Mulan

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2020)

Mulan, directed by Tony Bancroft & Barry Cook, produced by Pam Coats, is one of Disney's first princess', that really wasn't a typical princess, doing princess duties. Bancroft & Cook incorporated great heart-warming messages throughout the story, treating the kids like actual human beings, and also giving the adults something to be invested in as well. This was a big "girl power" movement, but I was perfectly okay with it, due to it's soulful messages. The story was pretty fast paced, but well balanced with the tones & amount of content they had to offer.
Hand Bacher & Ric Sluiter did an amazing job bringing these fantastic drawing-animations to life, backed up with favorable voice overs by Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, and more! All of these characters looked great, and were balanced out very well; nobody shadowed one another. Mulan was an empowering character, that you really cared about because she embraces such an influential & powering figure. Her character development meant so much to the film, with the narrative flowing through her actions. Mushu is one of my favorite Disney characters of all time! He is the needed comedic relief of the film, having just enough screentime to not over saturate his character. The antagonist is pretty creepy, while posing a huge threat at all times. All of the additional side characters were great! They were all great fun, and utilized nicely, complimenting Mulan.
The screenplay was very serious at times, but managed to sneak in well placed comedy, and deep dialogues. The dialogues were wise and witty, with a few silly moments to really even out the tone & pacing.
The score by Jerry Goldsmith had a great battle score. Goldsmith had a hand from Stevie Wonder, Mathew Wilder & David Zippel, to help create these near-classic songs.
Overall, this movie was very unique, and it truly paid off. Disney classic!