Mulan -Disney's Masterpiece- [VHS]

great!
It was gift for my neices and nephew. They loved it. Thank you for my purchase of it. A great gift for anyone.

New Life Breathed Into an Ancient Chinese Tale
My first exposure to this tale of Ancient China's girl warrior was from viewing a doll of the character featured on the Home Shopping Network sometime in the early 90s. Little did I realize how much publicity there would soon be in the Western World for China's legendary forerunner to France's Jeanne D'Arc within just a few years! The Disney animators have done a fine job of capturing the Chinese flavor of the story, and basing the layout on Ancient Chinese watercolor pictures. One feels the figures stepped right off those delicate and antiquated sheets of paper, and in essence, became timeless. Our story begins with the grim scenario of the Mongolian leader Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer) and his troops crossing over the newly constructed Great Wall of China to invade the country. The Emperor( Pat Morita) orders that conscriptions be formed by all Chinese men capable of serving. Elsewhere, in a lovely province, the farm girl who will make a difference is preparing for a meeting with the village matchmaker(Miriam Margoyles). We first meet young Fa Mulan( voiced by Ming Na and sung by Lea Salonga) as she employs the service of her dog, "Little Brother" ( Chris Sanders) in helping her feed the chickens in an innovative way that goes awry, resulting in her father Fa Zhou's (Soon Tek Oh) praying even harder for the success of his awkward daughter on that day. Her mother Fa Li(Freda Foh Shen), and Grandmother Fa(voiced by June Foray, and sung by Marni Nixon) help prepare her by helping to dress and presenting her with good luck charms, including the little cricket, Cri-Kee(Frank Welker), whose name, I somehow have reason to believe, isn't as Chinese as it sounds... Long story short, the visit with the matchmaker doesn't go well, and Mulan is in a funk about yet another failure despite her father's attempt to console her. Soon messengers reach the village calling for them men to join the army. When Fa sees that her father, who has served before is physically unable to re-enlist, she ignores the fact that women caught serving in the army will be executed, stops listening to the voices that tell her she is forgetting her place as a woman, and does what her heart tells her is right, cutting her hair, taking her father's armour, and riding off one rainy night to serve in his place. Pausing for a moment to find inspiration, and hoping for a guardian, Mulan will soon get her wish in the form of the little dragon Mushu( voiced by Eddie Murphy, without the "gai pan"), who despite the objections of the First Ancestor ( George Takei), and the other ancestors due to a past failure, takes it upon himself to see Mulan through the battle, along with little Cri-Kee and Mulan's horse, Khan( also voiced by Frank Welker). What I found amusing about the ancestral tete-a-tete was that, having lived in Hawaii, with its large Chinese population they reminded me of people I knew when I was young. Mulan soon arrives at the Army camp where she encounters the other recruits, including the feisty one-eyed Yao ( Harvey Firestein), the joker, Ling (Gedde Wantanabe), and the gentle giant, Chein-Po (Jerry Tondo).She also deals with the officious official Chi Fu (James Hong), but is impressed by the strong young commanding officer Shang(voiced by B.D Wong and sung by Donny Osmond), whose father General Li (James Shigeta) is facing combat elsewhere. While failing to make a good first impression, Mulan eventually inspires the men when she succeeds at the first test Shang gave the recruits. Soon, we follow the troops on marches through the beautiful countryside, and see the evil Shan-Yu and his forces drawing closer. Mushu and Cri-Kee either cover for Mulan, to prevent her from being exposed, or take matters into their own hands in altering the course of events. The climax of this story is a dramatic confrontation with the Mongols in the snowy mountains, where Mulan discovers a way to cut the strength from behind Shan-Yu when the power of his forces seems overwhelming. Wounded in battle after saving Shang's life, Mulan is soon discovered to be female. While Shang spares her as an act of reciprocity, he orders the troops to move out and he will have no more to do with her. But Mulan's work isn't finished yet: Having seen the Huns pop out of the snow, she hurries to warn the men, who soon realize they must follow her lead in order to defeat Shan-Yu. The finale is spectacular, and she who saves China pretty much saves the world--or at least most of it. What makes this a great story for children is that they see the imperfections of Mulan, Mushu, and Cri-Kee, but they can learn about perseverance in spite of past failures because these characters believe in themselves and their ability to do good.--A highly recommendable tale told with Oriental grace!

Who she is inside
Based upon traditional Chinese folklore (try this take on it for a solid introduction by a noted reteller Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior), these two movies tell the story of Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen), a young girl living in China in the 3rd Century BC. In the first of the two movies we learn that, as the only child of a considerable landowner, Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh), who was lamed in war some years earlier, Mulan has, somewhat of necessity, grown up something of a tomboy, dressing in trousers, working in the fields, and riding her horse Khan astride; but she's found over the years that she enjoys this kind of life--the prospect of "meeting our Matchmaker (Miriam Margolyes)" terrifies her, and the process of getting "primped and polished" so that "boys will gladly go to war for [her]" seems rather stupid. But in her culture, women are at best second-class citizens, and "a girl can bring her family/Great honor...by striking a good match." Then the Huns break through the Great Wall, and the Emperor (Pat Morita) issues a conscription order across the length and breadth of his domain. To spare her father having to go to war, Mulan cuts off her hair, dresses in her father's old armor, and, accompanied by Khan, a lucky cricket given her by her mother, and a disgraced family guardian (a miniature dragon called Mushu (Eddie Murphy)), joins a company of recruits commanded by Captain Shan-Yu (Miguel Ferrer), the eager-to-prove-himself son of General Li (James Shigeta). If her disguise is discovered, she risks death, but her love for her father and her own awareness of her inward strengths make her positive that this is her only choice. At first she finds posing as a boy difficult, but before too long she proves her courage, dedication, patriotism, and ability to think quickly and use her body skilfully, and even earns the comradeship of three of the misfit recruits, diminutive squint-eyed Yao (Harvey Fierstein), jokey Ling (Gedde Watanabe), and gentle giant Chien-Po (Jerry Tondo). She saves Shan-Yu's life in the mountains, delays the Huns by causing an avalanche, is found out and disgraced, and then redeems herself when she discovers that the Huns have survived and infiltrated the Imperial City itself, and comes up with a plan to stop them. In the second movie, Mulan, now recognized as the Hero of China, has agreed to marry Shan-Yu, but before the wedding can take place, the duo are summoned by the Emperor to carry out a mission for him. The ruler of the neighboring realm of Qi Gong has agreed to help the Chinese against the still-threatening Huns if the Emperor will send three of his daughters to marry three Qi Gong princes, and as the road goes through bandit country, a stout escort is needed. Calling up Mulan's three friends, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po, to help out, Mulan and Shan-Yu set out to deliver the princesses, Mei (Lucy Liu), Ting Ting (Sandra Oh), and Su (Lauren Tom). But there are complications. Mushu has discovered that if Mulan marries Shan-Yu, his family's guardians will take over her protection and Mushu himself will be demoted, so he's resolved to set the two against each other. And the three misfit soldiers, who had hoped that their heroism would win them wives, have discovered that finding willing girls isn't so easy--until they meet the princesses and a triple mutual attraction blooms. Mulan is a character many girls will identify with, even in today's more liberated climate, and her struggle to balance her society's expectations with who she feels she really is carries relevant messages for adults too. Though Murphy as Mushu is slightly over the top, the other voice talents are well done, and there's plenty of fast-paced high-octane action, peril, and people doing physical things gracefully and well. (And, yes, the Huns, though they were the ancestors of today's Hungarians and ultimately went west, did in fact imperil China during this time period.) Admittedly the second movie is vaguely disappointing (at least to me), but it has its good points, and on balance the set is well worth adding to your collection.

Beautiful movie
This is a great animated film. The story is empowering to little girls and the music and voices are great.

Was all that humor necessary?
Disney could have done a great job with this adaptation of a Chinese folk tale. But unfortunately, they just had to ruin it with some comedy. Now, I'm not saying that this automatically makes the film a complete failure. The animation is top-notch, with some beautiful scenery and a powerful action sequence. The drama really adds to the tension in some scenes. The music from Jerry Goldsmith is also a treat. But what really makes this a mediocre Disney film is the unnecessary comedy. Disney could have made this one of its more outstanding animated films, if it weren't for all that humor. Instead of it being a serious epic like Princess Mononoke, Mulan is more of an uneven display of drama and slapstick. All of this funny stuff is very out of place for such a powerful folk tale. Couldn't they have taken Mushu more seriously? Plus, the songs are very forgettable. "A Girl Worth Fighting For" and "I'll Make a Man Out of You" aren't in the same level as "Be Our Guest" and "I Just Can't Wait to be King." There are no memorable melodies and no decent lyrics, though "Reflection" is a slightly up there. So Mulan is basically a mixed bag. The stunning animation and the apparent drama are what's good about it. The unnecessary comedy and underwhelming songs are what's bad about it. It's too bad, really. This project had some big potential, but they just had to turn it into an adequate animated film. Grade: C