Review of Mulan (1998) by Gavin C — 13 Jul 2012

I think I saw this in theaters when I was a little child (actually I did) and I was totally blown away after viewing it. Just like The Lion King, this was actually a masterpiece along with the other ones.

Writing the story won't be necessary for me as I make my opinion in the most impressed and appealed way. The way the Disney company pended a few days in China, studying their artwork at its beautiful city and towns and came up with that idea was so amazing the visuals look exactly like the ones that were drawn and colored beautifully. Even the character designs were animated very well.

The music from the late Jerry Goldsmith (who died in 2004) was a piece of excellence with some great songs written by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel (who wrote the lyrics for Richard Rich's animated feature The Swan Princess and previously wrote the lyrics for Hercules). Reflection, You'll Bring Honor To Us All, I'll Make A Man Out Of You, and A Girl Worth Fighting For were very memorable to listen to in which they were won for best music in an animated motion picture.

The characters were great. Mulan, the lovely Chinese princess, Shang, the brave and fearless captain, Mushu, the comic relief and hilariously funny dragon (not to mention the cricket, who is also likable), the three soldiers Ling, Chien Po and Yao were amazing, Chi-Fu was good and funny, and the emperor (voiced by Mr. Miyagi himself) was amazing, but arguably, the best character in the entire movie was Shan Yu, who was known for being one of the greatest Disney villains ever due to his menace and darker look that would frighten younger kids. The voice acting is amazing. Ming Na, Eddie Murphy, B.D. Wong, and the rest of the actors including James Hong and Mr. Miyagi himself Pat Morita were very entertaining in their performances. Mulan is one of Disney's masterpieces with a stronger premise and it ranks next to The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. If I meet the Disney company for doing their successful effort at making an animated feature film for kids, I would shake their hands and say, "You, my friends, are geniuses.".