I sat down for Mulan out of duty and little else. As the long clock begins to toll the final weeks before our Disney World vacation, I am earnestly trying to bone up on the characters which have come into being after "my time." That would be more or less everyone after Candleshoe, and I don't think they have Jodie Foster as a "face character" yet in the park.
I thought the Disney channels would help with this, but for the past few weeks it has been nothing but 30 minute cartoons whenever I've gone dowsing with the remote. Until today. What? Mulan is on? Really?
With one leap I was over the arm of the recliner and pressing the "+" ten times for more volume.
And with my other hand, I grabbed the notebook and pen from the endtable. Such a motto my life has embraced, "if it doesn't work out, there's always the epinion."
As I said, I was here out of duty. I mention that because it's useful for you to know that I like Disney animated features, but usually in a distant, "that's lovely" sort of way. I planned to stay open-minded and keep the intended audience in mind as I watched, but I wasn't optimistic that I might actually be entertained.
The opening scenes didn't help, and we got off to a bad start. My smug little brain thought, "Can you draw Cubby? You too could be a Disney animator!" Granted, I can barely draw stick people, but this animation looked like what gets pumped into throwaway afternoon cartoons by the bargeful. Over-angular faces and bodies, and dark grey upon brown upon deep olive green colouring. Yuck. Someone pass the Scooby Doo.
Just look at that bad guy, could he be any more angular, flat, and completely unscary? Give me the banshee from Darby O'Gill and the Little People any day!
And then everything became better.
The Story
Mulan is young Chinese girl of the new Disney heroine breed: plucky, funny, sensitive, humble, determined, and pretty. Her father has become infirm from a wound, and his wish is for her to make a good match via the matchmaker. In fact, it's everyone's wish, as we quickly see that her mother and grandmother are eager for Mulan to get to her interview with the formidable, ill-tempered matchmaker.
But spirited girls with a slight tendency towards catastrophe, even when armed with lucky crickets, don't get matched and dispatched so easily. The day is not a success, and it doesn't improve when the Emperor's men arrive, requesting one man from each household. Mulan's father, Fa Zhou, has no sons and must serve for the family, despite his condition. Mulan tries to protest on his behalf, but she shames him with her actions.
And so, with her father's armor and sword, she steals away in the night to take his place while disguised as a young boy. She will be killed instantly if her true gender is discovered. Only her horse and cricket are there for her company. And a tiny lizard. Oops, I mean a tiny dragon, sent by the ancestors to bring Mulan home safely.
Thoughts
I was impressed that Mulan was not something as simplistic as a tomboyish girl who is frustrated with being treated as a girl. She doesn't trek off with bravado; she's scared and stressed by her decision. Her journey is not a straight path from stay-at-home to conqueror to whatever glory we can imagine beyond. In fact, that's not her path at all, but I don't want to give away too much.
"Mulan, you dishonour me." That was a jolt. We have a father who obviously loves his daughter, and these words come from his mouth as he looks away in shame? Ow. I'm sure there are critics who will bemoan Mulan as a glossy, sanitized, overly-simplistic treatment of Asian culture, but for this non-Asian it was interesting to see how it affected the story. We're not used to the fathers of our heroines being so convincingly disappointed in them.
Presenting Eddie Murphy as The Genie of the Lamp! No, he was Mushu, the wee dragon hoping to win the respect of those who would take him off gong-banging duty and reinstate his position as a proper watcher. But his role as fast-talking, slightly anachronistic (toothpaste? corn chips? bunny slippers?), plan-making confidante and companion to our lead was very similar to the Genie's roll in Aladdin. Which was just fine by me, because I enjoyed Aladdin and liked the Genie best of all. If you don't feel the same, you may think Disney's was beating a tired old gimmick into the ground, but I really felt the two were different enough that it was more a matter of taking a good idea and putting a sufficiently new spin on it.
Not risqué in my book, but some parents may be surprised to hear "drag show," "cross-dressing," and "butts" in a Disney film. I don't find these words/references offensive, but I know some people do, so I include this for their information. I didn't notice anything else likely to rile this demographic.
Anyone who has read my Xena: Warrior Princess reviews (watch how I don't shamelessly include a link... this time!) knows I like a good action show with women. I told you Mulan was plucky, so look forward to some mighty (but not incredulously so) fighting and the expected Private Benjamin moments as she tries to fit in.
The film does deal with war, and thus there is pain, loss, and destruction. Another unusual element for a Disney animated feature. As you'd expect, this is not dwelled upon, and the plot moves quickly.
The ancestor spirits were a great deal of fun, and added just the right amount of "pixie dust" to the old tale.
Another change from the predictable: Mulan and her equivalent of Prince Charming don't have "that certain something" from the beginning which lets us know they are destined to be together. In fact, at one point we are treated to an episode where social more is put before companionship, and not in a way which clearly reassures us that the one party is doing so against their heart. I thought this rigidity to the expectations of the place and time was an excellent example of the importance put on obedience and honour by Asian cultures.
So that was Harvey Fierstein as the macho Yao? Good gracious!
In the beginning I thought the cricket was going to be our "talking non-human" sidekick star of the film, but along came Mushu. Besides, the cricket is the Silent Bob of Mulan, relying on comic reactions instead of words. Jiminy would be proud.
Look and Feel
Mulan's dog is cute and I'm surprised we didn't see more of him, but admittedly I'm not sure where they would have fit him. I call him "Pokedog." But the drawing was more Cubism than Anime. Really odd. Because other than Mulan's father and the dog, the animation was fairy usual. Not up to the standards of Beauty and the Beast, and a little uninspired, but once we got going it was pleasant enough and I stopped saying, "huh?"
As for the ugly muted colours on the bad guys, this was redeemed by a scene in the snow, where they were able to stand out clearly yet distinctly from the good guys. I still think they were too dull and poorly drawn, but keep in mind that I'm not a fan of what I think of Ralph Bakshi-style animation. I know everyone drools for it, but I dislike the lack of contrast I've noticed when people say "Ooo, look, Bakshi." (I swear I don't know enough about animation to talk very intelligently about its favourite sons; it's just a fluke that I know this much.)
I promise I'm going to have more praise for the animation soon, but first let me ask what was up with the mutant head children in the village? It was creepy. No offense to any of you with children whose heads are uncommonly large, but I don't think this was more of a proportion problem that diversity at work. I know it takes a great number of people to draw an animated feature, but it was as though we were given several different styles at once for some scenes and the results were distracting.
All right, some art appreciation now. The rosy blossoms in the first garden scene are so gorgeous they look like photographs. Maybe they were. It immediately took me into the serene atmosphere of an Oriental garden.
Look out for the scene where the characters written on the stone begin to light up like a Keno board. All of the animation involving the ancestor spirits was very whimsical - bonus points for that.
An unexpected fantasy kind of sequence takes place while the soldiers are singing about the kind of girl they can fight for. The drawing is lighthearted, yet with a distinctive and elegant calligraphy-brushed artistry. You wouldn't want the whole movie to be like this, but the scene is nice and an unexpected moment.
Another point for making the Imperial City glow so beautifully, as if lit by thousands of coloured warm candles. Did I detect a little Terry Gilliam Python-era moment when they are moving the stone lion against the door?
Music
Although many of the songs sounded similar to each other, I thought the entire soundtrack was excellent for its bouncy, sing-a-long-friendly, fun music. No offense to Elton John or Vanessa Williams, but I was glad to have some light and not terribly meaningful tunes instead of soulful modern ballads for the easy-listening station. (And normally I love that kind of song, but today I just wanted the Mulan equivalent to Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious.)
Special nod to Honor to Us All for good flow and being easy to learn quickly and start singing along.
Needless to say, I now have a greater interest in seeing the Mulan Parade at Disney-MGM studios during our trip. And you know what? I think I'd even forego a second ride on the Rock 'n Roller Coaster, if it meant I could get a big sloppy dragon hug from Mushu, just like Mulan.
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