Mulan
Now, Mulan isn't exactly A Room of One's Own for the preschool set, but at least the girl does have a mind of her own - though the setting is Ancient China, Mulan is as American as they come, right down to her accent. She rejects the social conventions that demean Chinese women (no foot-binding scenes here, though - Disney avoids dealing with the realities of China's human rights record as effectively as Clinton). Deemed too headstrong and outspoken to be fit for marriage, Mulan must bring honor to her family in other ways.
When the Huns come storming over the Great Wall of China, every family must add one man to the troops. In a family of women, only Mulan's aging father can fill the position, but his handicap worries her. In order to spare his life, she steals away with his conscription papers and sword, cuts off her hair and enlists as a man in the Chinese army, an act expressly forbidden by Chinese law.
I credit the artists for successfully conveying Mulan's androgyny - it's hard to draw a girl in drag convincingly enough to believe that the Captain of the Chinese army wouldn't suspect anything. Mulan simply looks like a pretty boy (called Ping), fresh-faced and making occasional doe-eyes at the Captain, who she of course falls in love with. Given Disney's reputation for clean family fun, I thoroughly enjoyed the mild homoerotic subtext between Mulan/Ping and the Captain, although I wish it had been explored more. Maybe the next animated feature will be a Greek tragedy.
The animation is surprisingly low-key, all muted pastels which fit in nicely with the pastoral Chinese countryside. Given the stunning effects achieved in Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast though, it seems that Disney is coasting here. The scenes that deal with war are outstanding, as when a horde of Mongols on horseback pour down across a snowfield - beautifully drawn, amazing work. But the actual characters are, as always, drawn with about the same attention to detail as a Saturday morning cartoon. The disparity between the gorgeous backgrounds and the prosaic characters is confusing, though standard Disney fare.
And what's more standard than The Two Comical Sidekicks? To our left we have an adorable cricket who, in an incredible stylistic coup, doesn't talk, and to our right is a miniature dragon sent by Mulan's ancestors to guide her. The dragon is voiced by Eddie Murphy. Maybe I expect too much from Disney, and after all, no one in their right mind wants strict Historical Accuracy from the Mouse's studio, so everyone who complained about Pocahontas, just relax. It's only entertainment. Still, in a predominately Chinese setting, Murphy's Axel Foley-attitude seems more than a bit out of place. Murphy does well with the dragon, but he's clearly no Robin Williams. Better is Pat Morita doing his Zen shtick as the Chinese Emperor.
While not as consistently entertaining as Aladdin or as ambitious as Fox Studio's Anastasia, Mulan will still be fun for the kids and reasonably entertaining for adults. Although there is a scene showing bodies bloodied in the snow, this is for the most part less violent than recent Disney, and the villain, while interestingly malicious, is given hardly four scenes. The story is much less about the war than it is about Mulan the Chinese Riot Grrrl flouting convention and hanging out in the boy's locker room. And I nearly forgot - in a bold move that is to be seriously commended, Elton John has had no part in any of the music for Mulan, and there are only four short, unmemorable songs in the entire film. Excellent.
- Jared O'Connor
MOVIES
All Content © 1997, 1998 Jared O'Connor and Michael Baker