Mulan (1998)

Now I must admit I wasn't sure about this one. MULAN seemed to break most of my preconceived rules on Disney movies. These included the fairytale element - a cross-dressing Chinese soldier doesn't have the same magical appeal as, say, the son of the Greek gods searching for his birthright, etc etc. Also, this verge towards realism meant that the bad guy would not be as appealing - Disney villains are camp, over-the-top thespians by rule - Jeremy Irons in THE LION KING for example. I was concerned about the absence of king-of-melody composer Alan Menken, whose wonderful songs encapsulate the charm of Disney.

However, that said, I thought this film was wonderful. The characters were well thought out and expertly drawn. Not enough songs were present for my liking, but those that were fit perfectly with the story, and the chance to hear the wonderful voice of Lea Salonga (Mulan's songs) is worth the price of this film alone. Eddie Murphy has managed to be as good, if not better, than Robin Williams as the comic sidekick. And the film's conclusion is as genuine and as heartfelt as any adaptation of this story. The mountain scene contains some of the best animation I have seen from Disney, and the rousing score from maestro Jerry Goldsmith accompanies the action superbly.

This may not turn out to be a classic in the same way as THE LION KING and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, but I enjoyed it immensely. Go see it now!!!

Fmovies: I can't think of a single animated feature film done by Disney that I don't like. For some reason they never bore me and they never feel the same. The classics like 'Snow White' and 'Cinderella' are great but I think I like the newer ones ('The Little Mermaid', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'The Lion King') even more. 'Mulan' definitely belongs to the best ones.

Mulan is a girl who doesn't do much right. For the honor of her family she joins the army instead of her father. She takes his gear and runs off. She pretends to be a man and does the training to go to war against the Huns who invaded China.

With some nice new songs, great music by Jerry Goldsmith and beautiful animations this is a real Disney. A little dragon called Mushu is helping her on the way. He is send by the ancestors. The voice of Mushu is from Eddie Murphy and he does a very great job. With a quick and good story and a lot of funny moments this is a great movie.

I know this sounds silly, but Mulan is actually my all-time favorite movie. Trust me, I am a perfectly intelligent young woman who likes to read and is going to college, but there's just something about Mulan that I have always loved. It suffered a lot in release because it was lost in an avalanche of new CGI movies like A Bug's Life. But Mulan's story is every bit as good as those movies, even if you find the animation less impressive.

The strengths of the movie for me are not the songs (which are very weak compared to earlier Disney), nor the animation (which is charming with a few Chinese flourishes) or any other technical aspect of the movie production. What makes this moving great is that it has a truly endearing, likable main character. While in most Disney movies the silly sidekicks or cute animals steal the show, in this movie Mulan is both funny and brave, making her a truly human character that I rooted for whole-heartedly.

I am also a crazy feminist and for me this movie is the ultimate girl-power movie. Who would of thought that could ever be said of a Disney movie? But really, Mulan, as a Chinese tomboy who never quite feels that she fits in in her society, is an excellent picture of a woman finally proving to the world that she can do everything a man can do. After watching the movie (which I have done over 15 times) I always feel really inspired and motivated! Seriously! The movie without a doubt has lots of production problems (bad songs, clichéd side-characters, mediocre villain), but I still highly, highly recommend because fundamentally the characters are likable and believable and the plot is well constructed. Oh and I think it's pretty damn funny. Mushu always makes me laugh, and watching Mulan try to spit is still the funniest thing I've ever seen in a movie.

If you want the classic singing, dancing fairy tale-style Disney movies a la The Little Mermaid, this is not quite what you're looking for. Mulan is more character driven and less lavishly made. But it absolutely belongs in the upper ranks of Disney, and it's a pity that Disney couldn't have continued to make animated features of this quality.

Mulan fmovies. I have a 4.5 year old daughter who is going through the princess phase. We read lots of fairy tales etc and its very difficult to find a fairy tale where the princess is strong and resourceful. Most of the time they are pretty passive and the worst one is sleeping beauty. I find myself treading a fine line between letting her enjoy the fairy tale and occasionally commenting on the fact that perhaps some of these princesses just don't do enough to help themselves and how they can help themselves a little bit more. I don't want to destroy her pleasure in these fairy tales, after all, I loved them too. But it took me a while as adult to see how the subconscious message of helplessness in these fairy tales can reinforce the existing values of society and parents that girls are meant to be saved.

So it is a great pleasure to be able to show my daughter a story of a strong and intelligent girl - Mu Lan and its great that Mu Lan and we are both ethnically Chinese. Here is a heroine who is resourceful, uses her brains, saves the Captain and China. We draw many discussion points from the story, such as why it is that women were not allowed to join the army, the value of trying hard and training and practising hard, what is discipline and why it is needed to succeed, using your brains and thinking of how to solve a problem, not just using brute strength, etc. Even some politics - like why did the Hun king want the Emperor to bow to him and why the Emperor wouldn't bow to him but would bow to Mulan. My challenge is the explain things in a way which is both accurate and yet understandable to a 4 year old. My daughter loves the story because Mulan does a lot of "saving".

My daughter has probably watch the movie only 3 times coz I limit TV and video a lot. But she'll ask me to tell her the story in my own words, based on the video. It works out great.

The fact that the movie Mulan captivates me as an adult also helps. There's only so much I can enjoy of a barney video.

I definitely recommend this movie to parents with young girls, as a good place to start talking about being a strong and intelligent woman. Another good one is Beauty and the Beast. I've not seen Pocahontas so I can't comment on that.

A great story..I have always been impressed by China's history,by its culture..even though this film is fiction but even so..I like it!..A girl,Mulan,who wants to save his father from going to war and die in battle...a little dragon,Mushu,who tries to convince the ancestors of the Fa family that he can do something important without messing up things around him..a bug who thinks he's lucky and it seems that he really has lot of luck..and a brave horse and companion,Khan..they all decide to help Mulan in war..that's the plot of the story...In the end everything turns out OK and Shang and Mulan fall in love.. I recommend this movie to everyone..and I hope you'll like it as much as I did..or who knows?even more..

In the 1990s, I felt that Disney made quite a few undistinguished cartoons following Aladdin. Unlike most of the world, I wasn't all that enamored with THE LION KING and subsequent offerings such as the wretched HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and POCAHONTAS were huge disappointments. Sure, POCAHONTAS is a lovely film to watch, but it's so wrong historically and it's so politically correct and hokey. And as for HUNCHBACK, the story was so dark and unappealing, I have no idea WHO the intended audience was. So it was in this context that I expected to hate or at least be underwhelmed by MULAN. Instead, it seemed fresh, well-made, humorous and fun--something distinctly missing from these other films. While the anachronistic aspect of having a lady warrior is problematic, for once Disney had another strong and likable female lead following Belle in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. This was a definite home-run for Disney and well worth your time whether you are a child or an adult.