there's good news and bad news about mulan .  
the positive is that disney has found a happy medium between the heavy-handedness of pocahontas and the hunchback of notre dame and the childishness of hercules .  
on the other hand , the studio is pulling out all the stops on plot cliches and cheap laughs , several steps down from the days of the little mermaid and beauty and the beast .  
but mulan is a step in the right direction and disney's best animated feature since the lion king .  
after giving native americans a turn in pocahontas , disney has decided to turn a movie over to the asians .  
mulan is set in feudal china and features the ever-popular heroine who marches to a different drum and wants to do more with her life than get married .  
that's what we find out when young mulan ( voice of ming- na wen ) screws up her appointment with the matchmaker by letting a rogue cricket splash coffee all over her .  
cartoons . . .  
meanwhile , word comes from the emporer that one man from every family must join the army and help fight the huns .  
since mulan's a girl , that means her decrepit old father must go .  
she pleads with the soldiers to have mercy on dear old dad , but that kind of groveling and desperation brings shame on her family .  
that's chinese culture for you . . .  
so imagine how embarrassed the family is the next day when they find mulan has stolen her father's uniform and sword and run off to join the army in his place .  
the movie in a nutshell is about the stuggles of being a woman in the army .  
it should have been called g .  i .  
chang .  
mulan calls on her ancestors for help .  
they decide to summon the large stone dragon in the backyard to protect her , but a mini dragon named mushu screws it up .  
voiced by eddie murphy , mushu continues the tradition of cute talking animal sidekicks who do more slapstick harm than good for their human charges .  
murphy's performance is a direct descendent of robin williams in aladdin -- lots of wisecracks and ad-libs and even an introductory song about how much fun they're going to have .  
you ain't never had a friend like mushu .  
speaking of songs , mulan doesn't have too many of them , which is a plus with a story like this .  
disney songs about war probably wouldn't go over too well ( " heigh ho , heigh ho , it's off to war i go . . . " ) ,  and the ones they do have aren't memorable .  
the best of the bunch , sad to say , is " be a man , " the requisite basic training montage song .  
yes , even in medieval china , they had to run through that web of car tires before they were ready for battle .  
sung by donnie osmond ( a bad sign if ever there was one ) , " be a man " accompanies footage of mulan's platoon going from screw-ups to heroes .  
it makes me wonder , has there ever been a musical montage in a movie that's ended badly ?  
i only wish real-life problems could be solved in two minutes with a peppy montage .  
for the curious , mulan does pass for a man in the army despite looking like a girl .  
all she does to transform herself is cut her hair to a sexy shoulder-length , talk macho and slap guys on the butt , as was male custom a thousand years ago in china .  
the deception fools everyone but the audience , who thinks she might be able to pass for a 12-year-old boy , at best .  
but she does manage to strike the biggest blows to the hun army , led by a big , evil-eyed attilla-looking monster .  
as a villain , the head of the huns is menacing , evil and entirely forgettable .  
i saw the movie yesterday and i don't remember the man's name .  
otherwise , mulan is a good movie .  
the animation of the characters themselves isn't as rich as it could and should be , but there are some amazing battlefield shots .  
eddie murphy pulls off some good one-liners , as do other star voices like harvey fierstein and pat morita , the quintessential asian movie star .  
hell , george " mr .  sulu " takei does a voice in mulan .  
you get the sense disney said to themselves , " alright , let's get out there and find us some chinese americans in hollywood .  
who can you think of ? "  
 " well , there's mr .  myagi . . . "  
 " good . "  
 " and mr .  sulu . "  
 " perfect .  
we've got ourselves a movie now . "  
soon disney really _will_ be able to paint with all the colors of the wind . 