Jerry Goldsmith and Donny Osmond failed to make a man out of me!

Rating: 4/10 (28 August 2008)

"Mulan" is one of Disney's last "hand-drawn" animated works from before it bought Pixar and started exclusively producing computer-animated films and pre-teen pop starlets. The animation here is certainly nice when compared to Disney's television shows, but like other Disney cartoons from this era (Pocahontas, The Emperor's New Groove) the lines are simple, the colors are a bit flat and the cast seems to be on auto-pilot. Yeah, Mulan isn't a Disney film that I would say was particularly "inspired".
The musical numbers by Jerry Goldsmith are pretty droll and even offensive (for instance, the fat Chinese soldier character sings about how his ideal woman would know how to cook beef, chicken and pork; you know, like on a Chinese food menu?). Donny Osmond sings the main theme song for Mulan's training montage. I don't like Osmond, but the song is actually flawed by the weak and tepid songwriting, not the vocal performance. Most of the songs here are memorable because they're so laughably awful. I mean, compared to "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin" or "The Lion King" the songs here are not even in the same ballpark.
Eddie Murphy isn't laugh-out-loud hilarious, but he's the only saving grace of the film. He voices a sassy supporting role, Mulan's pet dragon and best friend, and is the only entertaining part of the film. He's a little miscast, but is also somehow the only substantial character. For instance, the villains (here it's the Mongolian Horde, ancient China's consistent historical adversary) have such little character depth -- not to mention humanity. I know Disney films paint the world in simplistic shades of good and evil, but good golly... the Mongolians are depicted here as a collective race of monsters! They're given no incentive or individual reason for existence. And I don't recall seeing any female Mongolians either. Their whole depiction is clumsy and comes across as ignorant. Also, it's kind of weird that Mulan falls in love with a tough guy who, well... beats her into shape.
The film's not unwatchable, it's just really mediocre. The use of the CGI makes it clear that Disney was just about finished with their signature (historically significant) hand-drawn animated works. But Mulan comes nowhere close to any of Disney's back catalog. To any parents looking for a good Disney animated film to watch with their kids, go for anything before Pocahontas. Mulan is lackluster in the departments of charm, pacing, songwriting and memorability.
I've heard the more recent animated Disney film "Lilo & Stitch" was much better, so maybe I should check that out.