Mulan was a big hit with pre-teen girl crowd when this came out and it is easy to see why. As voiced by Ming-Na Wen this is a young girl with spunk. She has a strong spirit and an engaging personality. It is interesting, however, that this came out some seven years after "Beauty and the Beast" with animation and songs which were somewhat less impressive than those in Beast. The music can be forgiven. After the tragic loss of Howard Ashman Disney struggled a bit to fill the void. It's very evident here where the songs are mostly forgettable repeats of the same chorus, over and over. The flatness of the images, though, is perplexing. The only depth one sees is in an avalanche which takes place about half-way through the film. Effort is made from the opening credits through to the end to honor Chinese culture and history but the cast is nearly fifty-percent white, something which would never happen today. The sequel, made in 2004, worked to correct this a bit by casting more of the major roles with Asian actors, including more Chinese. One surprise in the original film was Eddie Murphy playing a very "Donkey-like" character some three years before he did the first Shrek film. It was an unnecessary character, in my opinion, and a less irritating sidekick could have been created. The major difference between the two films is that the first is about a search for self, the second is about the search for love. Something to think about that the search for self is more compelling and interesting than the search for love. In film, anyway. Perfectly good fare for younger kids without the nice depth which parents might enjoy. A live-action version comes out in 2020. I'm hoping for something with a few more layers.
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