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.

Hercules (1997)

The classic Greek myth gets the full Disney treatment in this film from directing duo Ron Clements & John Musker.

From high on Mount Olympus, Zeus (Rip Torn) and his wife Hera (Samantha Eggar) have just given birth to their son, Hercules. Blessed with god-like strength even as a baby, he is set to become one of the greatest gods ever.

But when god of the underworld Hades (James Woods) learns that in eighteen years time, the planets will align just right to allow him to release the Titans (whom Zeus imprisoned centuries before) and overthrow the gods of Mount Olympus and rule himself, he enlists the help of his servants Pain (Bobcat Goldthwait) and Panic (Matt Frewer) to kidnap the baby god.

You see, in learning of the aligning of the planets, he also learns of the fact that if Hercules fights with the gods, then Hades will fail. His plan is to turn Hercules mortal so that he can be killed.

But when Pain and Panic try to turn Hercules mortal by giving him a potion that will strip him of his godlike strength, their plan goes slightly awry when he doesn't quite drink the whole thing. Even though there is only one drop left in the bottle, it means Hercules retains his godlike strength while at the same time becoming mortal.

And since he is now mortal, he cannot return to Mount Olympus and so must live out his life on earth.

So Hercules (voiced by Josh Keaton as a teenager, and Tate Donovan as an adult) now finds himself in a world in which he doesn't fully belong. He doesn't fit in anywhere, and is in fact an outcast, as his enormous strength coupled with his incredible clumsiness always results in disaster.

When Zeus tells Hercules that he can one day return to Mount Olympus if he can prove himself a true hero, Hercules seeks out the satyr Philoctetes (Danny DeVito) to train him in the ways of a hero.

But when his adventures bring him across the path of a beautiful woman named Meg (Susan Egan) - who may be more than she seems - it might just be enough to bring him undone.

The script, by Ron Clements & John Musker and Donald McEnery & Bob Shaw and Irene Mecchi, is actually quite good. The writers have incorporated numerous references from Greek mythology, while also making the story their own. I love all the small little in-jokes that pop up every now and again, such as a young boy in an emergency shouting to his friend 'Somebody call IX-I-I!"

The music - by Disney regular Alan Menken - is fantastic, perfectly supporting the film at every turn, in the same way as all of Menken's scores do. There is a small handful of songs, with music by Menken and lyrics by David Zippel, and these are also very well written, with very clever rhymes in the lyrics, and unique melodies that work very well.

The voice cast are all superb, but the clear standout has got to be James Woods as Hades. His ability to convey so much with subtle little changes in intonation and expression is wonderful.

Oh, and a note on Hercules here, too. When he sings his big 'I want' number (see some of my other reviews for discussion on this concept), it is actually the voice of Broadway performer Roger Bart (who has also appeared in films and television, but it is on Broadway that he really shines). And his performance is magnificent, and well worth a mention here.

All in all, this is a very enjoyable film that I have probably watched a few more times than some of Disney's other animated films, purely because it is so much fun, and the script so clever.

Directors Clements and Musker have done a great job, and if you haven't seen it yet - or even for a while - I would recommend you check it out.

7 1/2 out of 10.