Tony Bancroft
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“Hunchback” was TOO serious, without enough humor to balance it; “Aladdin” and “Hercules” were very funny but with little depth; even the classic “The Little Mermaid” had little to offer in the way of serious themes or morals.
Arguably the most mature of the eight "new wave" (post- 1988, beginning with The Little Mermaid ) films, Mulan effortlessly blends serious, comic, and cute elements into a whole that should entertain the majority of movie-goers, regardless of race, gender, or age.
The last couple Disney films (although all good) have not attained the "classic" status of, say, The Lion King or The Little Mermaid.
My favourite bit in the animated Mulan from 1998 is the scene in which countless horsemen charge down a snowy hill and are hit by an avalanche, so I’ve no objection to Disney’s spectacle-heavy concept for the film’s live-action remake.
When you combine the hefty price tag, the long-delayed debut and the anticipation of those who loved the 1998 animated version with those who are hoping this live-action version will more truly represent Chinese culture, expectations for Mulan are probably unreasonably high.
First introduced in ballad form in sixth century China, the folkloric figure Hua Mulan has been noodled on ever after – including this film’s direct inspiration, the 1998 animated, eponymous feature.
For her film, Caro has replaced Eddie Murphy’s Mushu with a vibrant, slightly scrappy phoenix as a nod to Mulan’s ancestral roots.
A new telling of the narrative poem, “The Ballad of Mulan,” which also inspired the 1998 animated film, Yifei Liu stars as Hua Mulan, a young woman who risks her life and her family’s honor to save her father from conscription in the Imperial Army.
When Mulan came out in 1998—part of the vaunted Disney animation renascence—critics mainly noted its humor, a result of a chatty red dragon named Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy between Doolittle and Nutty Professor films, and cheeky if forgettable songs that referenced “passing” and “cross-dressing” in lyrics that often sounded like Paul Lynde punchlines from Hollywood Squares.
What should also be noted is the frequency that a prominent role is given to a Black actor in films or TV series that have an East Asian lead, from the animated film version of “Mulan” with Eddie Murphy to the current “Quantum Leap” with Ernie Hudson (“Ghostbusters”) as Dr. Ben Song’s supervisor and head of the Quantum Leap time travel project.
Though every frame is great to look at, "Bolt's" script - by the co-writers of "Mulan" and "Cars" - lacks the wit of its closest Pixar relative, "The Incredibles."
This is a Disney film, so there's never any real question regarding Bolt and his friends' ultimate success or failure, but the writing team of Dan Fogelman (Cars) and co-director Williams (Mulan) has concocted one of the most witty and often hilarious Disney outings in years.
"Bolt" is also the directorial debut of Disney animation department vets Byron Howard and Chris Williams ("Mulan"), who cowrote the screenplay with Dan Fogelman ("Cars"), another Disney/Pixar marriage.
Animators Byron Howard and Chris Williams, whose previous work includes Chicken Little and Mulan, slide into the director's chair for the first time.
Scarlett, as played by Oscar-winner Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind, lit up the screen with her luminous features and explosive temperament; and Mulan, a young Chinese woman who lived 2,000 years ago, shared Scarletts independent nature and courage at least as depicted in Disneys fascinating and artistically animated movie of the same name.
In a scene where the Hun troops sweep down the side of a snowy mountain, I was reminded of the great battle sequence in Sergei Eisenstein's "Alexander Nevsky.''
Smith’s Genie, always reliable for a wisecrack, harkens back to previous anthropomorphic depictions of social subservience and alter-ego psyche — from Mark Twain’s Nigger Jim to Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio and the black crows in Dumbo to Eddie Murphy voicing the serpent in Mulan and the donkey in Shrek, all products of the American romantic imagination.
So while it's not Disney's first time at dipping a toe in multicultural waters -- "Aladdin," "Mulan" and " Pocahontas " were there first -- "The Princess and the Frog" still feels like baby steps.
Lead females have included an Arab (Jasmine, Aladdin ), a lioness (Nala, The Lion King ), a Native American ( Pocahontas ), and a Chinese girl ( Mulan ).
Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, who revived the Disney animation tradition (and the company's fortunes) when they created "The Little Mermaid" in 1989, "The Princess and the Frog" is an attempt to re-establish the "princess" brand that has been ignored (on the big screen, if not in Disney merchandise) since "Mulan" in 1998.
If you ultimately feel cheated, in some way, because the story is not what you were expecting, consider that Woolverton's impressive background includes writing credits for Disney films "Beauty and the Beast" (the first animated feature nominated for Best Picture), "The Lion King" and "Mulan", among others.
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Directed by Carlos López Estrada
influenced by Mulan (1998)
Characters
Instead, it’s a close cousin to the one in the animated Mulan (voice provided by Eddie Murphy), the title character in Pete’s Dragon, or the beloved Falkor from A Neverending Story – cuddly, friendly, and unlikely to frighten even the most delicate child.
She’s not reaching for Robin Williams as the genie and not becoming obnoxious like Eddie Murphy in Mulan .
Mulan (voiced by actress Ming-Na Wen, from "The Joy Luck Club" and TV's "The Single Guy") is a big-time tomboy who, when China is invaded by the Huns, steals her crippled father's marching orders and takes his place on the front disguised as a boy.
Mulan herself (drawn to resemble The Joy Luck Club's Ming-Na Wen, her speaking voice) is a winner, and the story is designed to appeal to both boys (lots of action) and girls (a woman in the middle of all that action, plus a little romance): few summer movies will surpass it.
(Ming-Na Wen of "The Joy Luck Club" provides the speaking voice of Mulan.)
Ever since the financial bonanza of The Lion King, Disney has been cranking out one forgettable animated feature after another, including such pedestrian fare as Pocahontas.
And then there's the more politically correct "Pocahontas," whose heroine's search for the one true path forges a temporary peace pact between her people and British settlers.
“Hunchback” was TOO serious, without enough humor to balance it; “Aladdin” and “Hercules” were very funny but with little depth; even the classic “The Little Mermaid” had little to offer in the way of serious themes or morals.
It's clear that, in his vocal characterization of the dragon, Eddie Murphy is trying to top (or at least equal) Robin Williams' genie from Aladdin .
Murphy brings the same quality to this film that Robin Williams brought to Aladdin - a kind of manic, self-aware comic tone where the jokes whiz by at lightning pace.
Throughout the ‘90s, there wasn’t a culture Walt Disney didn’t commodify for the masses, beginning with 1992’s Aladdin and its cast of sniveling, tiger-loving Arabs (even the film’s Tiger Beat leads were bogus) and ending with 1998’s Mulan.
Mushu is an African-American take on Aladdin's Genie, The Lion King's Timon, and Hercules's Philoctetes; the one-dimensional Shan-Yu descends from Pocahontas's Governor Ratcliffe, The Lion King's Scar, and Hercules's Hades.
One, a cricket named Cri-Kee, is not around much, but the other, a midget dragon guardian named Mushu, is voiced by Eddie Murphy and positioned as precisely the same kind of crowd-pleaser Robin Williams was in "Aladdin" and James Woods in "Hercules."
Who'd have thought that Victor Hugo's sprawling epic The Hunchback of Notre Dame could be transformed into the story of a misunderstood teen, or that the Hercules legend could be purged of any reference to adultery, or that the tale of Pocahontas, involving a 27-year-old British captain and a 12-year-old Algonquin girl, could be the basis for a love story?
Chris Williams may not be a household name, but he directed some beloved Disney features such as Bolt and Big Hero 6 while having story credits for classics like Mulan and Moana.
After a very storied career in animation, with credits in classic Disney joints like Mulan and The Emperor’s New Groove to newer tales like Frozen and Moana, Chris Williams delivers an injection of that type of Disney heart into the new Netflix animated film The Sea Beast.
Chris Sanders has decades of experience with animation, including writing credits on Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Mulan (1998), Lilo & Stitch (2002), and How to Train Your Dragon (2010).
Directed with an intuitive and obvious love of dog movie lore by Chris Sanders ( Lilo & Stitch ; How to Train Your Dragon ; The Croods ; he also wrote a swag of Disney mega-hits such as Beauty and the Beast , The Lion King and Mulan ) the film really pays out on traditional dog movie chestnuts such as friendship, loyalty, survival and character-forming journeys.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
Directed by Dean DeBlois
influenced by Mulan (1998)
Themes
Lovers of these mythological beings can choose from a wide selection of positive film portraits including The Neverending Story (1984), Mulan (1998), Dragonheart (1996), Spirited Away (2002) and Pete's Dragon (2016).
Writer/director Dean DeBlois (How to Train Your Dragon films, Mulan) reintroduces the same fun characters but introduces a beautiful new one to make one dragon’s life more interesting.
Returning writer Linda Woolverton ( Mulan , The Lion King , Alice in Wonderland ) has a better grasp of fairytale mechanics than anyone else in the business.
The script, led by Disney’s favourite in-house writer, Linda Woolverton (the first Maleficent, Beauty and the Beast , The Lion King , Mulan , Alice in Wonderland ) hits the familiar notes – a beautiful princess, a handsome prince, meddling old folks, various other anthropomorphized creatures and a trio of chipper fairies who flit about.
Aiming for broader appeal as a Fox wide release, this comedic 3D update from directors Barry Cook (“Mulan”) and Neil Nightingale might more aptly be called “Wisecracking With Dinosaurs.”
Recruited to exploit the brand for theatrical consumption were co-directors Barry Cook (Mulan) and Neil Nightingale, creative director of BBC Earth, whose different sensibilities would seem ideal for a movie that attempts to graft the series’ documentary style onto a more traditional animated feature format.
Co-director Barry Cook came from animation (“Mulan”), and partnered up with BBC nature film vet Neil Nightingale (he produced “Meerkats: The Movie”).
She’s not a generically feisty, play-by-your-own-rules, who needs men? kind of gal like, say, Belle in “Beauty and the Beast.”
Even Khan, Mulan's noble black steed, looks recycled: he's the same Uccello-inspired equine we saw in Beauty and the Beast, Hunchback (Achilles), and Hercules (Pegasus).