Review of Mulan (1998) by Rachel H — 25 Dec 2010

I don't know if Mulan is considered a Disney Princess anymore seeing as she wasn't born into or married into royalty, but she's still my second favourite behind Jasmine. Whether or not Mulan is considered a DP film, it's not so much about princess as it is about gender and honour. It's also about Disney's common message of "its okay to be yourself, no matter who you are". This is by no means the best film in the Disney Renaissance, but definitely not the worst.

This is the second of the Disney films where they try and depict a culture that's not their own. While they still misstep along the way, they pull this off a lot better than they do with Pocahontas. They also got mostly asian-american actors to voice the characters (except for Harvey Fierstein and Eddie Murphy). The characters are memorable, the visuals are striking, the story is good and it sends a positive message to young girls (you know, their target demographic). The message it sends kind of counteracts the message sent by the old wave of princesses and says that it's okay for women to do stuff that is traditionally considered men's work, like joining the army or fighting the huns.

Mulan, like all the new-wave princesses, is a bit awkward. She was odd, out of place, and smart when it was odd for a woman to be, and she screwed up with the matchmaker, who deems her unmarryable and makes Mulan sing about how no one accepts her for who she is. Meanwhile, the Huns have invaded china and they need soldiers to fight them. Mulan is worried about the fact that if her dad goes to war, he's going to die. So she disguises herself as a man and joins the army. Mulan then starts on a big helping of failingly acting like a man, going from the bottom of the army to being able to climb the top of the pole, and starting the awkwardest budding love story ever.

The musical numbers are lovely and Captain Shang sings one of the catchiest songs in all of disney-dom and possibly one of the catchiest songs ever. Namely, the training montage song "I'll make a man out of you". It's impossible not to sing along with it, and it was stuck in my head for days after I saw this movie. The other ones are pretty good too, but not quite as good as the one aforementioned song.

Mulan is a decent role model for the girls this movie is marketing to. Not quite as good as Tiana, but not as bad as Aurora or Cinderella. Her primary motivation is her father, but its more about how nobody likes her for who she is. Also, she turns down the spot on the emperor's council for marriage, and some people don't like that. I , for one, am not crazy about her choice, but I can forgive it because I like this movie. The other characters are well written and not cliched, especially Captain Shan and Mushu. Needless to say, great characters and great role models.

If you haven't seen this movie, check it out, no matter your gender. Not only is it a movie about culture, but its more about gender, and that's why it was a great game-changer for disney that lead to Tiana and Rapunzel. This embodies all the elements of the disney renaissance: dazzling visuals, classic characters, great songs, and a great story. All in all, my second favourite Disney Princess movie.