Mulan Discussion

[JTurner]

To me the real triumph of this movie is that the score was done by one of Hollywood's best composers. Jerry Goldsmith. The songs were more or less decent, but it was Goldsmith's Chinese-flavored, pounding, beautiful score that brought the film to life. This is from the same man who did a terrific score for The Secret of NIMH.

But I do love Mulan as a film.

[Sotiris]

Mulan: The story behind 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' and its other hit songs
http://ew.com/movies/2018/06/19/mulan-i ... you-story/

Ming-Na Wen Talks Mulan's Milestone and Disney Favorites
https://d23.com/ming-na-wen-talks-mulan ... favorites/

‘Mulan’ turns 20: Director talks Donny Osmond and making a new type of Disney princess
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900 ... ncess.html

Disney’s “Mulan” 20th Anniversary Tribute Art Show At Gallery Nucleus
https://www.laughingplace.com/w/article ... -art-show/

Two Disney Legends and “Mulan Sisters” Reunite in Magical Moment After Recent Performance
https://www.laughingplace.com/w/disney- ... stage-pic/

[blackcauldron85]

Mulan: The story behind 'I'll Make a Man Out of You' and its other hit songs
http://ew.com/movies/2018/06/19/mulan-i ... you-story/

Are you even kidding me right now, EW article?! They wanted Hanson to do "True To Your Heart"?!?!?! I like Stevie Wonder and 98 Degrees very much, but that would have been epic (IMO)! I bet they turned it down because they didn't write it themselves. What could have been...

[DisneyFan09]

Are you even kidding me right now, EW article?! They wanted Hanson to do "True To Your Heart"?!?!?! I like Stevie Wonder and 98 Degrees very much, but that would have been epic (IMO)! I bet they turned it down because they didn't write it themselves. What could have been...

I don't find it strange, Hanson was at their prime at that time, so it wasn't a strange choice at all. Besides, having a sanitized band towards a tween audience isn't unlikely to end a Disney movie

[blackcauldron85]

They've been my favorite band since I was 12, so I definitely didn't mean to come across as angry. I can't believe that I didn't know this, and I wish I could have heard a Hanson version!

[DisneyFan09]

They've been my favorite band since I was 12, so I definitely didn't mean to come across as angry.

Don't worry, you weren't angry in a unreasonable way. It's allowed to be angry on such occasions.

[Sotiris]

The Art of Mulan is getting updated and re-released on February 11, 2020.

The Art of Mulan: Reflections of a Disney Classic, originally published in 1998 with the debut of the film, is a tribute to the dedication and collaborative effort required in the creation of The Walt Disney Company's thirty-sixth animated feature, Mulan. Like the film's heroine, the Disney artists who created this unforgettable masterpiece made a journey of self-discovery that began with a momentous decision: to make a modern-day film adapted from an ancient Chinese source. Their efforts to remain faithful to the spirit of the original legend and the traditions of Chinese culture, while at the same time make it accessible to a modern international audience are chronicled in The Art of Mulan by the artists themselves. New to this edition will be a retrospective essay about Mulan's increasing popularity over the years, making it a millennial fan favorite, a new foreword by Thomas Schumacher, and (for the first time) an index. Plus, sure to please art collectors, some full-art pages/spreads that originally printed with animated final frames will be changed over to rarer visual develop art!

Source: https://www.laughingplace.com/w/p/disney-books/

[thedisneyspirit]

I remember for some time I didn't like this movie, but rewatching it again, it holds up pretty well. Objectively it's the best-made film of the post-Lion King Renaissance movies, but I like Hunchback a little bit more since it has in there things that appeal to me more (the villain, the music, the setting...). But the heroine is good, well-developed, and has actual flaws to overcome, the comic relief is fine, and the relationship between Mulan and Mushu is sweet.

[DisneyFan09]

The Art of Mulan is getting updated and re-released on February 11, 2020.

The Art of Mulan: Reflections of a Disney Classic, originally published in 1998 with the debut of the film, is a tribute to the dedication and collaborative effort required in the creation of The Walt Disney Company's thirty-sixth animated feature, Mulan. Like the film's heroine, the Disney artists who created this unforgettable masterpiece made a journey of self-discovery that began with a momentous decision: to make a modern-day film adapted from an ancient Chinese source. Their efforts to remain faithful to the spirit of the original legend and the traditions of Chinese culture, while at the same time make it accessible to a modern international audience are chronicled in The Art of Mulan by the artists themselves. New to this edition will be a retrospective essay about Mulan's increasing popularity over the years, making it a millennial fan favorite, a new foreword by Thomas Schumacher, and (for the first time) an index. Plus, sure to please art collectors, some full-art pages/spreads that originally printed with animated final frames will be changed over to rarer visual develop art! Source https://www.laughingplace.com/w/p/disney-books/

Nice! I'll definitively buy it when it get released

[Rose Dome]

I love the film!

The Heroine is capable and free thinking without being perfect or absurdly liberated
The Villain is scary on every level without being a mere problem
The comic companions get to actively help
The animation is gorgeous and the songs fit very well into their moments

I could go on

[Sotiris]

This girl sounds just like Lea Salonga.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qscv2fIxud4

[Sotiris]

This illustration for an upcoming book looks off. It's like they tried to mash-up these two posters but failed miserably.


Source: https://www.amazon.com/Honor-Us-All-Dis ... 794444725/

[DisneyFan09]

Oh my God, yes! They failed big-time! Mulan looks cross-eyed and not even consistent!

[Sotiris]

Sanders, who served as the story supervisor on “Mulan,” wasn’t a fan of how the movie was originally conceived as more of a romantic comedy. Confusion with the plot was part of the problem, and the filmmaker recalled that one day he “drew a line in the sand.”

“When the war was declared, Mulan left because she wanted to save her father’s life,” he noted. “The problem was that she was also leaving to avoid a marriage that all of us would like to avoid. And that was part of the story. She didn’t want to marry a guy that she didn’t know, and that’s where we had a short circuit in the story. The war became a very convenient way for her to avoid something that she had been fighting against.”

Sanders realized the movie wouldn’t work until there was a substantive and decisive change. “In order for ‘Mulan’ to work, Mulan has to be OK with the idea of marrying somebody she doesn’t know. I talked to the producer and I said, ‘Until we make that change, her leaving to save her father will not be the alpha reason she’s leaving.’ The reason she’s leaving to go to war has to be one single reason, which is to save her father’s life, meaning she has to be OK with an arranged marriage.”

Not everyone agreed. “I walked into the story room that day with the writers and I laid it on them. I said, ‘We’re making a change. Mulan from this point out is gonna be OK with an arranged marriage. She has to be. She wants to make her family proud. She wants to fulfill her role,’ and they rankled,” Sanders said. “They were really upset because, again, we’re used to the idea that somebody would fight against that. Nobody would be OK with that. Except in order for this story to work, she has to be OK with it.”

Though Mulan had to be down with the arranged marriage, she didn’t have to be good at it. That’s where the comedy with the matchmaker came in. “The moment we made that change, suddenly, we got out of the rut, and our story started to work. I’m not sure how the live-action version (due out in March) will approach that same problem, but in the animated realm that was the thing that was the key.”

Source: https://www.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5e ... 3c6167239/

[Disney's Divinity]

I agree, that change had been made otherwise people would always say she wasn't being completely selfless for leaving.

It's sort of like how TLM has Ariel in love with the human world in general first, but it gets muddled later as if the only thing driving all her actions is Eric without any mention of her love of the human world anywhere in the dialogue with Ursula. I'd say "later in the film," but she doesn't talk again until the climax is happening. We still see her love of the human world play out in her reaction to bubbles in the bath, forks, pipes, all the things in the market, the carriage, the bed, and so on; I just wish there was a line in "Poor Unfortunate Souls" about it being as important to her as the chance to meet Eric.

[Sotiris]

I agree, that change had been made otherwise people would always say she wasn't being completely selfless for leaving.

It was the right narrative choice. There was more at stake than the issue of Mulan appearing selfless or not, in my opinion. Running away from home to avoid an arranged marriage is understandable and relatable, but joining the army and going to war to do so would have come across as reckless and stupid. You would have to change the central myth of Mulan to make it work otherwise.

I just wish there was a line in "Poor Unfortunate Souls" about it being as important to her as the chance to meet Eric.

For me, it works just fine without it because what Ursula says (or doesn't) is not a reflection on Ariel. She either didn't know the extent of Ariel's love for the human world or considered her just another shallow, infatuated teenager who only cared about her crush to even bother mention it. Ursula always seemed to me as someone who understood things like greed or lust, but had trouble getting something pure like Ariel's dream so she was naturally dismissive/oblivious to it.

[DisneyFan09]

Honest Trailers Mulan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etpfs1FUlB8

[Marce82]

I know this is out of nowhere... and maybe I've asked this before.

Remember the sequence in Mulan "Mulan's decision"? That great wordless sequence, starts where she is crying on the statue in the rain, then cuts her hair... all the way till she leaves her home. Amazing sequence, right? Powerful. But I have always wondered about the music.
In the first trailer I saw for Mulan on the Hercules VHS, there is a version of that music played with some sort of wind instrument (and others)... and the version in the final movie kinda sounds like a synthesizer version of it.

From what I know, they used synth versions of the music during production, and would swap them out for the orchestral versions right at the very end. Do you guys think maybe the chose to stick with the temp version? Does anyone know anything about the behind the scenes stuff about that piece of music? Or do you have any thoughts/opinions?

Eager to read them!

[Farerb]

I had no idea about it.
For anyone who's wondering, it's supposed to be here:
https://youtu.be/CaLY3KusVt8
(It also has a good The Little Mermaid trailer).

It reminds me that there are two different versions of A Whole New World - the one used in the film and the one used in the soundtrack.

[Farerb]

According to Mulan's OST I see there are two versions of "Mulan's Decision":
https://youtu.be/R1BBM4kmWpU

And a synthesizer version:
https://youtu.be/SPC1rtgJBow

I think they actually used the second one in the film but I'll have to check later.