Mulan (1998)

Ok, so I just finished up my Romeo and Juliet performances, and I am trying to avoid being hit too hard by the post-show funk.  So, the only theme for the time being is that I am choosing movies that I find awesome.  That brings us to Mulan.

The Movie:

Mulan is the 36th movie in the Disney Animated Canon and part of the period of the Disney Renaissance.  The movie was well-received and performed well at the box office, but like the other later Renaissance movies did not earn as much as the earlier films.  Mulan won several Annie Awards, including Best Animated Film.  It is also slated to have a live-action remake in the near future.

The movie begins with the Huns, led by Shan Yu, invading China.  In response, the emperor conscripts one member of every household into the army to add numbers.  Mulan's father, the legendary Fa Zhou, has no sons or other male relatives, and he is old and in poor health.  To save her father, Mulan steals his armor and conscription papers, and disguises herself as a man to take her father's place.  The Fa family ancestors are awakened to send a guardian to retrieve her, but instead the disgraced dragon Mushu goes, hoping to earn back his place by making Mulan a war hero.

As you might have guessed, I love this movie.  It has a great story with a good mix of action, comedy (much of it from Eddie Murphy as Mushu), and heart.  Mulan is one of Disney's most relatable heroes with her desire to both make her family proud and find her own place in the world.  Shan Yu is one of Disney's best and most underrated villains, and he does it by pretty much just being badass evil.

Mulan also has some great music.  Let's start with the score, written by the legendary film composer Jerry Goldsmith.  As expected from a composer of Goldsmith's stature, the score is epic - very lush and orchestral, but also taking nods from traditional Chinese music.  Interestingly enough, there are actually two versions of the film's soundtrack - one with more traditional orchestrations, and one that is more synthesizer heavy on several cues, with the later being what was actually heard in the movie (noticeably in the scene where Mulan cuts her hair).

The songs for Mulan have music by Matthew Wilder, in his only work for Disney, and lyrics by David Zippel, who teamed with Alan Menken on Hercules.  The two were brought on after Stephen Schwartz dropped out when Disney executives made him choose between this film and The Prince of Egypt.  For being relative unknowns when compared to most songwriters in Disney films, Wilder and Zippel managed to deliver some of the most memorable songs from any Disney movie.  "Reflection" is the ballad that is at the heart of the movie, but the song that is the most fun (and most sung by music theatre geeks if my experiences are anything) is "I'll Make a Man Out of You," which goes with the awesome training sequence.  Personally, I'm the most partial to the in-film version of "Reflection" as sung by Lea Salonga, but the pop version is notable for launching the career of Christina Aguilera.  (I also enjoy the Spanish pop cover by Lucero.)

On a side note, Mulan is responsible for what is currently one of the more infamous items ever to grace the menu at McDonald's.  As part of the promotion for this movie, McDonald's released a limited edition Szechuan sauce, which was thrust back into the pop culture spotlight recently by the TV show Rick and Morty.

Presence in the Parks:

In some ways, Mulan may be one of the most connected movies to WDW, as it was the first film completed almost entirely at the Florida division of Walt Disney Animation that was located at MGM Studios, and many guests who visited the park in the mid 1990s observed first-hand the making of this movie.  Personally, I was among those people when I visited in the summer of 1995.

Today, though, those studios are closed, and the Backlot Tour and Art of Disney Animation are no more.  As for a lasting presence of Mulan in the parks, there isn't much.

Fantasmic! opened in Florida at the Studios in 1998, and as such, for the longest time, Mulan was the most recent Disney movie to be featured in the bubble sequence, though that sequence has recently been updated to include a few newer movies.  Mulan and Mushu have also appeared on the steamboat at the end at times.

Mulan in Fantasmic! MGM Studios, March 2007

The character meet for Mulan is currently at Epcot in the China Pavilion.

China Pavilion, Epcot, May 2015

On the west coast, Mulan is featured as part of Mulan's Lunar New Year Procession, a parade that takes place around that holiday.