Mulan (1998)

The so-called “Disney Renaissance” (1989-1994) essentially ended when Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney in 1994. Michael Eisner refused to fulfill a promise, which he allegedly made to Katzenberg, to promote him to “president” of the company after the former holder of the position, Frank Wells, died in a helicopter crash. Katzenberg then went on to start Dreamworks, robbing Disney animation  of clear, strong leadership for years to come.

Under his leadership, which is popularly reviled, Disney busted out some of their biggest hits and best films of all time: the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and what has been characterized as a kind of pet project of Katzenberg's, the Lion King.

However, after Katzenberg left a string of disappoints were produced and people began to lose their confidence in Disney's ability to consistently make quality films. Indeed the dark age that was established after Walt Disney’s death in 1966 may have reemerged completely if not for the existence of the hit machine known as Pixar. Thank you Pixar.

There was, however, some inkling of light that managed to burst through the cluster of mid-late nineties filth that was oozing out of Burbank. A traditional fairy tale princess story in the vein of Snow White? Not even close, how about something totally badass....an ancient Chinese legend about a woman named Mulan who sneaks into the army disguised in her elderly father’s armor to fight the Huns in order to protect her family and country? If it sounds incredible, well it isn’t, but it is pretty good nonetheless.

The story itself is straightforward if not mildly predictable. Who didn’t know that Mulan was going to fall in love with her hunky commanding officer? At the same time many of the characters, including Mulan herself, are rather bland, with notable exceptions being mainly comic relief characters like Mushu the dragon (played very well by Eddie "we're having waffles" Murphy). Indeed, probably the strongest point about this movie for me was that it’s often really funny. I especially like the ironic situations surrounding Mulan’s constant attempt to keep her female identity a secret from the Chinese army.

Overall the action is good, the animation is more than adequate, and the soundtrack is actually pretty great except for the fact that it essentially launched Christina Aguilera’s career. Still, you have to love the military training sequence that is set to the song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” because, get it, she’s actually a woman!? It’s a lot of fun. At the same time the Chinese setting, which sounds so cool, is frustrated by the cliche, hokey approach chosen by Disney. Does Mulan really need a “lucky cricket”? Or do we really need to dwell on “ancestor worship”? Why must the Emperor of China speak like a fortune cookie? It’s basically a western, chinese-takeout view of China. 

While it’s no masterpiece Mulan is still a respectable and, actually, a rather popular film. If you haven’t seen it because you were afraid to or because you’re a Hun then I suggest taking a peek or bolstering your troops near the Great Wall and trying one more time.

I give it 3.5 androgynous terra cotta soldiers