Mulan, the Disney animation, is said to be based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, who, according to my limited research (read: Wikipedia), is a heroine who joined an all-male army to save her elderly father from the Emperor’s call of conscription. A simple enough story, I will not even care to discuss whether or not the Disney adaptation is close to the legend. Now, for the movie. The design was surprisingly simple: watercolour backdrop, which echoes the theme of the movie. There’s the elaborate designs on the Arabian Alladin. There’s the awesome visuals on the French Beauty and the Beast. And then there’s the simple and invigorating colours of the Chinese Mulan.
The modesty of the animation was a sight for sore eyes, as it presented a novel take into what could be a complicated set-up. I’m glad the production team injected as much Chinese art into the movie as is possible, like the calligraphy in the beginning of the film, and the wonderfully refreshing peach blossoms. What I also loved about this Disney movie are the witty dialogues and funny antics of the characters. I laughed all by my lonesome while watching the movie and that’s saying a lot.
Mulan 2, The Legend Continues, I suppose, has nothing to do at all with the legend of Hua Mulan. Anyway, a month after Mulan saves China from the Huns, Li Shang, Captain-turned-General, proposes to Mulan, which, naturally, the latter accepts. Mushu, Mulan’s guardian, is happy for her until he learns that once Mulan marries Li Shang, Mushu will lose his job as a guardian and will go back to ‘gong’ duty. For selfish reasons, Mushu attempts to break up the couple. Meanwhile, the Emperor calls on both Mulan and Li Shang to escort his three daughters for their arranged marriages to the three princes of Qui Gong for the formation of an alliance between the Middle Kingdom and Qui Gong. This alliance was important for the Middle Kingdom to defeat the Mongols. When Mulan learns that the princesses really do not wish to be married to the Qui Gong princes, and that they haven’t yet seen each other, she defies the Emperor’s orders. She talks sense into one of the princesses to follow what is in her heart, as her duty is to her heart. Later in the evening, Mulan was ecstatic when she discovers that the princesses have actually found their true love in the person of their escorts, Mulan’s friends from the first film, Chien-Po, Ling, and Yao. This enrages Li Shang, who is known to be a rigid by-the-book person. Add that to the fact that Mushu has already been fanning the fire between the two. Mulan and Li Shang discover that although difference of personalities is good in a relationship, they, however, are way too different. In silence, they proceed to finish the mission. Upon reaching bandit country, Mulan discovers what Mushu had done to tear the couple apart. When she is about to apologize to Li Shang and explain, they encounter an ambush. In the frenzy of saving the princesses, Mulan and Li Shang are left dangling off a broken bridge. Since the rope can only support the weight of one person, Li Shang sacrifices himself to save Mulan. Not wanting Li Shang’s death to be in vain and not wanting the princesses to be forced into marriages they did not want, Mulan offers herself in marriage to one of the princes of Qui Gong, just so an alliance will be formed. Miraculously, Li Shang is alive, and when he learns what Mulan is about to do, he rushes to stop the marriage. To redeem himself, Mushu pretends to be the Great Golden Dragon of Unity and forces the ruler of Qui Gong to marry Mulan and Li Shang instead, and release the princesses from their vows. It’s a happy ending for Mulan and Li Shang. And Mushu, as well, because he gets to keep his guardian duties as Li Shang was kind enough to combine his and Mulan’s temples.
I have always been critical of Disney sequels that are direct-to-video because they tend to lose the lustre of the first animation. With Mulan 2, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe the simplicity of the first Mulan enabled the production team of the second Mulan to reproduce the vivid colours and refreshing visual of the former. In fact, I think the second Mulan had more vibrant colours. Suffice it to say though that I loved both movies.
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