Mulan is a 1998 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 19, 1998. The thirty-sixth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan,and was the first of three produced primarily at the animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida.[It was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with the story by Robert D. San Souci and Rita Hsiao, among others.
When the Huns, led by the ruthless Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer), invade China, each family is given a conscription notice. Mulan's father, Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh) has to serve in the army, but he is too old, and he will not survive. Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) disguises herself as a man, then takes her father's conscription notice, armor, and weapons so that he will not have to go. She rides away on her horse, Khan, to join the army, knowing that if she were caught she would be killed.
Mushu (Eddie Murphy), a small dragon, has been awakened by the family's First Ancestor (George Takei). Mushu had been demoted to gong ringer after a mishap with one of the ancestors when the other ancestors were awakened. After various choices of which guardian to send after Mulan, he is asked to awaken the "Great Stone Dragon". Mushu accidentally destroys the Dragon but realizes that this could be an opportunity to earn his place among the guardians again if he can make Mulan a war hero.
Mulan trains with a group led by Captain Li Shang (B.D. Wong), including fellow soldiers Ling (Gedde Watanabe), Yao (Harvey Fierstein), and Chien Po (Jerry Tondo). The troops complete their training, but Chi Fu (James Hong), the Emperor's meddling and misogynistic advisor, refuses to let them see battle, accusing the troops of being ill prepared. Mushu forges a letter from the General, ordering Li Shang to take his men to battle. The troops set out to meet General Li (James Shigeta), who has already left on a mission. However, Li Shang and his troops discover that the General and his men were killed in battle.
Captain Li Shang and his troops continue, disheartened by their loss, when they are ambushed by Hun archers. After an initial attack, the Huns are believed to be defeated, but the troops soon discover otherwise. As they are setting up the last cannon to fire at the Huns, Mulan spots a precarious mound of snow on the upper mountainside. As the Huns charge down the mountain Mulan takes the cannon and fires the rocket at the snow mound. The collision of the rocket and the snow mound causes an avalanche which spreads over the charging Huns, burying them. Captain Li's soldiers take refuge while Mulan rescues Captain Li from being swept away by the snow. The Chinese soldiers initially cheer for their victory, but quickly become somber after Mulan discovers that she is bleeding; she had been wounded by a swipe of Shan Yu's sword. Shang quickly summons a doctor just as Mulan faints.
During treatment, Mulan's true identity is discovered. Captain Li is notified and is expected to execute Mulan, but spares her life and considers his pardon an exchange for Mulan saving his own life. Instead, Captain Li expels her from the army. Mulan decides to return home but hears the Huns emerging from the snow that had blanketed them during the earlier battle. She tries to warn Captain Li's troops as they are heralded by citizens in a parade for their war efforts, but they do not listen. As the Emperor (Pat Morita) addresses the crowd, the Huns, disguised as parade characters, kidnap him.
Captain Shang and his troops try to follow the Huns into the palace but are unsuccessful. Mulan devises a ploy with the other soldiers to dress as concubines, scale a palace wall and infiltrate the palace. When the Huns lower their defenses in the presence of the "women", Mulan and her friends swiftly dispatch them all. During this attack the Emperor is safely removed from the palace by Chien Po, but Captain Li and Mulan are both trapped on the balcony with Shan Yu. Shan Yu is about kill Captain Li when Mulan gets his attention. He recognizes her from the mountain battle and gives chase. Mulan lures him onto the palace rooftop where they face each other in personal combat, until Mushu, as arranged by Mulan, propels a huge rocket that hits Shan Yu and carries him off to his death. The fate of the remaining five Hun warriors is never fully disclosed.
The Emperor meets Mulan and, in an accusatory tone, lists Mulan's crimes, but he pardons her. The Emperor then bows to Mulan, which is considered an extremely high honor as it implies being of a higher status than the Emperor, and the crowd follow suit. The Emperor then offers Mulan a position in his staff, but Mulan politely refuses the offer and confesses that she wants to return home. He gives her Shan Yu's sword, along with his crest, for her to bring home and give honour to her family.
Upon her return, Mulan expects to be reprimanded but is instead embraced by her family. Captain Shang arrives to talk with Mulan, having been encouraged to propose by the Emperor. The ancestors reluctantly agree to make Mushu a guardian once more.
Mulan originally began as a short, straight-to-video film titled "China Doll" about an oppressed and miserable Chinese girl who is whisked away by a British Prince Charming to happiness in the West. Then Disney consultant and children's book writer Robert San Souci suggested making a movie of the Chinese poem, "The Song of Fa Mu Lan" and Disney combined the two separate projects.[4]
Development for Mulan began in 1994, after the production team sent a select group of artistic supervisors to China for three weeks to take photographs and drawings of local landmarks for inspiration; and to soak up local culture.[5] The filmmakers decided to change Mulan's character to make her more appealing and selfless[6] and turn the art style closer to Chinese painting, with watercolor and simpler design - opposed to the details of The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.[7]
To create 2,000 Hun soldiers during the Huns' attack sequence, the production team developed a crowd simulation software called Attila. This software allows thousands of unique characters to move autonomously. A variant of the program called Dynasty was used in the final battle sequence to create a crowd of 3,000 in the Forbidden City. Pixar's photorealistic RenderMan was used to render the crowd. Another software developed for this movie was Faux Plane which was used to add depth to flat two-dimensional painting. Although developed late in production progress, Faux Plane was used in five shots, including the dramatic sequence which features the Great Wall of China, and the final battle sequence when Mulan runs to the Forbidden City. During the scene in which the Chinese are bowing to Mulan, the crowd is a panoramic film of real people bowing. It was edited into the animated foreground of the scene.[8]
Cast
From right to left: Khan; Fa Mulan; Mushu; Cri-Kee
Ming-Na as Fa Mulan (singing voice provided by Lea Salonga), the female protagonist, based on Hua Mulan. She disguises herself as a man and joins the Chinese Imperial Army in her father's place. Instead of being punished for doing so, she ends up a war hero.
Eddie Murphy as Mushu, a dragon and one of the Fa family's guardian spirits, previously demoted after misguiding one of the Fa family ancestors. He is reinstated as a guardian after successfully aiding Mulan in her efforts in the army.
B.D. Wong as Captain Li Shang (singing voice provided by Donny Osmond), the son of General Li and the officer in charge of training the Imperial Army's new recruits.
Miguel Ferrer as Shan Yu, the film's main villain and the head of the Hun army who attempts to conquer the Chinese Empire.
Harvey Fierstein as Yao, a short but tough Imperial Army recruit who was initially antagonistic towards but later befriends Mulan. Known for the fact that his left eye is constantly shut. Despite this supposed handicap, he exhibits great proficiency with range weapons; namely the bow and the rocket.
Gedde Watanabe as Ling (singing voice provided by Matthew Wilder), a lanky Imperial Army recruit who befriends Mulan. Initially seen as a weakling, he later develops the capacity to deliver a hard and painful headbutt through Li Shang's training.
Jerry Tondo as Chien-Po, a huge, rotund, good-natured, and inhumanly strong Imperial Army recruit who befriends Mulan. He appears to be one of the few who could appease Yao; mainly by the means of calming him down by holding him up and telling him to chant with him.
James Hong as Chi-Fu, a member of the Emperor's consul and advisor to Li Shang who refuses to allow the recruits to join the battle against the Huns.
Soon-Tek Oh as Fa Zhou, Mulan's father and a renowned war veteran.
June Foray as Grandmother Fa (singing voice provided by Marni Nixon), the grandmother of Mulan, who is encouraging her to find a husband.
Pat Morita as The Emperor of China, the target of a Hun kidnapping who commends Mulan after saving him and the Chinese Empire. Wise and decisive, he stated that "A single grain of rice can tip the scale; one man may be the difference between victory and defeat." Ironically, he was saved by a woman at the near end of the first film.
George Takei as First Ancestor Fa, the head of the Fa family ancestors.
Freda Foh Shen as Fa Li, Mulan's mother, who looks strikingly like her except that Fa Li has a different hairstyle and is chubbier than Mulan.
James Shigeta as General Li, Li Shang's father who was killed in a battle against the Hun army.
Miriam Margolyes as The Matchmaker, who attempts to find Mulan a husband at the start of the film.
Frank Welker as Khan, Mulan's horse, and Cri-Kee, a cricket given to Mulan as an amulet.
