Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #702 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-11-15
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Animated, Digital Sound, Dolby, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 84 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
1998's Mulan is solid entertainment from a new group of Disney animators. The story source is a Chinese fab\ le about a young girl who disguises herself as a man to help her family and her country. When the Huns attack China, a cal\ l to arms goes out to every village, and Mulan's father, being the only man in the family, accepts the call. Mulan (voiced\ by Ming-Na Wen, sung by Lea Salonga) has just made a disastrous appearance at the Matchmaker and decides to challenge soc\ iety's expectations (that she should be a bride). She steals her father's conscription notice, cuts her hair and impersona\ tes a man to join the army. She goes to boot camp, learning to fit in with the other soldiers with some help from her side\ kick, Mushu, a wise-cracking dragon (voiced by Eddie Murphy). She trains, and soon faces the Huns eye to eye to protect he\ r Emperor.

The film is gorgeous to look at, with a superior blend of classic and computer-generated animation. Directors\ Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook make the best of it: a battle in the snowy mountains is as thrilling as the best Hollywood a\ ction films. The menacing Huns are not cute but simple and bad. The wickedness is subtle, not disturbing. The film is not \ a fully fledged musical, as it has only five songs (the best, "Be a Man", is sung during boot camp). Eddie Murphy is an in\ spired choice for the comic-relief dragon, but his lines are not as clever as Robin Williams's in Aladdin (1992). T\ hese are minor quibbles, though. The story is strong, and Mulan goes right to the top of Disney animated heroines; she has\ the right stuff. --Doug Thomas

Amazon.co.uk Review
Solid entertainment from a new group of Disney animators. The story source is a Chinese fable about a young girl who disguises herself as a man to help her family and her country. When the Huns attack China, a call to arms goes out to every village, and Mulan's father, being the only man in the family, accepts the call. Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen, sung by Lea Salonga) has just made a disastrous appearance at the Matchmaker and decides to challenge society's expectations (being a bride). She steals her father's conscription notice, cuts her hair and impersonates a man to join the army. She goes to boot camp, learning to fit in with the other soldiers with some help from her sidekick, Mushu, a wise-cracking dragon (voiced by Eddie Murphy). She trains, and soon faces the Huns eye to eye to protect her Emperor. The film is gorgeous to look at, with a superior blend of classic and computer-generated animation. Directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook make the best of it: a battle in the snowy mountains is as thrilling as the best Hollywood action films. The menacing Huns are not cute but simple and bad. The wickedness is subtle, not disturbing. The film is not a fully fledged musical, as it has only five songs (the best, "Be a Man", is sung during boot camp). Eddie Murphy is an inspired choice for the comic-relief dragon, but his lines are not as clever as Robin Williams' in Aladdin. These are minor quibbles, though. The story is strong, and Mulan goes right to the top of Disney animated heroines; she has the right stuff. --Doug Thomas, Amazon.com

Synopsis
An adaptation of a 2,000 year old Chinese poem in which a fiercely independent young woman (Mulan) disguises herself as a man in order to take her ailing father's place in the Imperial Army's campaign against the brutal hun leader Shan-Yu. Chock full of the usual Disney delights; breathtaking animation, catchy songs, and a funny little animal (this time, a tiny guardian dragon voiced by the resilient and newly kid-friendly Eddie Murphy).

Customer Reviews

Fantastic film.
I honestly wasn't expecting much out of this. So I was very suprised when I loved it from start to finish! It has everything we have come to expect of a classic Disney film.. a strong hero/heroine, a hilarious sidekick character, a great soundtrack and a beautiful display of animation. Yes, it really is a great film, with a powerful story and some great characters. Highly recommended.

WHY MULAN STICKS OUT AS A GREAT DISNEY FILM
I was impressed by this Disney film for so many reasons, too many to list here, but I will go on the record as saying that Mulan has got to be one of the best Disney female characters that ever saw production, in the midst of a colorful and artistic film, that will resonate in your memory.

Mulan sticks out in my mind for this reason. For once, we have a strong female lead, or at the least, stronger than most of them. She isn't counted among the Disney "princesses" line-up. She doesn't want for herself, and she seeks to look deeper within herself to discover her inner being. She isn't like Ariel, who wants to be someone else. She isn't like Jasmine, who sits in luxury, waiting to be swept off her feet by Prince Charming, just like Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and almost any female character that Disney brings to life. And while she does share some traits among this list, she stands out because she does something that these do not. She uses her mind.

Mulan, in fact, has more in common with male Disney leads than the female Disney leads. Mulan is a thinker, and a do-er. She's resourceful, like Aladdin. She is quick to act, like Eric (mermaid.) And she sacrifices herself for the sake of others, like Hercules. She also speaks her mind, even in a culture that does not allow such a thing. She doesn't waste time pining about "will I ever find true love?" Indeed, we see that she has an attraction to Shang (as he was her husband in the legends,) but we see her uncomfortable and unsure of meeting the Match-maker. She begs for her father's life when Chi-Fu came to the village. When you see her make her decision to take her father's place in the army, she does so out of her love for him, valuing his life above hers. She doesn't wish to become a man to see what it is like or for a change. Only to save his life. She later doubts herself and her reasons for going, but she did so because of her inner strengths, something other female Disney leads too often lack. (And it is these strengths that Shang is attracted to at the end.)

This movie also has a simple, but very effective villain, Shan Yu. Though not as memorable as Jafar or Ursula, he is more effective and more menacing because he is not fantastic. By that, I mean that he is not magical, he holds no special power. He is portrayed as a man, and as a man that could have truly existed, performing vicious acts that men do. We see the destruction that his army lays to a village, and when Mulan finds the doll, it shows that Shan Yu left no one living, man, woman or child. This is what makes him so effective as a villain, showing how truly human he indeed is. Granted, the producers did not develop him in any great depth, but they showed enough of him to remind us of his threat to China. Besides, sometimes the better villains are the ones you don't know too much about, or see a lot of.

Of the rest of the supporting cast, I will only mention four of them as being memorable in any real way. Chi-Fu, the emperor's consultant, was a reminder of the way many men looked at women in this culture. He thrusts his head up when Mulan begs for her father's life, and when she is discovered to be a woman, though she is a hero, he is quick to insult her, and to order her execution, simply because she impersonated a man. The other three were, of course, her comrades, Ling, Yao, and Chian Po. Though they were mainly comic relief (almost like a 3 stooges set,) they remained loyal to Mulan and trusted her fully, even after she was discovered. I like them, because they were not discriminatory to her in any way, even trying to stop her execution. When Mulan told them she had an idea to help the emperor faster, they were the first to her side, even when Shang was still reluctant to do so.

Overall, a wonderful movie to the Disney list. If you haven't seen it, then do so, you won't regret it.

And yes, Mushu was a cool character as well.

One of the very best
*Criminally* underrated. "Mulan" is easily the best Disney film of the past ten years. It gets straight to the point within the first five minutes - the Huns are invading and one man from every family has to go and fight in the army - and doesn't waste time faffing around. Mulan herself does not disappoint. She is pretty, of course - what Disney heroine isn't? - but she's also brave, clever, quick-thinking, and genuinely self-sacrificing. It is so rare to have a heroine actually provide evidence of her worthiness (Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, love 'em as I do, are little more than pretty and kind) that I felt a little giddy the first time I watched. Even better, she shows character depth by questioning herself constantly throughout the film, and her internal conflict feels very real.

The artwork is distinctive and attractive. Although the characters have simple facial designs, they express great emotion - and this goes for the animals as well. Mushu the dragon, voiced by Eddie Murphy to the same success he brings to the role of Donkey in the "Shrek" films, is a particular highlight: he is very funny and has great chemistry with Mulan. The backgrounds, particularly those outdoors, are absolutely beautiful, and are evidence of what Disney can really do when it tries. The songs are also wonderful. Catchy and clever - "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" is a particular highlight - they are everything Disney songs ought to be. Take note, Phil Collins!

The DVD extras are very nice, although it's relieving to see that they aren't better than the actual film (which is always a worry). There are a collection of unremarkable deleted scenes along with a few rather painful music videos. A couple of fairly interesting featurettes complete the round-up. There's some good stuff on there; it's just not up to the same standard as the film.

Of course, the film does have its flaws. The ending feels as though it could have gone through another editing at the storyboard stage as it feels incomplete - perhaps the worst bit was when Mulan's ancestors started dancing to a disco song, complete with confetti and flashing lights. Who knew that it was possible to feel embarrassed for cartoon characters? There was also the odd cringe-worthy stereotype (watch out for The Noble Emperor Who Speaks In Metaphors), although this generally wasn't so overwhelming as to be off-putting.

The villain, Shan-Yu, suffers when compared to the other Disney villains of the '90s. True, he is superbly creepy, but I think he also lacks something. The really great villains of the past twenty years - Gaston, Scar, Jafar - were first and foremost wonderful *characters*, who could all conceivably have their own films. It is hard to imagine Shan-Yu acting as anything other than a nemesis for Mulan. He is not the only character who could have been fleshed out, however: Li-Shang, Mulan's love-interest, sadly suffers from Disney Prince-itis. He's very strong and very brave...but there's not really a lot to him apart from that. This is a shame, and it makes his relationship with Mulan (which is otherwise refreshingly original - how *nice* for the hero to meet the heroine outside of a stereotypically romantic situation!) seem confusing and underdeveloped.

Flaws aside, this is outstanding work, and Disney at its best - one wonders why it all started to go downhill from here. "Mulan" would be included in my top five favourite Disney films any day of the week and just watching it again gives me new hope for the potential of both "Rapunzel" and "The Princess and the Frog". I have no hesitation in giving it five stars.