Disney’s new live-action adaptation of Mulan is on Disney+ now and it has some big differences from the original Disney animated movie. Mulan has several significant departures from the beloved 1998 film, which was less closely tied to the source material and had more Western ideals and an agenda to sell toys and appeal to younger audiences.
Early hits like Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent marked the start of a slew of live-action Disney remakes. Though commercially successful, the reception for these movies has been mixed. Some feel the move is nothing more than a transparent cash grab, while others consider them this generation’s version of the classic tales. Plans for a live-action Mulan had been in the works since 2010, but it wasn’t until 2015 that Disney officially announced the movie was in process. Originally intended for release in March, the remake was pushed back to September and a Disney+ exclusive release by the global pandemic.
Fans were initially ambivalent about the changes announced to the Disney classic, partly because as a box office hit, Mulan was adored by fans and critics alike. Despite this, a mix of timing, legislation, and cultural clashes led to the movie to low box office numbers in the Chinese market. Changes in the new version have sought to fix the discontent Chinese audiences felt about the animated version, with specific changes made with that audience in mind, and the plan was clearly to offer a movie that is closer to the original legend.
Mulan 2020 Doesn’t Include Mushu Or Shang
Mulan 2020 is missing some key characters from the original. Ancestral guardian Mushu (Eddie Murphy) was a fan favorite from the original movie, providing comic relief and iconic lines but his more comedic tone is strongly at odds with Mulan’s overall tone. Although sorely be missed by some fans of the original, Mushu’s wisecracks and hilarious one-liners simply clash too much with the new respectful vision.
The animal sidekick is a staple of Disney movies. While Mushu isn’t in the movie, that doesn’t mean Mulan 2020 has no animals in it. As was heavily implied both by the trailers and director Niki Caro pre-release, the phoenix serves an important role in the movie, albeit less as a sidekick and more as a symbolic companion. Symbolically, the phoenix actually fits better with the motifs of Mulan. Within Chinese mythology, the phoenix contains elements of gender fluidity. Called the fenghuang, with feng referring to the male version and huang referring to the female, it represents blurred gender distinction. On a second level, the fenghuang also represents the female companion to the dragon, which itself often symbolized the emperor. Mulan is a tale of a woman disguising herself as a man to ultimately serve her family and her country, so the phoenix slots nicely into the theming.
Ultimately, it may be a good thing that Mushu didn’t quite make the cut. Given the distinctive personality that Murphy brought to the role, it would be difficult to recast, and a CGI dragon might not have the same expressiveness as the cartoon. In the live-action remake of Aladdin, Will Smith’s adaptation of the Genie, while quite good, suffered from trying to live up to Robin Williams, whom the role was literally written for. Removing Mushu entirely keeps fans from constantly comparing one version to another, while making space for the 2020 adaptation to create something new. Mulan’s other animated animal side-kick Cri-Kee the cricket is also replaced by an actual human character called Cricket who is less a good luck charm and more a bumbling comedy foil.
Another beloved character who didn’t make the cut is General Li Sheng, Mulan’s main love interest and commander of her army troop. He is replaced in romantic terms by Chen Honghui (Yoson An) and in his military position by Donnie Yen’s Commander Tung. Rather than being an authority figure, Chen is just another recruit, determined to become the best soldier in the world. The romance in Mulan thus changes to more classic set-up of rival-to-lovers, as Chen marks Mulan as his biggest competition.
One rather disappointing note found in the new dynamic was the insistence that Chen couldn’t fall in love with Mulan until he knows she is a woman. Although Shang in the original is never explicitly queer, there is a queer subtext in the way his relationship evolves with Mulan. He develops a strong bond with her and an affection for her while still under the impression she is male, so for many queer representation-starved Disney fans, Shang embodied bisexuality. Disney’s attempts at LGBTQ+ representation have been historically lackluster, and the insistence on keeping Chen’s sexuality rigid seems like a concession to Chinese censorship. There is a closeness in the final film, but the homoerotic subtext is certainly played down.
Mulan 2020’s Only Original Songs Are Instrumental Versions
The 1998 Mulan soundtrack received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score, with songs like “Reflection” and “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” marked as Disney classics. However, 2020 Mulan has an entirely instrumental score. Although musical numbers like “A Girl Worth Fighting For” are a big miss, the success of Mulan 2020 is not contingent on its following the animated original beat-for-beat. Disney’s 2015 live-action Cinderella, one of the better-received adaptations, was not a musical, after all, and the agenda to focus on musical numbers would not have fit Mulan’s live-action tone at all.
Mulan does have songs, however, and the score includes new versions of at least some of the original’s beloved songs. “Reflection” was included in the trailer and a new version sung by Christina Aguilera plays over the credits. There’s also an instrumental version of “Honor To Us All” that plays during the matchmaker scene pre-amble. Sadly, there’s no musical nods to either “A Girl Worth Fighting For” or “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”. The film cleverly slows down “Reflection" in an instrumental form elsewhere, highlighting its beauty while relying on pre-established associations; the audience already knows to relate the song with identity struggles. Mulan 2020 can thus integrate songs into the plot more organically without losing their original meaning and effect.
Disney’s Live-Action Mulan Is Closer To The Original Story
Mulan is based on a Chinese folk song written around the fifth century CE, “The Ballad Of Mulan.” One of the reasons the original Mulan flopped in China was that audiences felt it was too foreign - the characters too Americanized, and the story too far removed from the original legend. Mulan 2020, with a primarily Asian cast and Chinese American lead in Yifei Liu, corrects that, linking its plot and characterization more to the source material.
In the animated version, Mulan announces she seeks glory for her family, but also for herself. To American audiences, it read as a moment of self-assurance, but to many Chinese moviegoers, it was excessive self-aggrandizement and culturally dissonant individualism. Mulan 2020 sticks closer to the source material and seeks to instill a more appropriate value system. In the legend, Mulan asks the emperor for no glory, only a mount she can use to return swiftly to her family. Caro described 2020 Mulan as “a big girly martial arts epic,” true to both the original style of the legend and the feminist undercurrent from the 1998 version and the film absolutely delivers on both fronts.
Mulan 2020 Gives Mulan A Sister
While in the original Mulan is an only child, the newest version gives her a sister (Xana Tang). In certain iterations of the legend, Mulan has an older sister and even a little brother. A sister opened up the possibility of exploring different dynamics and relationships while keeping the family theming. Some fans were skeptical about the sister’s purpose, but the reality is that her presence barely changes Mulan’s arc, serving mostly to show Mulan’s more altruistic priorities during the matchmaker scene as she saves her from a spider. She also offers a more traditional vision of femininity (or at least patriarchally obedient femininity) to compare to Mulan’s defiant individualism.
Mulan’s New Second Villain Is A Witch
Possibly the biggest change by 2020’s Mulan is the integration of a new villain, Xian Lang (Gong Li) who is a powerful witch with the ability to shape-shift into a bird of prey. Li brings plenty of star-power to the role, and it allows Disney to take the tale in a completely new direction. Disney is, after all, known for its evil sorcerers and sorceresses, and Maleficent is arguably the best live-action remake so far. Not only does her presence refer back to animated original in terms of the main villain - this time played by Jason Scott Lee (but named Böri Khan rather than Shan Yu) - having a bird companion, but she also offers a counter-balance to Mulan herself.
Mulan is fundamentally about self-discovery and challenging prejudices to show your true value. It’s not just an exercise in trumpeting the merit of “honoring your family” at the cost of your own individual value, that’s only part of it. Just as important is the message that society should accept outsiders and those with individual differences should not be ostracized. Xian Lang’s backstory establishes that she was outcast for her magical skills and became twisted by evil, but all she wanted was a positive, welcoming space of her own. It’s a key balance to Mulan’s own conflict and it adds real depth to the villains.
Next: Is Mulan Worth Paying For On Disney+ (Or Should You Wait Until It’s Free?)
- Mulan Release Date: 2020-09-04
