Mulan (movie)

Mulan
Directed by	Tony Bancroft Barry Cook
Produced by	Pam Coats
Written by	Robert D. San Souci Rita Hsiao
Starring	Ming-Na Wen Eddie Murphy B. D. Wong Miguel Ferrer June Foray James Hong Pat Morita George Takei Harvey Fierstein James Shigeta Soon-Tek Oh
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith Matthew Wilder
Studio	Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Feature Anmation
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date(s)	June 19, 1998
Running time	90 minutes
Language	English and Mandarin Chinese
Budget	$70,000,000
Money made	$304,320,254

Mulan is a 1998 American animated movie produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. It is the 36th movie in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It is set in old-time China and based on local legend. The movie stars the voices of Ming-Na Wen and Eddie Murphy. Mulan was a success with its fans because it was different from Disney's other movies in terms of music and artistic design. The music was written by Jerry Goldsmith who also wrote the music for another animated movie, 1982's The Secret of NIMH. Christina Aguilera sang Reflections for the movie's soundtrack.

A direct-to-video sequel, Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 2 Mulan II, was released on February 1, 2005.

The story

The story is about a girl called Mulan. An army of Huns from Mongolia, led by Shan Yu, attack China. The Chinese army must face them, and needs one man from every family to go to war. Mulan's father is willing to join, but he is old and has a limp, and it is clear that he cannot fight and will die in the war. Mulan is supposed to get married, but is so clumsy that she fails the test to prove she would be a good wife.When seeing the match-making mistress she fails to be elegant and ladylike. Mulan fears she has dishonoured her family, but now decides that she must save her father. Mulan decides to become a boy to bring "honor" to her family. She secretly takes her father's armour and weapon and leaves to report in the Chinese army.

Mushu is an old spirit guardian of the Fa family, who has lost his job and been turned into a dragon. The family ancestors want to send someone to watch over Mulan on her journey, and Mushu takes the job in order to restore his honour. He and the lucky cricket of the family catch up with Mulan, as she joins the small army led by Li Shang. Mulan pretends to be a man, called Ping. All the men in the new army need a lot of training, but after a while the soldiers must face the enemy.

The army meets the Huns in the snowy mountains. When the Chinese are attacked, Mulan uses a cannon to start an avalanche that covers all the Mongolians. Mulan is hurt by a sword, and the doctor who examines her finds that she is not a boy but a girl. Li Shang becomes angry and leaves Mulan alone in the mountains. The army then travels to the Emperor's palace in the Imperial City. As Mulan and her animals spend the night trying to light a fire, they witness some of the surviving enemies climbing from the snow, and they start moving towards the Emperor's city. Mulan decides to follow them and warn her friends in the army.

In the Imperial City the army is celebrated for winning the war, and no one will listen to Mulan's warnings, since she is a girl. Suddenly Shan Yu and his surviving men step forward, kidnap the emperor and hide in the palace. Mulan and her soldier friends dress up as palace women and manage to fool the attackers and move the emperor to safety. With her friends' help, Mulan destroys Shan Yu using a store of fireworks. The emperor rewards her for saving the country.

Mulan returns home with her imperial gifts to show her family. The honour of Mulan, of her family and also of the dragon is now restored. Shang is encouraged by the emperor to marry Mulan. He travels to her town, pays a visit and is invited to dinner by her family.

Mulan & Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 1

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	The Adventures of Andre & Wally B	Alvy Ray Smith	Alvy Ray Smith	July 25, 1984
2	Luxo Jr.	John Lasseter	John Lasseter	August 17, 1986
3	Red's Dream	John Lasseter	John Lasseter	July 1987
4	Tin Toy	John Lasseter	John Lasseter	August 1988
5	Knick Knack	John Lasseter	John Lasseter	1989
6	Geri's Game	Jan Pinkava	Jan Pinkava	November 24, 1997
7	For The Birds	Ralph Egglestion	Ralph Egglestion	June 5, 2000
8	Mike's New Car	Pete Docter & Roger L. Gould	Jeff Pidgeon, Roger L. Gould & Rob Gibbs	September 17, 2002
9	Boundin'	Bud Luckey	Bud Luckey	December 2003
10	Jack-Jack Attack	Brad Bird	Brad Bird	March 15, 2005
11	One Man Band	Andrew Jimenez & Mark Andrews	Andrew Jimenez & Mark Andrews	June 11, 2005
12	Mater and the Ghostlight	John Lasseter	Joe Ranft, John Lasseter & Dan Scanlon	November 7, 2006
13	Lifted	Gary Rydstorm	Gary Rydstorm	October 12, 2006

Release Dates

Country	Premiere
Singapore	June 18, 1998
Canada	June 19, 1998
Israel	June 19, 1998
United States	June 19, 1998
Chile	June 25, 1998
Brazil	July 1, 1998
Mexico	July 3, 1998
Taiwan	July 4, 1998
Argentina	July 9, 1998
Hong Kong	July 9, 1998
South Korea	July 17, 1998
Australia	September 3, 1998
Japan	September 26, 1998
Thailand	October 9, 1998
United Kingdom	October 16, 1998
Ireland	October 16, 1998
Denmark	November 13, 1998
Sweden	November 13, 1998
Germany	November 19, 1998
Austria	November 20, 1998
Spain	November 20, 1998
Finland	November 20, 1998
Greece	November 20, 1998
Poland	November 20, 1998
Belgium	November 25, 1998
France	November 25, 1998
Hungary	November 26, 1998
Switzerland	November 27, 1998 (German speaking region)
Estonia	November 27, 1998
Iceland	November 27, 1998
Norway	November 27, 1998
Portugal	November 27, 1998
Kuwait	December 2, 1998
Netherlands	December 3, 1998
Slovakia	December 3, 1998
Italy	December 4, 1998
Slovenia	December 10, 1998
Russia	December 25, 1998
Turkey	January 15, 1999

Other websites

• Official Site
• Mulan on IMDb
• Mulan at AllMovie
• Mulan (movie) at the Big Cartoon DataBase