Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Mulan

Welcome back to Deep Dive Disney my friends. Today, we continue to move through the Disney Renaissance as we look at Mulan. This one is strange to me since while the films in the Disney Renaissance have either been really good or really bad, this is the first in the block that, in my opinion anyway, has just been kind of middle of the road. It’s not terrible or uncomfortable like Pocahontas nor is it amazing like The Lion King. My opinion aside though, this film was, and still is, very popular. It spawned a sequel, which is considered the most terrible of all the direct to video Disney Sequels (which is saying something). It recently spawned a live action remake which frankly, isn’t interesting enough to be considered terrible. And lest we forget, it had a McDonalds tie-in which, years later, would expose the Rick & Morty fandom as a bunch of deranged sociopaths who would willingly trample people for McNugget sauce. Okay, so this movie doesn’t exactly have the most stellar legacy, but the film still has plenty going for it. So what’s our story this time around? Well, in ancient China, the Hun army, led by the terrifying Shan-Yu, has made their way over the Great Wall and begun an invasion. Knowing the threat that Shan Yu represents, the Emperor decides to bolster the army by recruiting one male from each household. Meanwhile, Fa Mulan is a young girl who wants to do right by her family but doesn’t seem to fit into the role that her society expects her to fill because of her gender. When the army recruiters come to town, Mulan’s father, being the only man in the household, has no choice but to volunteer despite being an old man who can barely walk without the assistance of a cane. If you ask me, an able-bodied young woman would be far more useful to the army than a middle-aged cripple but whoever said that sexism was rooted in anything resembling rational thought. In any case, not wanting to see her father get killed, and also likely wanting to prove that she can be more than what’s expected of her, Mulan, with the help of a magical dragon named Mushu, disguises herself as a male soldier and goes to war in her father’s place, knowing that if her true identity is discovered, she'll be sentenced to death. We’ve set the scene, now let’s get down to business and dive into, Mulan.

Main Character:

Before we talk about Mulan herself, we need to shout out her awesome voice actress, the legendary Ming-Na Wen, whose fifteen second cameo in the live action film was literally the only part of the entire movie to get me to say “okay, that was kind of cool.” Many of you probably know Ming-Na Wen for her role as Agent May from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or for her current role as the bounty hunter, Fennec Shand from The Mandalorian, but for me, she’ll always be remembered as Chun-Li from the gloriously ridiculous Jean-Claude Van Damme Street Fighter movie from the 90’s. Ming-Na Wen is awesome and I will never pass up an opportunity to put some respect on her name. Now on to Mulan herself. The big thing when it comes to Fa Mulan is that she is someone who doesn’t fit into the role society expects her too. She cares about her family and wants to honor them as best she can but knows she cannot do that as a submissive and obedient wife who’s only purpose is to bare sons for her future husband. Basically, Mulan wants to be her true self in a society that won’t permit it. That’s a very relatable problem and can be interpreted many ways be you a closeted gay or transgender individual or someone like me who just feels a bit different. To Mulan's credit, once she goes off to war, she ends up being pretty good at the whole soldier thing. She’s the first to figure out how to retrieve the arrow, she wins the respect of her comrades and her superiors and she’s able to work out a strategy to defeat the Hun army, twice. She obviously loves her family but her independence is important to her and she wants to bring honor to her family on her terms, making her a character I personally can easily relate to. Good stuff.

Villain:

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Shan Yu may very well be the most underrated villain in Disney History. He’s not quite as over-the-top or cartoony as Jafar or Hades and lacks a connection to the main hero that many good villains have but I think he makes up for these shortcomings by being a complete and total badass. Little is known about Shan Yu other than that he’s the leader of the invading Hun army and that he’s hellbent on conquering all of China, presumably so he’ll finally have a place to fit all of his muscles. Sporting one of the most imposing designs in Disney villain history, Shan Yu is larger than life, with yellow eyes against black irises, a pet hawk on his shoulder and a nasty looking blade clutched in his fist. Shan Yu is voiced by the late Miguel Ferrer, known for various roles in film and television, my personal favorite being Bob Morton from Robocop. Much like what Morton did for Alex Murphy, Ferrer’s voice helps make Shan Yu one bad mother fucker. Shan Yu is a man of few words, which means he makes everything he says count. When he learns that all of China knows of his invasion, he simply responds with a smile and says “Perfect.” That’s the thing about Shan Yu, he doesn’t want this invasion to be a cakewalk for him, he wants a challenge that he feels is worthy of his strength and skill. What I find interesting about Shan-Yu is that, unlike most of the male characters in the film, Shan-Yu doesn’t seem to care that Mulan is a woman. When he learns that Mulan was the soldier who bested him in the mountains he immediately forgets about the duel he’s having with Shang and goes after her, recognizing her as a worthy opponent. Again, it ties into Shan-Yu’s mindset. He doesn’t care about something as trivial as gender-politics, he just wants to test his skills against an opponent who can challenge him. Nowhere is that mentality more present than the scene where he insists that he was invited by the emperor himself, believing that the emperor built his walls to challenge his strength. Let’s unpack that shall we. Shan Yu is so hardcore and so confident in his strength and skill that he takes one look at THE GREAT WALL OF FUCKING CHINA, which I will remind you, is the largest man made structure on the planet, widely recognized as the most impressive architectural feat in history as well as the only man made structure visible from space, and he says, “Challenge Accepted.” That, my friends, is a Badass! Making the scene even more badass is how he has one of the fleeing soldiers executed since hey, it only takes one man to deliver a message. Imposing, confident and able to chill you to the bone with just a glance, Shan Yu is definitely a Disney Villain who needs more recognition.

Side Characters:

Mulan surprisingly has a lot of characters but only a few of them are worth discussing in detail. I would however like to shout out two awesome actors in Pat Morita and George Takei as The Emperor of China and the Head Anscestor of the Fa Family respectively. I know they’re both Japanese guys playing Chinese characters but they’re both cool as hell so I’m not complaining about the fact that they’re in this movie.

I don’t have much to say about Ling, Yao and Chien-Po, the three soldiers that Mulan befriends. They’re basically like a Chinese version of The Three Stooges. They get a couple laughs, but there’s not much to them otherwise.

Li Shang, the commander of Mulan’s battalion, is a cool character. He’s stern attitude with his men is actually hiding the fact that Shang is very unsure of himself due to his inexperience and the scrutiny he faces due to him being the general’s son. He’s not immune to the sexist mentality of his society but he’s still willing to spare Mulan’s life since she saved his and, with some coaxing, is able to recognize that her skills supersede her gender.

Finally, there’s that character who people either love or hate. I speak of course of Proto Donkey-I mean Mushu. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see why some people found Mushu annoying, but Eddie Murphy is a funny guy who does a great job with what he’s given and gives Mushu some great comedic timing, even if not every joke hits a bullseye. Mushu is a guardian spirit of the Fa Family, or at least he was until he screwed up so bad that someone ended up decapitated. I would pay actual money to find out what Mushu actually did that caused some poor schmuck to get the Queen of Hearts special. While Mushu’s quest to regain his guardian status is self-serving, even by his own admission, he still, much like Mulan, seeks to prove that he’s better than the role he’s expected to play, causing his arc to parallel Mulan’s in its own way. Oh, and whoever had the bright idea to make Mushu uncharacteristically unlikable in the sequel to the point where he’s basically the villain of the piece, I have one thing to say to you. DISHONOR! DISHONOR ON YOUR WHOLE FAMILY! DISHONOR ON YOU! DISHONOR ON YOUR COW! Oh come on, I had to work that in somehow.

Songs:

Look, I know what movie this is and I know what song you all want me to talk about but before we get down to business I feel we should at least pay some lip service to the other songs in the movie, just to keep up appearances. I’ve opted to discuss Honor To Us All and Girl Worth Fighting For together since they really are two sides of the same coin. Both reinforce the limited role that women are expected to play in this society, just from different perspectives. Neither one of them are especially good, but at least Honor To Us All has a slightly better melody.

In contrast, Reflection is a beautiful ballade about Mulan’s inner struggle and the lyrics illustrate it perfectly. Going back to the transgender allegory, I can’t help but wonder how many trans individuals found inspiration in this song. As a cis person, I can’t say one way or another but the subtext is totally there. But, we’ve come to the moment you’ve been waiting for…

LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

TO DEFEAT, THE HUNS

DID THEY SEND ME DAUGHTERS

WHEN I ASKED, FOR SONS

YOU’RE THE SADDEST BUNCH I EVER MET

BUT YOU CAN BET, BEFORE WE’RE THROUGH

MR. I’LL

MAKE A MAN

OUT OF YOU!!!

I mean, what can I say about I’ll Make a Man Out of You. It is one of the most kick ass, pump-you-up musical numbers in any musical I’ve ever seen. It’s also easily the greatest training montage song ever written. Seriously, you can splice this into Rocky or The Karate Kid and it’d fit perfectly. Everything about the song is awesome and I actually happen to have a very unique connection to it. You know the part where it goes “BE A MAN”? Well, one of the backup singers happens to be a music teacher at my old high school. He was also my neighbor for a little while, so that’s pretty cool. It’s easily one of Disney’s most kick ass songs, and I say we just get right back to it. And a one, and a two…

BE A MAN YOU MUST BE SWIFT AS A COURSING RIVER

BE A MAN

WITH ALL THE FORCE OF A GREAT TYPHOON

BE A MAN

WITH ALL THE STRENGTH OF A RAGING FIRE

MYSTERIOUS AS

THE DARK SIDE OF

THE MOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!

Who knew Pink Floyd was so popular in ancient China.

Memorable Scenes:

We’ve actually already discussed my favorite scene, you know, the whole “By Building His Walls He Challenged my Strength” scene with Shan-Yu. That was cool. That said, the scene I’d really like to talk about is the climax. There’s a party in the imperial city since everyone thinks the huns are dead. Mulan on the other hand has just seen that the Huns survived due to Shan-Yu being such a badass that getting buried under twenty feet of snow only managed to piss him off. Mulan catches up with Shang to warn him and he’s having none of it at first until Mulan says “You Trusted Ping, Why is Mulan any Different.” That’s when Shan-Yu makes his grand entrance, posing menacingly on a rooftop while his men seize the emperor. While Shang and the others try to break down the door with a battering ram, Mulan has a better idea. What I especially like here is that Yao, Ling, Chien-Po and eventually Shang all decide to put their societal prejudice aside and go along with Mulan, recognizing that she is a gifted strategist. The plan? Yao, Ling and Chien-Po will infiltrate the palace disguised as the Emperor’s concubines. While they don’t dwell on it, I really like that the shoe is now on the other foot. While Mulan had to dress as a man to save her family, these three now have to dress as women to save their nation. The way they get into the palace is also cool, using the same method by which Mulan retrieved the arrow on the high post during training while a reprise of I’ll Make a Man Out of You is heard. Using their disguises to take the elite Huns by surprise, Mulan and the others manage to clear a path for Shang to get to the Emperor. Meanwhile, the Emperor has been brought before Shan-Yu who’s demanding that he bow to him. The old man refuses so Shan-Yu decides to just execute him when Shang intervenes. While Chien-Po and the others get the emperor to safety, Shang is getting his ass handed to him by Shan-Yu until Mulan steps in. Seeing a more worthy opponent, Shan-Yu goes after her, even punching clean from a solid wooden door during pursuit. The fight eventually leads to the roof of the palace. It looks like Shan-Yu has Mulan dead to rights until Mushu, who had grabbed some fireworks at Mulan’s behest, takes aim at the Hun commander, sending him to his death in a literal blaze of glory. It’s an epic climax that allows Mulan to utilize all of her skill and strategy to save the day! What else could you ask for?

Story:

We’ve pretty much gone over the main theme of the film in the other sections. This is a film about being who you are instead of what people expect you to be. Mulan does that and she ends up saving the entire country. Many people say that this is a feminist movie, and that’s a fair interpretation, but personally, I think that the idea of being your true self, societal expectations be damned, is a message that’s pretty universal. Is the message presented well? I’d say yes, though it does sometimes feel a bit heavy-handed. Even still, it’s a good message and one that I personally relate to.

The Dark Disney Factor:

For the most part, Mulan keeps things relatively light-hearted, or at the very least, doesn’t have anything as disturbing as some of the other movies we’ve covered. However, there is one scene that dips into the dark side and while it’s not quite on the level of Frollo trying to drown a baby but it is still a bit of a doozy. As Mulan’s battalion marches to reinforce General Li’s army, they come upon a village where Shang’s father and the other soldiers of the empire made their final stand, and it’s not a pretty sight. The Huns didn’t just fight off the army, they massacred this entire village. Not even the women and children were spared. What’s especially strange about this scene is that leading up to it, the men are singing a silly, upbeat song. However, the song stops mid-verse and we’re shown the absolute devastation that the Huns have visited upon this village. My neck may have hurt from the tone whiplash, it does emphasize how serious the threat of the Huns is.

Final Thoughts: Overall, I like Mulan, I just don't think it's quite as strong as some of the other films in the Disney Renaissance. It's got likable characters, a solid message, one of my favorite Disney Villains and one hell of a great song in the middle, but it can also feel a little heavy handed and not all of the comedy lands well. It's not bad, but it's nowhere near the level of something like The Lion King. Speaking of, next time, we return to the world of direct-to-video Disney Sequels to look at The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. See you then!