Mulan (1998) Review

“Mulan” Theatrical Poster

Director: Barry Cook
Co-director: Tony Bancroft
Cast: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Miguel Ferrer, June Foray, James Hong, Pat Morita, George Takei, Soon Tek-Oh, Frank Welker
Running Time: 87 min.

By Ian Whittle

I was a huge Disney fan in the 90s (Beauty and the Beast is among my top 5 films to this day), but for some reason Mulan totally bypassed me until 2014, when I was moved to watch it by the delightful discovery that Jackie Chan acted and sang in the Mandarin dub!

Mulan, based on a centuries-old legend filmed many times (including this year’s Disney live action remake) was the first solo vehicle for Disney’s Florida animation studios, and came on the tail end of the fabled Disney Renaissance. This period, lasting from the late 80s to about the turn of the century, saw Disney regain its confidence and box office takings with a series of hugely popular animated musicals. By 1998, that shine was starting to dim, with unusual projects like The Hunchback of Notre Dame underperforming in comparison to recent past glories, and the market was facing competition from rivals old (Don Bluth), new (Dreamworks) and even within (Pixar). Disney’s formula was also increasingly predictable and easy to imitate. So they skipped Western fairy tales and literature, and this time looked to the East, no doubt a calculated move to crack the abundant but restricted Chinese market.

As per the legend Hua Mulan (voice Ming-Na Wen, songs Lea Salonga), or Fa Mulan as she is called using the Cantonese version in this film, takes her father’s (Soon Tek-Oh) place in the army to take on the invading Huns. Whilst the legend details a campaign of 12 years, during which time she manages to keep her secret from her fellow troops, the film here likely takes over no-more than a few months at best. So the whole Huns vs Chinese war is condensed into one spectacular battle where Mulan clocks up a body count considerably larger than all the other Disney heroines combined, and at a single stroke too! Expediency at its best, and she doesn’t stab a single person, thus keeping the G (or U in the UK) rating! (Though the UK version was censored to remove a head-butt until Disney sneaked it back on the Blu-ray!)

As impressive as this is, the film is, as per many 90s animated films, conflicted by which way it is facing. On the one hand, we have exciting action sequences, and the Huns, led by Shang Yu (Miguel Ferrer), with their creepy Klingon-Vampire designs, are very unusual for Disney villains – indeed, as they are the sinister Other, complete with fangs, wanting to invade China, are we sure Jimmy Wang Yu wasn’t involved with this?

But some of the writing feels like it is pandering down to a softer audience. Mulan not fitting in with her society is a frequent but acceptable trope for this genre and era, but the script really gets hooked on the word “honour”, to the point where it becomes this film’s version of “but still.” It’s repeated endlessly, even turning up as a message in the end credits, and it’s really contrived and makes parts of the film feel like it is talking down, even to the target audience of 8 year olds.

And since this is a 90s Disney movie, we get the Special Guest Anachronistic Sidekick, here a pint-sized dragon called Mushu (played by Eddie Murphy). Most reviews I’ve read have no patience with this jarring interloper, but heck, I think he’s hilarious. Well…until he does a very odd Batman reference (seemingly causing the deaths of two innocent palace workers in the process!), and the film ends with him and Cri-Kee the Cricket (Frank Welker) leading the Fa ancestors’ ghosts in a very milquetoast 90s pop song, which might as well have a “Now in record stores everywhere on CD or Cassette” flashing across the screen. No wonder the First Ancestor (George Takei) looks so ticked off!

One character I have real issues with is the secondary villain Chi-Fu (James Hong), who is advisor to the Emperor (Pat Moriata) and besides being a constant thorn in the side of male lead Captain Li Shang (BD Wong voicing, Donny Osmond singing – yep, no Jackie Chan in the English version) is a snivelling, chauvinistic cowardly wimp, and a coded “sissy” to boot. Now, that’s fairly typical for Disney films, and kung fu films too (played by everyone from Wei Ping-ao to Suen Lam) , but in such a recent film, it feels weird seeing a character whose masculine nature is a negative. When he dives cowering for cover during the battle, I really wish he’s defied expectations and leapt into the fray brandishing his sword. Nothing wrong with defying expectations a little! The final apparent romance between Mulan and Li Shang hinted at in the ending feels really un-warranted too, considering how awful he is to her when her secret is un-covered. Frankly, Mulan has better chemistry with her Three Stooges style fellow soldiers (Harvey Fierstein, Gedde Watanabe and Jerry Tondo) – heck, she even skinny dips with them!

Despite my misgivings, this are but minor in light of how entertaining and powerful the film is on the whole. The dramatic “Short Hair” sequence where Mulan cuts her hair with a sword before leaving home in the pouring rain, dressed in armour, whilst the soundtrack mixes Chinese horns with synthesiser, never fails to raise the goosebumps; the training montage is a delight for any kung fu film fan; the aforementioned battle is a triumph rarely matched in Western animation, and you have to love a film that has the audacity to cast Harvey Fierstein as a hyper-masculine Chinese soldier…

Hmmm, something tells me he won’t be in the remake…

Ian Whittle’s Rating: 8/10