disney cements their place in the forefront of feature animation with the release of their latest animated adventure , mulan .
while it adheres a bit too close to the disney formula to be perfect , it is nonetheless an entertaining film for both kids and adults .
fa mulan (
ming - na wen , singing :
lea salonga )
wants nothing more than to be a dutiful daughter and honor her family .
. .
it 's just that she does n't quite fit in with the chafing customs of her time .
while most girls her age are trying to quietly and demurely seek the approval of the local matchmaker ( miriam margoyles ) , mulan would prefer speaking her mind .
but there is trouble on the horizon .
the evil huns , led by shan - yu ( miguel ferrer ) , are invading china .
the emperor ( pat morita ) has decreed that each family must donate one man to serve in the army .
the only male in mulan 's family is her father , fa zhou ( soon - tek oh ) , who , old and with a bad leg , honorably accepts his fate .
mulan , on the other hand , decides to save her father 's life .
. . by secretly masquerading as a man and taking his place on the battlefield .
mulan , under the assumed name of ping , appears at camp where she , along with the other bumbling recruits , yao ( harvey fierstein ) , chien - po ( jerry tondo ) and ling ( gedde watanabe ) , are trained in the art of war by captain shang ( b .
d .
wong , singing :
donny osmond ) .
but she 's not alone in her tasks .
. .
in typical disney fashion , she has three animal companions : her horse khan , a lucky cricket crickey , and a pint - sized " guardian " dragon called mushu ( eddie murphy ) .
much like the gargoyles in the hunchback of notre dame , the humor in mulan is lukewarm and does n't flow well with the rest of the more serious story .
sure , some occasional comic relief is welcome , particularly in a film geared for the younger set , but mulan overdoes it .
the overdose of humor turns what could have been a powerfully great film into a good , but schizophrenic experience .
but , that commentary aside
, this is a very well made film ( which makes the formulaic additions all the more regrettable ) .
the animation is on par with some of disney 's best .
the story itself is interesting , and the action scenes are awe - inspiring .
the musical score to the film is enjoyable , though , as has been the case with disney 's recent work , the songs are mostly forgettable .
at least , we 're only subjected to four of them this time around .
mulan boasts the highest death toll of any disney cartoon to date .
most of the killing is off - screen and it 's all highly depersonalized ( there 's nothing to compare with the death of mufasa or bambi 's mom ) .
there 's nothing graphic , and the film resides snugly inside a g rating .
children will probably have more questions about the restrictive ancient customs than of the slaughter of armies .
it 's ironic that a film concerned with bucking tradition is hampered because of its strict adherence to disney tradition .
if the filmmakers had the guts to lessen the humor , ax the compulsory songs , and remove the obligatory ( and somewhat unrealistic ) romance , they could have had a classic on their hands .
instead , they merely deliver a very good time at the movies .
Output: P