Mulan (1998)

The Hun invasion of China provides the backdrop for another fantastic animated movie from Disney.

Young Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) is the only child of Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh) and Fa Li (Freda Foh Shen). Also living with the family is Grandmother Fa (June Foray), who is anxious for Mulan to find a suitable husband.

To that end, Mulan is sent to The Matchmaker (Miriam Margolyes), but after an incredibly accident-prone session, The Matchmaker declares that she will not find a match for Mulan.

Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) and her father Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh).

Meanwhile, invading Huns have breached the Great Wall, and have declared war on the Emperor (Pat Morita) and his entire nation. Under advisement from Chi Fu (James Hong), the Emperor sends out letters of conscription to every family; one man from every family must report to army training to prepare to defend against the invading army, led by Shan-Yu (Miguel Ferrer).

Fa Zhou declares he will fight on behalf of his family, but under the cover of darkness, Mulan cuts her hair, takes her father's letter, and poses as a man, desperate to fight herself.

Aided by a small dragon named Mushu (Eddie Murphy) - representative of her family's ancestors - she joins the battalion led by Li Shang (B. D. Wong), and along with her fellow soldiers, mounts a surprise attack on the incoming Huns.

Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) - now disguised as a man - with Mushu (Eddie Murphy).

The screenplay, written by Rita Hsiao & Christopher Sanders & Philip LaZebnik & Raymond Singer & Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, is quite good. There are plenty of twists and turns in the story to keep even the most discerning viewer satisfied. The characters are all very well constructed, and there is plenty of humour - largely from the strange little dragon Mushu, and Mulan's fellow soldier Yao (Harvey Fierstein) - but at the same time, plenty of high-stakes drama.

As with any great Disney films, there are plenty of songs to keep the plot moving forward. These have been written by Matthew Wilder (music) and David Zippel (lyrics). While not being the best songs from Disney's ever-expanding catalogue, they are certainly adequate for this film. I found the songs for the most part enjoyable and catchy enough to continue to hum the tunes afterwards. They definitely achieve the necessary forward propulsion of the plot that the songs ought to do in the musical genre.

The voice cast are all well-suited in their respective roles. Particular standouts are definitely Murphy and Fierstein, the two main comic characters of the film. I say this primarily because their lines tend to be the more memorable of the film, and their particular vocal eccentricities perfect for their characters.

Leader of the invading Hun army, Shan-Yu (Miguel Ferrer).

The vocal performances in the songs are even better than the performances of the voice cast. Again, as with several Disney animated films of this time period, many of the songs are not sung by the voice actors, but by other singers. For instance, Mulan's singing voice is provided by Lea Salonga, not by Ming-Na Wen who voices the character otherwise.

Directors Tony Bancroft & Barry Cook have made a reasonably enjoyable film here. The quality of the animation is up to Disney's usual standard, though this film is certainly not the best animated film that Disney have made, or even that they have made up until the point this film was made. It is certainly worth watching if you are a fan of Disney movies, and I may well watch it again at some point, though there are other films I would prefer to watch instead.

5 out of 10.