Mulan (1998 movie)
Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical adventure movie produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. It is the 36th movie in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It is set in old-time China and based on local legend. The movie stars the voices of Ming-Na Wen and Eddie Murphy. Mulan was a success with its fans because it was different from Disney's other movies in terms of music and artistic design. The music was written by Jerry Goldsmith who also wrote the music for another animated movie, 1982's The Secret of NIMH. Christina Aguilera sang Reflections or the movie's soundtrack. A direct-to-video sequel, Mulan II, was released on February 1, 2005.
| Mulan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Tony Bancroft Barry Cook |
| Produced by | Pam Coats |
| Written by | Robert D. San Souci Rita Hsiao |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith Matthew Wilder |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
Release date | June 19, 1998 (North America) October 16, 1998 (UK, Ireland) May 16, 1999 (North America, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Togo, Egypt)
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $70,000,000[1] |
| Box office | $304,320,254 |
In 2018, Disney announced that they were making a live action remake.[2] It was released on Disney+ in 2020 for a premium fee of $29.99. It got a lot of criticism for not being like the original and its' historical accuracies.
Story
An army of Huns, led by Shan Yu, their leader, arrive and try to invade China. The Chinese army recruits each man from every family for them to start a war. Mulan's father suffers an injury and he cannot fight. Mulan disguises herself as a boy and enters the army. A dragon named Mushu accompanies her.
At first, Mulan is not taken seriously by the other soldiers but during training, eventually proves that she is better than what they thought. Mulan secretly falls in love with the commander, Li Shang.
The army is attacked by the Huns in the snowy mountains. Mulan uses a cannon to start an avalanche which buries and kills the Huns. Mulan is hurt by a sword, and the doctor who examines her finds that she is not a boy but a girl. Li Shang and the Chinese army leave Mulan alone in the mountains.
The Chinese Army arrives at the Emperor's palace in the Imperial City for victory celebrations. Mulan sees that several Huns, including Shan Yu, have survived the avalanche. She goes to Imperial City to tell Li Shang but nobody believes her because they are celebrating the end of the war.
Shan Yu and the Huns attack the palace and capture the Emperor. Mulan and her soldier friends dress up as palace women so that they can get inside and rescue the Emperor. Shan Yu is left trapped on the palace roof and dies in a firework display. The Emperor thanks Mulan and she returns home. The Emperor tells Li Shang to follow her if he loves her. Li Shang arrives at Mulan's town and is invited to have dinner with the family.
Cast
- Miguel Ferrer as Shan-Yu
- Harvey Fierstein as Yao
- Freda Foh Shen as Fa Li
- June Foray as Grandmother Fa
- James Hong as Chi Fu
- Miriam Margolyes as the Matchmaker
- Pat Morita as the Emperor
- Eddie Murphy as Mushu
- Marni Nixon as Grandmother Fa's singing voice
- Soon-Tek Oh as Fa Zhou
- Donny Osmond as Shang's singing voice
- Lea Salonga as Mulan's singing voice
- James Shigeta as General Li
- George Takei as the First Ancestor
- Jerry S. Tondo as Chien-Po
- Gedde Watanabe as Ling
- Frank Welker as Khan and Cri-Kee
- Ming-Na Wen as Mulan
- Matthew Wilder as Ling's singing voice
- B. D. Wong as Shang
- Mary Kay Bergman and Corey Burton as two other Ancestors
- Julianne Buescher as the Young Bride's singing voice
- Mitch Carter as a Muscular Guard
- Robert Clotworthy as Hun
- Beth Fowler as Bather
- Sandie Hall as Chorus
- Richard S. Orvitz as a Chinese Soldier
- Patrick Pinney as Fa Deng, the Second Hun Twin and the Parade Leader
Additional voices were provided by Tom Amundsen, Arminae Austen, Bob Bergen, Susan Boyd, Steve Bulen, Rodger Bumpass, Cam Clarke, Cooper Cowgill, David Cowgill, Debi Derryberry, Sally Dworsky, Bill Farmer, Don Fullilove, Elisa Gabrielli, Jack Gilpin, John Goodman, Jess Harnell, Linda Kerns, Matthew Labyorteaux, Conan Lee, Dana Lee, Edie Lehmann-Boddicker, Luisa Leschin, Sherry Lynn, Christina Ma, Danny Mann, Susan McBride, Edie McClurg, Mickie McGowan, Sean Cameron Michael, Haunani Minn, Edie Mirman, Mark Moseley, Paul Pape, Phil Proctor, Jan Rabson, Peter Renaday, Maurita Thornburgh-Phillips, John Walcutt, Claudette Wells and Joe Whyte.
Animals/creatures
- Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy) is a Chinese dragon with the nose of a stegosaurus, the fangs of a panther, the head of a camel, the tusks of a walrus, the crest of a wild boar, the mane of a hyena, the eyebrows of a demon, the jaws of a seal, the mouth and snout of a alligator, the horns of a gazelle, the brows of a frog, the ear hair of a donkey, the markings of a pteranodon, the sideburns of a duck, the teeth of a shark, the chin of a hippo, the forehead hair of a bat, the nose bridge of a sable antelope, the oral of a chameleon, the cheeks of a mouse, the eyes of a penguin, the eye patches of a bison, the forehead of a tortoise, the forelock and rump of a mule, the brow ridges of a gorilla, the fore talon soles of a eagle, the muzzle of a rhino, the ears of an bloodhound, the face of a crocodile, the whiskers the catfish, the eye sockets and mane crest of a warthog, the ear inners of a rabbit, the brain of a cheetah, the eye rings of a macaw, the body of a zebra, the paws of a tiger, the ear insides and bushy tip of a cow, the neck hair of a ostrich, the front feet of a neanderthal, the abdomen of a ferret, the head shape of a monster, the feet of a human, the head structure of a european dragon, the stop of a coyote, the cheek beard of a goat, the forelimbs of a fossa, the hind talon soles of a chicken, the fur arms of a panda, the hump of a apatosaurus, the fore legs of a polar bear, the neck of a giraffe, the paw pads of a wolf, the back of a moose, the chest and hind sloes of a rooster, the lips of a meerkat, the claws of a goanna, the nose bridge hair and shoulders of a wildebeest, the the armpits of a raccoon, the the palms of a koala, the clawed paws and hindquarters of a t-rex, the feet soles of a bear, the belly of a snake, the palm sloes of a jaguar, the size and sides of a elephant, the toenails of a monitor lizard, the leg pits of a rat, the chest hair of a flamingo, the stomach of a pig, the undersides of a triceratops, the feet pads of a kangaroo, the body paint of a dhole, the hind legs of a horse, the scales of a carp, the butt of a sheep, the humped back of a brontosaurus, the fur legs of a fox, the toes of a komodo dragon, the hindlimbs of a monkey, the toed feet of a jackal, and the tail of a lion. Mushu was once a guardian spirit of Mulan's family, but he has been demoted to the unappreciated position of an incense burner and gong-ringer for the deceased Fa ancestors ever since he failed to protect a family member.
- Cri-Kee (voiced by Frank Welker) is a cricket that was given to Mulan while getting her ready to meet the Matchmaker. He is first seen in possession of Grandmother Fa, who crosses a road while covering her eyes to demonstrate Cri-kee's ability. His actions lead the Matchmaker to reject Mulan. Afterward, Mulan releases Cri-kee, but he continues to follow her and later befriends Mushu before joining him on his mission to protect Mulan. During an ambush by the Huns, he and Mushu were nearly killed when the wagon that they're in catches fire and explodes and Cri-kee follows Mulan (who has picked up Mushu while fleeing). Mushu later rescues him from an avalanche that Mulan caused to wipe out the Huns. After Mulan is expelled from the army, Cri-kee finally confesses that he isn't a lucky cricket at all. Despite this, he and Mushu help Mulan stop Shan Yu and save the Emperor, leading Mushu to deem him a lucky bug after all. In the second film, he becomes an enemy to Mushu when he tries to break up Shang and Mulan to keep his job. Cri-kee does whatever he can to foil Mushu's plans and ensure that the duo stays together, even after Mushu causes an accident that results in the destruction of a carriage that Mulan and Shang are using to transport the Emperor's daughters. Later in a canyon, Cri-kee forces Mushu to tell the truth and later becomes friends with Mushu again at the end.
- Hayabusa (voiced by Frank Welker) is Shan Yu's pet saker falcon, who acts as his master's eyes and ears from a distance. At the end of the first film, his feathers are burned down by a fireball from Mushu to stop him from warning the Huns of Li Shang's presence, who then taunts him as "Mongolian barbeque" while Cri-kee laughs at him. When Mulan returns from rescuing the Emperor, he can briefly be seen being ridden by Mushu and Cri-kee. The two then leave Hayabusa behind to enact Mulan's plan. He isn't seen afterward.
- Khan (voiced by Frank Welker) is Mulan's horse with a black coat and white markings on his face, belly and legs. He is portrayed as a very intelligent and confident horse. When he first saw Mushu, he tried to kill him with his hooves out of fear. In the first film, Mulan visits him after disguising herself as a man; though he is frightened at first, Mulan calms him down and reveals who she really is, and he agrees to help her by taking her to the training grounds. Mushu and Cri-Kee later request his help to convince Chi-Fu to let Shang join the Imperial Army, but he declines as he doesn't want to be involved, forcing to the two to use a panda instead. During the surprise ambush on the mountains, Mulan causes an avalanche killing many Huns. Khan risks his life to save Mulan and tries his best to run to safety before he almost falls to his death off the cliff. He also seems to be very close to Mulan, but also resents Mushu. In the second film, he gets extremely angry at Mushu when he tries to break Mulan and Shang up after his saddle is unbuckled and in one of his attempts, he injures him by stomping on him with his hooves as payback for attempting to sabotage Mulan and Shang's relationship.
- Little Brother (voiced by Chris Sanders) is Mulan's pet dog. He has a blue collar around his neck. Mulan often uses him to spread chicken feeds by hanging a bone in front of him, similar to the carrot on a stick trick.
References
- ↑ "Mulan" – via www.imdb.com.
- ↑ McNary, Dave (2018-08-13). "Disney Unveils First Look at Live-Action 'Mulan'" (in en-US). Variety. https://variety.com/2018/film/news/disney-mulan-first-look-liu-yifei-1202903589/. Retrieved 2018-10-09.