Review of Mulan (1998) by Kai82 — 08 Sep 2020

After watching the remake I appreciate this even more. It is a Disney classic and excellent movie. It is the Disney version of the ballad of Mulan. A Chinese legend where Mulan takes her fathers place in the army because he is too old to serve and her brother is too young.

This was at a time were women were discriminated and thought to be inferior so she had to pose as man or other sources claim her comrades did not recognize it until the war ended. Disney took a lot of liberties and succeed.

The story is excellent as Mulan faces the drill and brutality of war as an invading army threatens China. Mulans journey is one of self discovery as she must hide her gender and overcome the odds. She does this by hard work, willpower and determination.

She earns the trust and respect of her comrades and superiors while being torn out by the fact that she is hiding and lying to them. The other characters are ranging from fitting to excellent. Be it Li Shang as her commander, her family, the emperor and the excellent intimidating villain Shan Yu (maybe a bit too cliche).

Then there is Mushu the small dragon like family guardian. He is the comic relive and hidden star. He improves the movie and is voiced by comedians in nearly all versions (US: Eddie Murphy German: Otto Waalkes and French: Jose Garia).

The story is well done and focus on character development and interactions. The animation look still good today and the soundtrack is really good but it is the kind that can be a hit or miss. Overall a classic Disney movie that is still excellent.

I prefer it over the remake any day. I give 1 additional point because the remake made me appreciate the original even more. Extra knowledge: While women were suppressed in China it did not stop them.

There are female empresses like Wu Zetian and Cixi (not official named empress but empress in everything but name), bad ass warriors like Lin Siniang, scientists like Wang Zhenyi or the pirate queens Zheng Yisao (Yes she was represented in Pirates of the Caribbean) and Ching Shih.