Could be Disney's best offering, ever

Rating: 9/10 (16 March 2020)

We are introduced to the title character almost immediately in this movie. She is Mulan, an awkward Chinese girl that is trying to learn what tradition dictates a Chinese woman learn. It becomes quite clear that Mulan will never be a traditional lady, even with the help of a lucky cricket given to her by her grandmother. The family has no time to recover from Mulan's failure as the Huns are invading and the Emperor decrees that each village must offer up a man from each family to fight. Being the only man in their family, Mulan's father accepts the calling, despite being a cripple. Fearing that her father will not survive, Mulan steals off in the dead of night and enlists in her father's stead. Unbeknownst to Mulan, her ancestors send a guardian to protect her. What she ends up getting is Mushu, a disgraced dragon and Crickey, the "lucky" cricket. Together they must work to save her lie, for discovery means death. Can Mulan help save China and defeat the Huns?
Though the setting of this movie is not one with which Americans can relate, the message surely is, that women can become anything they want. What I love about this movie is this fact is not crammed down your throat as it oft is with movies that have come out since. In fact, unlike many of the feminists in newer movies, you find yourself rooting for Mulan from the very beginning. This movie does a lot for female empowerment without emasculating men in the process. Having Eddie Murphy voice Mushu was the icing on the cake. I am a straight, white man, and I absolutely love this movie and watch it probably more often than I should.