Mulan Teaser Poster


Genre: Animated/Musical/Historical.

Studio: Buena Vista.
Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures.

Project Phase: In the Can.

Who's In It: Ming-Na Wen (Fa Mulan, spoken voice); Lea Salonga (Fa Mulan, singing voice); Eddie Murphy (Mushu); B.D. Wong (Captain Li Shang, spoken voice); Donny Osmond (Captain Li Shang, singing voice); George Takei (First Ancestor); Pat Morita (The Emperor); Miguel Ferrer (Shan Yu); Soon-Teck Oh (Fa Zhou, Mulan's Father); Freda Foh Shen (Fa Li, Mulan's Mother); Ching Valdes-Aran; James Hong (Chi Fu); Harvey Fierstein (Yao); June Foray (Granny Fa); James Shigeta (The General); Gedde Watanabe (Ling); Jerry Tondo (Chien Po).
Who's Making It: Barry Cook, Tony Bancroft (Directors); Rita Hsiao (Screenwriter); Pam Coats (Producer); Robert S. Garber (Associate Producer); Hans Bacher (Production Designer); Jerry Goldsmith (Musical Score); David Zippel (Lyrics); Ric Sluiter (Art Supervisor).

Premise: In 5th century China, the Emperor is calling upon villagers to fight Mongol invaders. A young peasant girl, Mulan, takes her father's place and impersonates herself as a man in the army.

Release Date: June 19, 1998.

Comments: See Scoop Feedback).

Rumors: Unknown.

Scoop Feedback:

July 22, 1996... This is the first feature to be produced entirely in the Florida animation studio. Animator Mark Henn, who designed such popular recent heroines as Ariel, Jasmine and Belle for Disney films will supervise the development of Mulan. Additonally, Ruben Aquino, a key animator for previous Disney animated features, will work out of the Florida facility for the project. Lea Salonga (of Broadways' Miss Saigon) will provide the singing voice of the title character, and the speaking voice is to be that of Ming-Na Wen (from The Joy Luck Club). Eddie Murphy's character is described as the 'comedic dragon' Mushu. Hey, Eddie, remember it's a Disney flick, ok? [A fantastic scoop brought to you by 'ss1'.]

October 6, 1996... This Chinese scooper writes to tell us that the real Mulan never confronted Genghis Khan; she was too busy fighting a Chinese civil war. [Scoop submitted anonymously.]

May 24, 1997... Scheduled to be released in the summer of 1998, Mulan is a traditional Chinese story of a young girl who wants to join the military but must pose as a boy to do so. Cast includes George Takei, Pat Morita, Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, and Eddie Murphy as a talking dragon named Mushu. [Scoop sent in by 'Meglar'.]

May 27, 1997... " In light of his recent encounter with an Asian transsexual prostitute on Santa Monica Boulevard, one has to wonder if Mr. Murphy was in actuality doing research for his role as Mushu the Dragon. Mushu, after all, is called upon to be the protector of the title character Mulan -- who just happens to be a cross-dressing Chinese girl. Bizarre coincidence, perhaps... but you can imagine what Mr. Eisner thinks of Eddie's late night antics. With only one more recording session scheduled for Mr. Murphy, it's far too late in the game to consider another actor for the role. But, then again, Disney damage control is legendary." [An interesting thought left behind anonymously...]

June 29, 1997... A round of scoops sent to us about next summer's Mulan...

" I was not-so-recently witness to a screening of a partially completed musical number from the film. It involves some of Mulan's experiences in 'basic training.' Not to be too specific, she must perform an apparently impossible task using her mind as well as her body. The sequence is set to a quite catchy tune ostensibly titled 'I'll make a man out of you', sung by Mulan's 'drill sergeant' as he addresses her and the other trainees. It is quite well animated (though some of the shots were still pencil tests). Mulan is a very differently *shaped* heroine from the Disney standard, probably because she must spend most of the film looking like a man :)" [Sent in anonymously.]

And following up on that last scoop:

"There is a really nice musical number, where Mulan beats out all the other guys in the training camp to get an arrow from the top of a pole, and beats everybody else in training with weapons, with a little help from that dragon squirming around in her clothes. It's hard to describe, but its very good." [Sent in anonymously as well.]

We're told that Glen Keane designed Ariel and James Baxter designed Belle, Disney's two other recent heroines. This would seem to clash with some of the information sent to us in the July 22/96 scoop that mentioned Mark Henn was responsible for Belle and Ariel's design. Henn was reportedly one of the animators who worked on animating Ariel in The Little Mermaid (which, incidentally, is set for re-release this upcoming holiday season.) [Scoops provided anonymously.]

Another scooper told us that the legends also speak of Mulan marrying one of her comrades from the army once they returned from the civil war. [Sent in anonymously.]

In addition to providing us with some names of Mulan's friends and family, 'tmm' reports that this Chinese folktale dates back to 300 B.C. [Sent in by 'tmm'.]

July 1, 1997... Another Disney employee gave us their commentary. "The animation is beautiful; much more detailed and 'site-specific' than anything done in the past. The head animators spent a few weeks in China last year photographing and sketching the countryside for references. I saw some very dramatic storyboards, including Mu Lan being chased on horseback down a steep snow-covered mountain by a pack(?) of Huns." [Scoop sent in by 'smith'.]

November 25, 1997...

"*Tsiek tsiek* and again *tsiek tsiek*,
Mu-lan weaves, facing the door.
You don't hear the shuttle's sound,
You only hear Daughter's sighs.
They ask Daughter who's in her heart,
They ask Daughter who's on her mind.
"No one is on Daughter's heart,
No one is on Daughter's mind.
Last night I saw the draft posters,
The Khan is calling many troops,
The army list is in twelve scrolls,
On every scroll there's Father's name.
Father has no grown-up son,
Mu-lan has no elder brother.
I want to buy a saddle and horse,
And serve in the army in Father's place.

"In the East Market she buys a spirited horse,
In the West Market she buys a saddle,
In the South Market she buys a bridle,
In the North Market she buys a long whip.
At dawn she takes leave of Father and Mother,
In the evening camps on the Yellow River's bank.
She doesn't hear the sound of Father and Mother calling,
She only hears the Yellow River's flowing water cry tsien tsien.

"At dawn she takes leave of the Yellow River,
In the evening she arrives at Black Mountain.
She doesn't hear the sound of Father and Mother calling,
She only hears Mount Yen's nomad horses cry tsiu tsiu.
She goes ten thousand miles on the business of war,
She crosses passes and mountains like flying.
Northern gusts carry the rattle of army pots,
Chilly light shines on iron armor.
Generals die in a hundred battles,
Stout soldiers return after ten years.

"On her return she sees the Son of Heaven,
The Son of Heaven sits in the Splendid Hall.
He gives out promotions in twelve ranks
And prizes of a hundred thousand and more.
The Khan asks her what she desires.
'Mu-lan has no use for a minister's post.
I wish to ride a swift mount
To take me back to my home.'

"When Father and Mother hear Daughter is coming
They go outside the wall to meet her, leaning on each other.
When Elder Sister hears Younger Sister is coming
She fixes her rouge, facing the door.
When Little Brother hears Elder Sister is coming
He whets the knife, quick quick, for pig and sheep.
'I open the door to my east chamber,
I sit on my couch in the west room,
I take off my wartime gown
And put on my old-time clothes.'
Facing the window she fixes her cloudlike hair,
Hanging up a mirror she dabs on yellow flower powder
She goes out the door and sees her comrades.
Her comrades are all amazed and perplexed.
Traveling together for twelve years
They didn't know Mu-lan was a girl.
'The he-hare's feet go hop and skip,
The she-hare's eyes are muddled and fuddled.
Two hares running side by side close to the ground,
Who could tell which is boy or girl?'
"

[The original Ballad of Mulan sent to us by the ever-so courteous machinations of 'The Gline', who also told us about the on-line Mulan web site listed on this page's 'Related Sites'.]

February 5, 1998... Jerry Goldsmith will be providing the instrumental score to this picture in the stead of mother-to-be Rachel Portman. It was the acceptance of this assignment which lead to Goldsmith's departing Lost in Space (on which he's being replaced by Bruce Broughton). [Scooped by 'B'.]

February 17, 1998... Our friend 'ELurio' sent us these nice shots of Mulan and Mushu. The animation is so cool, we've gotta share these with you:

First up, Mulan and her talking ant-friend; then one of Mushu, the dragon; and Mulan in the guise of a man in the army with Mushu.

(I know we've said this already but...doesn't this look gorgeous?)

[Thanks to 'ELurio' for the heads up and persistence -- greatly appreciated, amigo.]

March 4, 1998... "I work in the Disney Feature Animation publicity dept, and I thought I'd pass along the big problem currently faced with Mulan. An 80% complete work print was screened for the MPAA, and was given a premilinary rating of PG. Eisner is reportedly in love with the film, and refuses to cut it, although Roy Disney thinks it a travesty that a Disney flick couldn't be G. Barry and Tony, the directors, aren't too happy with having to cut it either. Could we have the PG that The Black Cauldron and The Hunchback of Notre Dame deserved?" [Posted by Julie.]

April 19, 1998... Our first test screening review is in. The scooper doesn't spend too much time on discussing the plot and specifics but instead focuses on how they judged this film compared to recent Disney outings they found lacking. We're looking for more reviews, too...

"I recently went to a special screening of this movie. For a very long time, I have been convinced that Disney has become incapable of making a good film, what with Pocahantas and such. But this film blew me away. It is so unlike Disney to make this kind of film. A love story is not the central gimmick. This film is nearly a war epic, containing a battle scene involving an avalache which I feel is the most impressive thing ever captured throung animation. I hope this recieves a PG rating, for young children will not only be overwhelmed by this picture, but may also get lost. It is quite dramatic in tone. It is a tribute to the human spirit, and with all likelyhood with win Disney animation another Best Picture nomination. The movie was excellent." [Review submitted by 'Tyrant15'.]

June 7, 1998... Disney's now put their full Mulan website online. In addition to seeing images from the film and learning about its production process, there are also features to 'adopt' a 'net-pet called Cri-Kee, download wallpaper of the movie for your compputer, play an interactive game fighting off attacking Huns and the chance to win Mulan prizes. The site is divided into five symbolic sections - Flower, Mountain, Thunder, Dragon and Garden - and also lists the Chinese poem that inspired the movie, avaliable in six languages ( English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and ancient Chinese). Disney's Mulan website is located at mulan.com. [Thanks to our friend Leila at i-traffic.]

Official Web Site: mulan.com

Related Sites:

The Mulan Page -- Listed on this Chinese cultural site known as China the Beautiful are the actual Chinese pictograms of the legend as well as an English translation, and a extremely detailed FAQ that covers both the story and the upcoming Disney film. For anyone that wishes to learn more about the tale or the history of it, an excellent resource.



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