Mulan (1998)
Right off the bat, this is Jonna's favourite Disney film so don't expect us to judge it too harshly. Both of us do think that this is amongst the best three movies of the renaissance period (obviously the other two are Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame). In addition, Disney's tone deafness about non-Western cultures is surprisingly subdued here.
Characters
Mulan: She's almost pig-headedly determined when it comes to things she cares about. She's clumsy in all the good ways, not the annoying "adorkable" stereotype way. She's not good at the girly shit 'cause she's just not into it and doesn't feel comfortable in that atmosphere. She was, after all, raised on a farm. Probably the best thing about her is that outside of Meg she's pretty much the only classic Disney female character with an arc. And her character arc is so much more rewarding than Meg's. Some feminists have taken issue with her lack of ambition. We, on the other hand, love that about her (Jonna in particular since that's her).
Mushu: Makes an amazing runner-up to Genie. Not even Timon&Pumba elicit as much love from us. He's hilarious, loyal and reckless, what else do you need from a sidekick? Again, the Finnish dub is just better. We get it, Eddie Murphy's great and all, but no.
Fa Zhou: Mulan's father is definitely the most important male character in this one, because she literally goes to war to save him. Also, these are the three main characters because they all have character arcs. His love and acceptance are the most important things for Mulan and part of the film is about him learning to give those freely to her as she is.
Shang: The saving grace for him, is that he has a little more personality than Eric. What brings a bit more depth to him is his storyline with his dad. There's not much of it though. He's literally Mulan's reward. Hey, for once it was the other way around!
Minor characters: The gang is all great, Mulan's buds, the granny, the adviser, the cricket and horse and hell, even the fucking emperor. Everyone is brilliant. Apart from the villain(s). They're depicted quite inhumanely as barbaric mongrels. We guess that's the racism part of the film. Nothing less from Disney. The leader at least has a quite intimidating design. Otherwise they're pretty forgettable.
Story
Very simple and effective. Just as we like 'em. The themes of self-acceptance and family approval of you as a human being are universal and will never stop being relevant. Again, it's pointless to contend plotholes with us, like how the size of the army keeps changing. As our love of Star Wars shows, we actually think those gaffes and goofs are part of the enjoyment. There is nothing unnecessary here, all scenes exist for some purpose. It never drags and keeps you engaged throughout.
The emotional thread that holds the whole film together is the relationship between Mulan and her father. The culmination of the film is not, as many would have it, the scene where Mulan saves the emperor and the whole of Beijing bowing down to her (that's fucking awesome too though), but the ending where her father kneels next to her to apologise and express full acceptance of her without conditions. Accolades and political power mean nothing to Mulan. Personal fulfilment and empowerment is what she's after.
We don't really care for the politicising of this film. The Mike Pence stance is utterly ridiculous. However, we're not on the side of some feminist critique about how Mulan is domesticized because she doesn't take on the emperor's offer. We don't like the implication that women without ambition or desire for power let down the whole of womankind. Furthermore, it's probably already known how much we love our dad. Like he's the best fucking human being in existence. So it's not really inconceivable that we relate to a story about a daughter who would do anything for their father.
Miscellaneous
Jerry-fuckin'-Goldsmith, people! This is some of his best work in history and one of the most impressive film scores in any Disney animation. The man was a genius. The songs are "meh" but rather entertaining. And they're easy to listen, plus they don't occur every ten minutes. The animation isn't traditional Disney but that's what makes it original and distinctive.
Right off the bat, this is Jonna's favourite Disney film so don't expect us to judge it too harshly. Both of us do think that this is amongst the best three movies of the renaissance period (obviously the other two are Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame). In addition, Disney's tone deafness about non-Western cultures is surprisingly subdued here.
Characters
Mulan: She's almost pig-headedly determined when it comes to things she cares about. She's clumsy in all the good ways, not the annoying "adorkable" stereotype way. She's not good at the girly shit 'cause she's just not into it and doesn't feel comfortable in that atmosphere. She was, after all, raised on a farm. Probably the best thing about her is that outside of Meg she's pretty much the only classic Disney female character with an arc. And her character arc is so much more rewarding than Meg's. Some feminists have taken issue with her lack of ambition. We, on the other hand, love that about her (Jonna in particular since that's her).
Mushu: Makes an amazing runner-up to Genie. Not even Timon&Pumba elicit as much love from us. He's hilarious, loyal and reckless, what else do you need from a sidekick? Again, the Finnish dub is just better. We get it, Eddie Murphy's great and all, but no.
Fa Zhou: Mulan's father is definitely the most important male character in this one, because she literally goes to war to save him. Also, these are the three main characters because they all have character arcs. His love and acceptance are the most important things for Mulan and part of the film is about him learning to give those freely to her as she is.
Shang: The saving grace for him, is that he has a little more personality than Eric. What brings a bit more depth to him is his storyline with his dad. There's not much of it though. He's literally Mulan's reward. Hey, for once it was the other way around!
Minor characters: The gang is all great, Mulan's buds, the granny, the adviser, the cricket and horse and hell, even the fucking emperor. Everyone is brilliant. Apart from the villain(s). They're depicted quite inhumanely as barbaric mongrels. We guess that's the racism part of the film. Nothing less from Disney. The leader at least has a quite intimidating design. Otherwise they're pretty forgettable.
Story
Very simple and effective. Just as we like 'em. The themes of self-acceptance and family approval of you as a human being are universal and will never stop being relevant. Again, it's pointless to contend plotholes with us, like how the size of the army keeps changing. As our love of Star Wars shows, we actually think those gaffes and goofs are part of the enjoyment. There is nothing unnecessary here, all scenes exist for some purpose. It never drags and keeps you engaged throughout.
The emotional thread that holds the whole film together is the relationship between Mulan and her father. The culmination of the film is not, as many would have it, the scene where Mulan saves the emperor and the whole of Beijing bowing down to her (that's fucking awesome too though), but the ending where her father kneels next to her to apologise and express full acceptance of her without conditions. Accolades and political power mean nothing to Mulan. Personal fulfilment and empowerment is what she's after.
We don't really care for the politicising of this film. The Mike Pence stance is utterly ridiculous. However, we're not on the side of some feminist critique about how Mulan is domesticized because she doesn't take on the emperor's offer. We don't like the implication that women without ambition or desire for power let down the whole of womankind. Furthermore, it's probably already known how much we love our dad. Like he's the best fucking human being in existence. So it's not really inconceivable that we relate to a story about a daughter who would do anything for their father.
Miscellaneous
Jerry-fuckin'-Goldsmith, people! This is some of his best work in history and one of the most impressive film scores in any Disney animation. The man was a genius. The songs are "meh" but rather entertaining. And they're easy to listen, plus they don't occur every ten minutes. The animation isn't traditional Disney but that's what makes it original and distinctive.
