum (who probably wouldn’t find it too funny if I told you her age) thinks it’s funny. Most of the jokes come from Eddie Murphy’s Mushu, who is truly a triumph. I was surprised at this, as usually I don’t subscribe to the overacting, irritating humour that is Eddie Murphy in children’s/teenage films. Other times the laughs are from the almost gruesomely embarrassing situations Mulan finds herself in every single day.
The film is a rollercoaster of emotions, from embarrassment when Mulan is humiliated, through sadness at the scenes of war, to pride and triumph when ever our protagonist succeeds. Voiced by Ming-na (you know, the Chinese girl off ER), Mulan is a character we certainly learn to care about. She is feisty, quick-witted, clever and impetuous, but most importantly, desperately loyal to her family. She is a great role model for young children, and one of the ‘nu-skool’ Disney heroines – you won’t catch her weeping over her Prince Charming (well, not much, anyway), and did you ever catch Ariel cross-dressing? I think not!
Now I’m not entirely sure about whether this story is historically accurate. I believe the Huns in question are Mongolian, and that there was a female war hero called Mulan. However, I think considerable artistic license has been taken (well of course, this is Disney) with the intricate details. If I’m wrong on any of this please let me know!
The soundtrack boasts a quite well-known track, ‘Reflections’, by Christina Aguilera (back in the days when she was a regularly-pigmented human being) and several other catchy, upbeat songs. Donny Osmond features too, as the singing voice of Mulan’s training officer (and later, the love interest.)
So there you have it, Disney’s 36th film, and in my opinion, one if the best. This is great for children and adults alike – it’s feminist, fresh and funny.
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Production Year: 1993 - Family - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Michael Caine, The Muppets, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, David Rudman, Steve Whitmire
Great review. I'd love to get the DVD! I knew the story since I was a child. I was wondering how well it came out.
The story isn't real, and there wasn't even a girl called Mulan. There's a poem which depicts the story - the poem of Mulan - a poem of high standard in Chinese literature. No one ever knows who wrote that poem - historians have drawn a blank on it. People think the poet just wanted to highlight the hardship of China, facing an unfriendly neighbour from the North at that time as well as the value of piety to parents.
1998'sMulanis solid entertainment from a new group of Disney animators. The story source ... more
is a Chinese fab\ le about a young girl who disguises herself as a man to help her family and her country. When the Huns attack China, a cal\ l to arms goes out to...
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![Mulan [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/83386973.jpg "Mulan [DVD]")
![Mulan [DVD] [1998]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78494292.jpg "Mulan [DVD] [1998]")
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