Mulan

Rating: 7/10 (24 September 2007)

I said to myself that I would need to see this Disney cartoon feature again to see why the critics give it four stars, and I'm glad I did and I can agree. Basically this the retelling of a Chinese folktale, seeing the Fa family's only child, tomboy Mulan (Ming-Na) failing to honour and fulfil herself as a worthy bride. Then she hears that the Huns have started to invade China, and her weak father Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh) being the only man of the family is being called to fight, so she cuts her hair and takes his armour to go in his stead. Her ancestors send a magical dragon, well, the wrong one, Mushu (Eddie Murphy), to protect her as she enters the Chinese army, pretending to be a man, and slowly proving herself as "Ping" to Captain Shang (B.D. Wong). So Mulan and the other soldiers are ready to fight against the Huns, led by ruthless villain Shan-Yu (Miguel Ferrer), who is determined to take over China and the place of the Emperor(Pat Morita). In the end, even after being found out as a woman, destroying some of the kingdom and a few other little mistakes, the Emperor praises Mulan, and she returns home with honour and the love of her father. Also starring Lea Salonga as Mulan's singing voice, Donny Osmond as Shang's singing voice, Mrs. Doubtfire's Harvey Fierstein as Yao, Miriam Margolyes as Matchmaker and George Takei as First ancestor. The animation is still as good as the classics, the voice casting, especially with Murphy, is well done, and it is a film with a fair amount to enjoy, so a fun animated musical adventure. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Music for Matthew Wilder, David Zippel and Jerry Goldsmith, and it was nominated the Golden Globes for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for "Reflection". Very good!