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This article is about the film "Mulan". For the legendary person, see Hua Mulan. For the namesake protagonist, see Fa Mulan.
| Mulan | |
|---|---|
 Promotional Poster For Mulan by John Alvin | |
| Directed by | Tony Bancroft Barry Cook |
| Produced by | Pam Coats |
| Written by | Robert D. San Souci Rita Hsiao |
| Starring | Ming-Na Eddie Murphy B.D. Wong Miguel Ferrer Harvey Fierstein Beth Fowler George Takei |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 19, 1998 |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $90,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $304,320,254 |
| Followed by | Mulan II (2005) |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Mulan is a 1998 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 19, 1998. The thirty-sixth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, J. Lau. Ode to Mulan. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. and was the first of three produced primarily at the animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida.Disney Princess Official Homepage (SWF). The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved on 2007-09-08. It was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with the story by Robert D. San Souci and Rita Hsiao, among others.Mulan Disney VHS Release. The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
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When the Huns, led by the ruthless Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer), invade China, each family is given a conscription notice. Mulan\'s father, Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh) has to serve in the army, but he is too old, and he will not survive. Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) disguises herself as a man, then takes her father\'s conscription notice, armor, and weapons so that he will not have to go. She rides away on her horse, Khan, to join the army, knowing that if she were caught she would be killed.
Mushu (Eddie Murphy), a small dragon, has been awakened by the family\'s First Ancestor (George Takei). Mushu had been demoted to gong ringer after a mishap with one of the ancestors when the other ancestors were awakened. After various choices of which guardian to send after Mulan, he is asked to awaken the "Great Stone Dragon". Mushu accidentally destroys the Dragon but realizes that this could be an opportunity to earn his place among the guardians again if he can make Mulan a war hero.
Mulan trains with a group led by Captain Li Shang (B.D. Wong), including fellow soldiers Ling (Gedde Watanabe), Yao (Harvey Fierstein), and Chien Po (Jerry Tondo). The troops complete their training, but Chi Fu (James Hong), the Emperor\'s meddling and misogynistic advisor, refuses to let them see battle, accusing the troops of being ill prepared. Mushu forges a letter from the General, ordering Li Shang to take his men to battle. The troops set out to meet General Li (James Shigeta), who has already left on a mission. However, Li Shang and his troops discover that the General and his men were killed in battle.
Captain Li Shang and his troops continue, disheartened by their loss, when they are ambushed by Hun archers. After an initial attack, the Huns are believed to be defeated, but the troops soon discover otherwise. As they are setting up the last cannon to fire at the Huns, Mulan spots a precarious mound of snow on the upper mountainside. As the Huns charge down the mountain Mulan takes the cannon and fires the rocket at the snow mound. The collision of the rocket and the snow mound causes an avalanche which spreads over the charging Huns, burying them. Captain Li\'s soldiers take refuge while Mulan rescues Captain Li from being swept away by the snow. The Chinese soldiers initially cheer for their victory, but quickly become somber after Mulan discovers that she is bleeding; she had been wounded by a swipe of Shan Yu\'s sword. Captain Li quickly summons a doctor just as Mulan faints.
During treatment, Mulan\'s true identity is discovered. Captain Li is notified and is expected to execute Mulan, but spares her life and considers his pardon an exchange for Mulan saving his own life. Instead, Captain Li expels her from the army. Mulan decides to return home but hears the Huns emerging from the snow that had blanketed them during the earlier battle. She tries to warn Captain Li\'s troops as they are heralded by citizens in a parade for their war efforts, but they do not listen. As the Emperor (Pat Morita) addresses the crowd, the Huns, disguised as parade characters, kidnap him.
Captain Li and his troops try to follow the Huns into the palace but are unsuccessful. Mulan devises a ploy with the other soldiers to dress as concubines, scale a palace wall and infiltrate the palace. When the Huns lower their defenses in the presence of the "women", Mulan and her friends swiftly dispatch them all. During this attack the Emperor is safely removed from the palace by Chien Po, but Captain Li and Mulan are both trapped on the balcony with Shan Yu. Shan Yu is about kill Captain Li when Mulan gets his attention. He recognizes her from the mountain battle and gives chase. Mulan lures him onto the palace rooftop where they face each other in personal combat, until Mushu, as arranged by Mulan, propels a huge firecracker that hits Shan Yu and carries him off to his death. The fate of the remaining five Hun warriors is never fully disclosed.
The Emperor meets Mulan and, in an accusatory tone, lists Mulan\'s crimes, but he pardons her. The Emperor then bows to Mulan, which is considered an extremely high honor as it implies being of a higher status than the Emperor, and the crowd follow suit. The Emperor then offers Mulan a position in his staff, but Mulan politely refuses the offer and confesses that she wants to return home. He gives her Shan Yu\'s sword, along with his crest, for her to bring home and give honour to her family.
Upon her return, Mulan expects to be reprimanded but is instead embraced by her family. Captain Li arrives to talk with Mulan, having been encouraged to propose by the Emperor. The ancestors reluctantly agree to make Mushu a guardian once more.
Development for Mulan began in 1994, after 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. "Discovering Mulan". Mulan DVD: Walt Disney Home Entertainment. The filmmakers decided to change Mulan\'s character to make her more appealing and selfless "Finding Mulan". Mulan DVD: Walt Disney Home Entertainment. and turn the art style closer to Chinese painting, with watercolor and simpler design - opposed to the details of The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. "Art Design". Mulan DVD: Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
To create 2,000 Hun soldiers during the Huns\' attack sequence, the production team developed a 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 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 Chinese are bowing to Mulan, the crowd is a panoramic film of real people bowing. It was edited into the animated foreground of the scene. Mulan DVD Commentary [DVD]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
Reception of Mulan was mostly positive, gathering a 90% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes.Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. Stephen Wong described the visuals as "stunning,"Wong, Stephen (1998). History? Close enough.... Entertainment Insiders. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. Kyle Suggs described the visuals as "breathtaking,"Suggs, Kyle (1998). Review of Mulan. Christian Spotlight. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. and Dan Jardine described the visuals as "magnificently animated."Jardine, Dan (1998). Review of Mulan. Apollo Guide. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. Many praise the movie for attempting something new. Fa Mulan is unlike a traditional Disney heroine, suggesting that she is independent and brave; without being overtly glamorous.111111
Film critic Roger Ebert 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".
A negative review described it as a "disappointment." The songs are accused of not being memorable, and slowing down the pace of the movie.Review of Mulan. Need Coffee (1998). Retrieved on 2007-08-11. Some reviewers suggest that the film is "soulless" in its portrayal of Asian society.Gonzales, Ed (1998). Review of Mulan. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
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."Nguyen, Mimi. "Negotiating Asian American superpower in Disney\'s Mulan", Pop Politics Media LLC. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. Nadya Labi agrees, 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 she needed to become a boy to do it. Kathleen Karlyn, an assistant professor of English at the University of Oregon, criticises it suggesting "In order to even imagine female heroism, we\'re placing it in the realm of fantasy". Pam Coats, producer of Mulan, aimed to produce a character that exhibits both masculine and feminine influences, being both physically and mentally strong.Labi, Nadya. "Girl Power", TIME Magazine, 1998-06-26, pp. 1-2. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
Mulan\'s opening weekend box office figures were $22.8 million,Box Office Report for Mulan. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. placing it as the second highest grossing movie that week to The X-Files.Box Office Report for X-Files. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. It went on to make $120 million domestically and $304 million worldwide, placing it the second highest family film of the year, behind A Bug\'s Life, and the 7th highest of the year overall.1998 WORLDWIDE GROSSES. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. However, these figures were criticised as being a significant decrease from former Disney films, and this was considered a sign of the decreasing popularity of cartoon animation.Corliss, Richard. "Stitch in Time?", TIME Magazine, 2002-06-24. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. Top international releases include United Kingdom ($14.6 million) and France ($10.2 million).Woods, Mark. "\'Mulan\' hits $100 mil", Variety, 1998-12-01. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
Mulan won many Annie Awards. The film itself won the award for Best Animated Theatrical theatres. Individual achievement awards were awarded to Pam Coats for producing; Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft for Directing; Rita Hsiao, Christopher Sanders, Phillip LaZebnick, Raymond Singer and Eugenia Bostwick-Singer in Writing; Chris Sanders for Storyboarding; Hans Bacher for Production Design; David Tidgwell for Effects Animation; Ming-Na for Voice Acting Mulan; Matthew Wilder, David Zippel and Jerry Goldsmith for music and Ruben A. Aquino for Character Animation. Tom Bancroft and Mark Henn were also nominated for Character Animation.26th Annie Award Winners (1998). Retrieved on 2007-08-09. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Original Music Score in 1998, but was beaten by Stephen Warbeck\'s score for Shakespeare in Love.1998 Academy Award Winners (1999). Retrieved on 2007-08-09. The music score also received significant praise. Jerry Goldsmith won the 1999 BMI Film Music Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score in 1998. Matthew Wilder and David Zippel were also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song the same year for "Reflection". They were beaten by The Truman Show and "The Prayer" from Quest for Camelot respectively.1998 56th Golden Globe Awards. LA Times. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
Disney was keen to promote Mulan to the Chinese, hoping they might replicate their success with their 1994 film The Lion King, which was one of the country\'s highest-grossing Western films at that time. Disney also hoped it might smooth over relations with the Chinese government which had soured after the release of Kundun, a Disney-funded biography of the Dalai Lama that the Chinese government considered politically provocative.Fessler, Karen (June 23, 1998). Will Mulan open China to Disney?. Bloomberg News. Retrieved on 2007-06-23. China had threatened to curtail business negotiations with Disney over that film and, as the government only accepts 10 Western films per year to be shown in their country, Mulan\'s chances of being accepted were low.Michael Fleeman (1998). Hollywood hopes more movies will follow Clinton to China. The Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-06-23. Finally, after a year\'s delay, the Chinese government did allow the film a limited Chinese release, but only after the Chinese New Year, so as to ensure that local films dominated the more lucrative holiday market.Kurtenbach, Elaine (February 8, 1999). China Allows Disney Film Screening. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-06-23.Shelly Kraicer (August 14, 1999). China vs. Hollywood : the BBC World Service talks to me. Retrieved on 2007-06-23. Kelly Chen and Coco Lee voiced Mulan in the Cantonese and Mandarin dubs of the film respectively, while Jackie Chan voiced Shang in both dubs.
The Chinese legend of Hua Mulan centers on a young woman who disguises herself as a man to take the place of her elderly father in the army. The story can be traced back to The Ballad of Mulan. The earliest accounts of the legend state that she lived during the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534). However another version reports that Mulan was requested as a concubine by Emperor Yang of Sui China (reigned 604–617).J. Lau. http://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/mulan.html. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. The film may take place even later, as it prominently features landmarks such as the Forbidden City which was not constructed until the 15th Century. On the other hand, at the time of Northern Wei, the Xiongnu (Huns) had been already absorbed into Chinese culture. However, according to the style of dress (traditional Han clothing), the film takes place sometime in the 15th century or before. The fireworks featured in the movie indicate that the movie is set during the Sui dynasty. Although Mulan is set in north China, where the dominant language is Mandarin,China Factbook. the Disney film uses the Cantonese pronunciation, "Fa", of her family name. In Mandarin her name is pronounced "Hua".
Disney\'s Mulan casts the title character in much the same way as the original legend, a tomboy daughter of a respected veteran, somewhat troubled by being the "sophisticated lady" her society expects her to be after failing the matchmaker\'s training, dishonoring Mulan\'s family. In the original Mulan legend, Mulan uses her father\'s name Li and not the name "Ping" and she was never discovered as a girl, unlike the film. Also in the original legend, Mulan went to war for her father, because her father was getting too old to fight, and had no sons to take his place. However, in the film, it was added that her father\'s leg was injured.
The script used for most of the text in Mulan is Traditional Chinese, which is no longer used in daily life on Mainland China (but still used in Hong Kong, Macau, and many overseas Chinese communities), although people are still able to read it. The traditional name for the leaders of the Central Asian Huns was Shanyu. The war between the Huns and China was real, called the Sino-Xiongnu War.
When Mulan masquerades as a man, her name is a pun in Chinese. Her first name is "Ping" (瓶), meaning pot, and her surname (placed first using Chinese naming conventions) means Flower (花). Together they make "Flowerpot", a Chinese term meaning an effeminate man. According to Orpheus in Mayfair and Other Stories and Sketches by Maurice Baring, "Ping" in Chinese means soldier-man, and if you wish to express your contempt for a man there is no word in the whole of the Chinese language which expresses it so fully and so emphatically as the word Ping. Baring, Maurice [August 1909]. Orpheus In Mayfair And Other Stories And Sketches. Mills & Boon. ISBN 1-404-32312-0. Chi Fu\'s name literally means, in Chinese, "to bully".
Mulan features a score by Jerry Goldsmith and five songs by Matthew Wilder (music) and David Zippel (lyrics), with a sixth originally planned for Mushu, but dropped following Eddie Murphy\'s involvement with the character. "Songs of Mulan". Mulan DVD: Walt Disney Home Entertainment. The movie\'s soundtrack is credited for starting the career of pop princess 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.Smith, Andy. "One talented teen". Providence Journal. Retrieved on 2007-05-25. In 1999, she would go on to release her self-titled debut album, on which Reflection was also included. As well as her own, the pop version of Reflection has 2 Spanish translations, because the movie has separate Spanish translations for Spain (performed by Malú) and Latin America (performed by Lucero). Other international versions include a Brazilian Portuguese version by Sandy & Junior ("Imagem") and a Mandarin version by Coco Lee.
Lea Salonga, the singing voice of Mulan in the movie, is also the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin. The music featured during the haircut scene, often referred as the Mulan Decision score, 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 limited edition CD.Clemmensen, Christian (July 7, 2007). Filmtracks: Mulan (Jerry Goldsmith). Retrieved on 2007-07-28. Salonga, who enjoys singing 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 movie\'s sequel, Mulan II.
The song I\'ll Make a Man Out of You was performed by Donny Osmond, who commented that his children decided that he had finally "made it" in show business when he was in a Disney film.Scheerer, Mark. "Donny Osmond rolls with the punches for \'Mulan\' success" (HTML), CNN, 1998-07-08. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
On Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic, this includes I\'ll Make a Man Out of You on the orange disc. And on Disney\'s Greatest Hits, this also includes Reflection on the blue disc, and I\'ll Make a Man Out of You on the green disc.
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
Mushu in the game Kingdom Hearts
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
| Mulan | |
|---|---|
| Films | Mulan | Mulan II |
| Characters | Fa Mulan | Mushu | Li Shang | Shan Yu |
| Songs | "I\'ll Make a Man Out of You" | "Reflection" |
| Soundtracks | Mulan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack | Mulan II Soundtrack |
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