Seven Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Disney’s Mulan
20 years ago today Mulan made its debut in theaters. Can you believe it’s already been two decades?! To celebrate this exciting milestone, I’m sharing a few things you probably didn’t know about this groundbreaking Disney movie.
Mushu Was Supposed To Have A Song
Like most characters in Disney films, Mushu’s introduction into Mulan was going to include a song. Composer Matthew Wilder and lyricist David Zippel wrote three different songs for his introduction. In the end filmmakers said, although the songs were great, they didn’t fit the film and were eventually cut.
Mulan Was Produced At Walt Disney World
While other Disney classics like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid were all partially produced at Disney-MGM Studios, Mulan was the first feature primarily produced on the Walt Disney World property. (And all while the theme parks guests watched — how cool!) Only two additional films would be primarily produced at Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida in Disney-MGM Studios, Lilo and Stitch which released in 2002 and Brother Bear which released in 2003. The animation studio would eventually close the next year in 2004.
Mulan Is Based On A Real Life Warrior
The Chinese Poem “The Ballad of Mulan” shows that Mulan is actually based on a real life warrior who also disguised herself as a man and fought for 12 years in China during a war. At the end of the war the warrior wanted to recognition or reward for her work — she simply returned home to take care of her family. Talk about Girl Power!
Jackie Chan Stars In The Film
In the Chinese version of Mulan, Shang’s character is voiced by the iconic Jackie Chan! Chan also went on to make a music video of the hit Mulan song ‘I’ll Make A Man Out Of You’. You can check out that music video here!
There Was A Large Cast & Crew
It took over 700 animators, artists, and technicians to complete Mulan. The film’s animators were sure to leave their mark in the movie! During the scene where Mulan sings ‘Reflections’ that features temple stones with Chinese writing on them — those names are actually the animators who worked on the film!
Cri-Kee Was Created By One Of The Oldest Disney Animators
I don’t know about y’all, but Cri-Kee is one of my favorite characters from Mulan! How cool is it that this character was created by Joe Grant, who was one of the oldest Disney animators at the time. (An animator who had previously worked on Snow White!) Grant came up with the character of Cri-Kee and began leaving his sketches and ideas under the director’s door.
Mulan and Jasmine’s Voice Connection
Did you know the singing voice of Mulan is also the same at Jasmine from Aladdin? Lea Salonga is the voice behind both Disney females when they sing! Did you ever catch this? Salonga actually auditioned for Mulan’s speaking voice as well, but when it came time for Mulan to pretend to be Ping, Salonga’s voice couldn’t get deep enough!
The Disney Renaissance took place between 1989 and 1999 and brought us iconic films that went on to be family favorites! Mulan is definitely a standout and I’m glad this film came to be during such an exciting time at Disney Animation. The film took five years to complete and went on to receive nominations at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes in 1999. In 1998 Mulan also won 10 Annie Awards in various categories! A live action version of Mulan has been announced to release in March of 2020 — and I can’t wait to see what they come up with!
