15 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About 'Mulan' (1998)
- 1
Jackie Chan Voiced Li Shang And Sang His Songs In Mandarin And Cantonese
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China has become one of the world's biggest movie markets, and in 1998, when Mulan was first released, this was a growing trend. Mulan is an important story in Chinese folklore, so the people in that part of the world were interested in the movie. To ensure the film would be enjoyed worldwide, and especially by the Chinese, Mulan was dubbed in several languages. Jackie Chan was hired to provide the vocals for Li Shang, but unlike his American counterpart, he recorded the dialogue and vocals for "I'll Make a Man Out of You."
Chan performed all of his dialogue and singing in Mandarin, Taiwanese Chinese, and Cantonese. The martial arts expert didn't simply stroll into a recording booth and read his lines for a quick paycheck - he really got into it. His involvement in the recording for Asian markets was highly publicized at the time, and he even recorded a live-action music video interspersed with animated sequences. You can check it out here.
Interesting fact? - 2
Animators Gave Mulan And Shan Yu Regionally Accurate Horses
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One thing that was clear to anyone watching Mulan was that the Mongols, and Shan Yu, in particular, all rode different horses than those ridden by the Chinese army. Mulan's horse, Khan, appears distinctly different in both its coloration and shape. The reason for this isn't due to the animators' desire to simply differentiate the two; it's because the film is accurate in every detail possible. To put it simply, the Mongols raised and rode different horses than the Chinese people did during the time period depicted in the movie.
Shan Yu's horse breed is called a Mongol horse, and it's been pretty much the same in look and temperament since the time of Genghis Khan. They were instrumental in expanding the Mongol Empire during the 13th century, and Shan Yu's horse looks just like they do today. Mulan's horse is a now-extinct Ferghana horse, also known as the "heavenly horse" in China. In comparison, the Ferghana horse is larger and has more slender features, while Mongol horses have thicker fur, are stockier, and are smaller. Each horse is drawn accurately in the film, and their inclusion is both culturally and historically accurate.
Interesting fact? - 3
The Style Of Cannon Mulan Used Against The Hun Army Actually Existed IRL
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When "Ping" takes the final cannon and runs toward the Mongol horde, it's for a good reason. Mulan realizes at that moment that she can take out the entire invading force with a well-placed cannon shot. The subsequent avalanche ends up taking out a ton of enemy soldiers, and while it doesn't result in the demise of the movie's big bad, it does deliver a devastating blow. The cannon she uses in the scene may look like something Disney animators thought up for the film, but it's historically accurate.
The type of cannon seen in the movie is called a huolongchushui, or "fire dragon issuing from water" in Chinese. The huolongchushui was the first ballistic cruise missile used in post-classical China during the Ming dynasty, and they struck fear in the hearts of China's enemies. China mastered gunpowder long before anyone else, and these weapons delivered an explosive charge to a target further than any arrow could fly. More than that, each huolongchushui carried a magazine of three rocket-driven arrows, technically making it a multi-stage rocket.
Interesting fact? - 4
The Backgrounds In The Film Were Designed With "Poetic Simplicity"
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- Mulan
- Buena Vista Pictures
The backgrounds used throughout much of Mulan were created by production designer Hans Bacher, art director Rix Sluiter, and head of backgrounds Robert Walker. Because there isn't a general consensus on the time period in which the legend of Hua Mulan takes place, it was decided to focus the art on the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties. The team wanted to make the background art look like traditional Chinese paintings using watercolors.
The backgrounds were designed to focus on the characters. The team traveled all over China to get a good idea of how to properly represent the places and the people featured in the movie. The film's producer, Pam Coats, summed up the artistic style of the background as "poetic simplicity" due to the colorful boldness and lack of detail. Other Disney films in the 1990s featured much more detail in the backgrounds, but Mulan was purposefully done differently to better characterize the majesty of China and its beautiful landscapes.
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- 5
Cri-Kee Almost Didn’t Make It Into The Movie
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Cri-Kee was created by Joe Grant, who worked on the story art for Mulan. The character causes a lot of problems for Mulan when she meets with the matchmaker, and Cri-Kee takes part in her adventures from that part forward. According to Barry Temple, one of the animators in the movie, Cri-Kee almost didn't make it into the film: "The directors didn't want him in the movie; the story department didn't want him in the movie. The only people who truly wanted him in the movie were Michael Eisner and Joe Grant."
Temple further stated that he wanted the character in the film because he was assigned to Cri-Kee. He recalled, "I would sit in meetings, and they'd say, 'Well, where's the cricket during all this?' Somebody else would say, 'Oh, to hell with the cricket.' They felt Cri-Kee was a character who wasn't necessary to tell the story, which is true." Temple was one of the few people pushing to have Cri-Kee included in the film, but it was Grant who constantly slid sketches of the character under the director's door.
Interesting fact? - 6
Mulan Was The First Disney Princess To Be Raised By Both Of Her Parents
Mulan joined the army in her father's place and left her family as she fought against the patriarchy and the Mongol horde. Her family is one of the aspects of the character's life that separates her from every other Disney Princess who came before her. Looking back at Disney's movies, everyone from Snow White to Cinderella lived with either one or none of her parents. Mulan grew up with a loving family who was still around during the events of the film.
Most Disney Princesses grew up without a mother, and that list is long. It includes the likes of Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, and many more. Some Disney Princesses were orphans, but whatever their situation, they didn't come from a family like Mulan. Not only did Mulan have both of her parents, but she also had her grandmother. If you want to get technical about it, she also had the spirits of all of her ancestors, so she was way ahead of the Disney Princesses who came before her in terms of having a family.
Interesting fact? - 7
Lea Salonga Was Originally Cast As Mulan, But Ming-Na Wen Took Over
When the time came to cast the voice for Mulan, the production team looked to the East. Specifically, the goal was to bring on someone from China, Japan, Korea, or the Philippines. An early contender for the role was Tia Carrera, but she was edged out by Lea Salonga. If you don't know the name, you definitely know the voice because she was the actress who provided the singing vocals for Princess Jasmine in Aladdin.
She was initially cast to provide the dialogue and vocals but ran into a problem with the directors. Her take on a deeper, more masculine voice for the time Mulan disguised herself as Ping wasn't convincing. Ultimately, Ming-Na Wen was hired to do all of the speaking dialogue. However, Salonga wasn't completely out of a job; she was kept on board to provide all of Mulan's singing parts. In hiring Ming-Na Wen, producer Pam Coats said, "When we heard Ming-Na doing that voice-over, we knew we had our Mulan. She has a very likable and lovely voice, and those are the qualities we were looking for."
Interesting fact? - 8
Mulan's Family Shrine Houses Tons Of Easter Eggs
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While watching Mulan, you probably noticed that the Fa family shrine features numerous headstoned and obelisks with Chinese text written on them. If you're like most people who don't understand the language, you probably assumed they listed various names, and you're not exactly wrong. Disney artists like to leave little Easter eggs in the movies they work on, and while the text lists names, they have nothing to do with the Fa family.
Instead, each line of Chinese calligraphy that is illuminated when Mulan calls out to her ancestors to "rise and shine" is an homage to the film's creators. The text is a list of names of many of the people who worked on the film. The animators' names feature prominently in the scene, so it's as if Mulan is interacting with the credits. It's not something anyone would know unless they were able to read Chinese calligraphy, so it's safe to say that plenty of people could read it; they just weren't the majority in the movie's Western markets.
Interesting fact? - 9
The Film Was Originally Going To Be A Rom-Com In The Style Of ‘Tootsie’
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Mulan is based on the Chinese folk legend of Hua Mulan, and it follows the narrative of that story with some artistic license taken to bring it into the 20th century. When the movie was in its first planning stages, it was very different and could best be described as a romantic comedy in the vein of Tootsie. In the film, Mulan would have been more of a tomboy than she was in the movie. She is betrothed to Shang, but she argues with her father on her betrothal day, leading to him smashing a stone tablet and telling her to forge her own destiny.
When Chris Sanders was brought onto the project to handle storyboarding, he came to loathe the rom-com direction it was heading. He met with producer Pam Coats and urged her to steer away from that take on the story and keep it more aligned with the historical legend. Coats liked the idea, and it was decided that Mulan would be less absorbed in her own self-interests and would leave the family home not out of spite, but out of love for her father.
Interesting fact? - 10
Groundbreaking Crowd Simulation Software Was Developed Specifically To Animate The Hun Army
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When Mulan was made in 1998, Disney animation was primarily completed using classic cel animation techniques. That said, the animators had been using various forms of computer-generated imagery in a number of films. Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast featured impressive uses of the technology, but they weren't the only examples from the decade. Mulan's animators turned to the burgeoning technology to animate the Hun army.
While it could have been possible to hand-draw 2,000 Hun soldiers during the pictured attack sequence, crowd simulation software was far more efficient and less expensive. The production team created software that it dubbed "Attila." It made it possible to manage the seemingly autonomous movements of 2,000 unique characters, making them appear unnatural and lifelike. Another version of the program dubbed "Dynasty" was used later in the film for the final battle sequence. That part featured a crowd of 3,000 people within the Forbidden City.
The team also used Pixar's API RenderMan to render the crowd in a photorealistic manner. Other uses of CGI in Mulan included the use of "Faux Plane," another software package developed for the film. That software was used to add depth to the otherwise two-dimensional renderings of background paintings, including the Great Wall of China and other impressive scenes.
Interesting fact? - 11
Mushu Was Almost Voiced By Joe Pesci Or Richard Dreyfuss
Mushu was Eddie Murphy's first voice-over role, and it was a big one for the comedian, who went on to voice Donkey in Shrek. Murphy wasn't the first choice for the part, and that had everything to do with Robin Williams. The gravitas Williams brought to the Genie role in Aladdin steered the production team towards the likes of Joe Pesci and Richard Dreyfuss to bring the diminutive dragon to life on the silver screen.
Ultimately, it was Michael Eisner who considered Eddie Murphy for the part. Producer Pam Coats said of the casting, "We were hoping to get someone like Robin (Williams), who was so great in Aladdin, and Eddie has proven he has that kind of comedic talent. Fortunately, he said he was extremely interested in doing an animated film. When we did some test animation, he had a great time showing off." Ultimately, hiring Murphy paid off, and he brought his own brand of comedy to the project.
Interesting fact? - 12
'Mulan' Launched Christina Aguilera's Career
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Christina Aguilera's career began when she was 12. She sang the national anthem at the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals, but she didn't become famous at that point. She started gaining some fame acting on The Mickey Mouse Club, but it was Mulan that truly launched her career, althoiugh she had nothing to do with the movie herself. Aguilera was close to signing a deal with RCA Records when her music producer learned that Disney was looking for a young singer who could hit a particular note.
Disney needed someone who could sing a high E above middle C. Aguilera was able to hit that note by singing Whitney Houston's "I Want to Run to You," which was recorded and sent to Disney. That landed her a job singing a pop version of "Reflection" from Mulan. Disney released the recording as a single, and Aguilera added the song to her debut album. "Reflection" solidified her deal with RCA Records, launching her professional singing career. Aguilera has commented on landing the job, saying that the high E was "the note that changed my life."
Interesting fact? - 13
Mulan Was The First Film Created At Disney-MGM Studios
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Mulan was animated primarily at the then-newly created Disney-MGM Studios in Bay Lake, FL. The studio was the location of the third Disney theme park erected in Central Florida, though it wasn't solely about pleasing tourists. Disney-MGM Studios also had a functioning backlot with soundstages and a working animation studio, which people could tour when they visited the park. Walking through some of the areas exposed the animators' workspaces as well as some of the techniques they used.
The park is now called Disney's Hollywood Studios, and all of the production studios that were used for animation, as well as the ones used for live-action production, have since been removed. Those spaces have been converted to provide various guest services. While it no longer produces animation like it did when Mulan kicked off production in the mid-1990s, the studio produced numerous projects while it was active. In addition to Mulan, Disney-MGM Studios is where Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear were both animated.
Interesting fact? - 14
Donny Osmond Provided The Singing Vocals For Li Shang
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BD Wong voiced Li Shang, but the talented theater performer didn't cover the character's singing vocals for "I'll Make a Man Out of You." That task went to Donny Osmond. A year earlier, Osmond auditioned for the speaking voice in Hercules, but he wasn't chosen for the role because, as Osmond put it, "They said 'You're too old,' and it kinda killed me a little bit." Ultimately, it was the casting director who thought of hiring him for the part.
When Osmond came in to record the song, he studied Wong's dialogue recordings to prepare. This was done so that he could better emulate Wong's inflections and personality in voicing the character. Osmond really got into this process, going so far as to bruise himself for the role. "There's this one part where Shang gets hit in the stomach, and I have to sing like I'm getting hit in the stomach. So for an hour, I'm hitting myself in the stomach. I was black and blue after that session."
Interesting fact? - 15
'Mulan' Was Almost Rated PG
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When Mulan was released, it received a G rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), but that wasn't guaranteed. The film was almost rated PG, which would have been a complete change for Disney's animated films (The Black Cauldron also received a PG rating, but it wasn't a "Disney Princess" film). Looking at Mulan, it's clear that the film was decidedly different from previous Disney animated features. For one thing, it's entirely focused on warfare, and Mulan has the highest body count of any Disney Princess with more than 3,000 kills. It's true.
On top of that, some innuendo and jokes left in for the parents made it a little bit edgy. Still, those aspects of the movie aren't what almost landed it a PG rating, which would have kept many parents from taking their younger children to see the film. Ultimately, the movie wasn't about to get a PG rating for violence or anything overtly offensive. A single phrase nearly landed it in hot water, but that phrase remains in the film. When the word "cross-dresser" was uttered, the MPAA got a little upset, but in the end, Mulan still got its G rating.
Interesting fact?
