111 Mulan Facts You Should Know To Understand The Movie Better

Mulan, unlike a lot of Disney Princesses in the company's portfolio, is an independent, resilient heroine who is not fond of frilly dresses and definitely doesn't need to be saved by anyone else.

Disney's 'Mulan' is a modern animated classic that shows a riveting story on risking everything for family, with an inspiring soundtrack by Lea Salonga and Donny Osmond. As the world now finds the live-action of the movie, let us find some interesting facts about the Disney animated film released in 1998.

The story revolves around the Disney Princess who needed to take the role of a man to fight in the war in place of her father. Like the folk tale character, Hua Mulan also had to do the same to protect her father.

A Chinese folk song The Ballad of Mulan made in the sixth century tells the story of 12 years of heroic service of Hua Mulan in the Chinese army.

Before Disney's 'Mulan' was released, Mulan was actually going to be a short called 'China Doll' that was going straight to video.

It was about an oppressed Chinese young woman who later finds happiness in love with a British Prince Charming who also takes her out of the country.

But Disney animators did not want to work on this story and eventually Robert San Souci, a Disney consultant, and children's book author gave the idea to base the story upon Hua Mulan. It did get the higher-ups of Disney interested but took a lot of time to devise a story of the independent heroine.

'Mulan' became the first Disney animated film to feature a princess, or even a character, from East Asia.

Did you know, Mulan was actually voiced by two different actors. Lea Salonga voiced the singing part.

The Tony Award-winning star was actually hired to voice the whole character of Mulan, but while recording, the deep voice Lea was making did not suit the character in the film. Ming-Na Wen was hired for the speaking part. Her voice immediately attracted the Disney producers.

Lea Salonga earlier did the same thing in the Disney movie Aladdin when she did just the singing part for the character Jasmine. The character General Li Shang was voiced by BD Wong, a 1988 Tony Award winner.

It was a task to find a nice, singing voice for Li Shang, and to do this, Disney filmmakers searched through old audition tapes of 1997's 'Hercules'. They chose Donny Osmond, and afterward his song 'I’ll Make a Man Out of You' became quite popular.

If you enjoy this article, why not also read 'The Little Mermaid' facts and 'Tangled' facts here on Kidadl?

Fun Facts About 'Mulan' The Movie

It has been now 23 years since the original 'Mulan' was released by Disney. Let's learn some facts about the movie here.

'Mulan' is actually the eighth Disney Princess and is the second Disney Princess not based on a fairy tale character. She is based on an ancient Chinese folk character, Hua Mulan, considered the original legend of the country.

The story shows the titular character disguising herself as a male soldier and taking the place of Mulan's father in the Chinese army during the fight with the Huns. The animated film on the Chinese legend is now made into a live-action feature film.

Mulan is actually not a princess according to the folk tale. After being part of the war, she was honored by the Emperor, but not given any princess status.

Mulan is a female warrior that has fought more than any other in Disney. Additionally, her spouse is the warrior Li Shang.

It took five years for the movie to be completed along with 700 animators, technicians, and artists. It is also the first Disney movie to openly talk about warfare as Mulan led the fight against the Huns.

During the song 'Reflection' in the shrine that Mulan sings in the film, the name of the animators are seen written on the background in ancient Chinese.

Christina Aguilera released a pop song based on Leo Salonga's song and it became her debut single. Aguilera was just 17 when she recorded the song. She has also recorded a new one for the live-action version of the film.

'Mulan' became the second highest-grossing film of that year. The musical score was praised by all and it won many Annie Awards including Best Animated Feature. Nominations for Best Original Music Score were seen in Academy Award and Golden Globe.

Facts About The Real Story Behind The Movie

Although Disney was planning to take another direction with 'Mulan' story, it was later based on a folk warrior named Hua Mulan.

Hua Mulan was a female warrior described in the famous poem 'The Ballad of Mulan'. Tracing the origin of the story is a little difficult as although the poem was known to be a part of a collection of songs and lyrics, they no longer exist.

The female legend also disguised herself as a man to spare her father in the war. Additionally, Mulan actually had a younger brother in the original folk story.

The story suggests that the brother is too young to enlist in the army, and that is why Mulan had to. It was mandatory to enlist at least one person from the family in the war, and as she did not want her father to go to the war, she does it herself.

The same story is seen in the animated film. In the real story, she returns to her family.

The ballad is known to have emerged in many plays, songs, and poetry over the years with small variations. Many think the story is not true but created from different inspirations in many tales.

'The Ballad of Mulan' can be traced back to the sixth century. This one folk poem ended up inspiring numerous stories for centuries to come.

It was most likely written during the era of Northern Wei. Additionally, there have been many different variations of the story.

Facts About The Characters In The Movie

Each character in the movie has various different characteristics. Here are some of the facts.

Mulan had a different name when she stayed disguised as a man in the army. The name Fa Ping means flower pot. In the Chinese version of the name, it actually is slang used for eye candy or an effeminate man.

In the Mandarin and Cantonese versions, Jackie Chan voiced Li Shang. The song was also sung by him in both languages.

The film was full of stars with George Takei as the spirit of the eldest ancestor of Mulan and Mushu played by Eddie Murphy.

There was no white wedding dress worn by Mulan in the film. Mulan actually wears a traditional red wedding dress. In Chinese culture, the red color represents love and prosperity. Mulan wears a Chinese hanfu in the animated film.

Old 'Mulan' Movie Vs. The New 'Mulan' Movie

There are some key differences in both the animated and the live-action versions.

The new 'Mulan' movie does not have all the great songs that the old one had. Evergreen songs like 'Reflection', 'Honor to Us All', and 'I’ll Make a Man Out of You' are not in the new one.

Mushu, the talking dragon is not in the live-action movie.

The cricket, Mulan's friend, is not present in the new movie. The insect is replaced by a human with the same name.

Mulan has a sister in the new movie, replacing the little brother character in the old movie.

Another difference is that the old 'Mulan' movie did not have a witch character but the new one does. It has been interpreted that the witch in the new Mulan movie represents the endpoint of Mulan's journey.

The new 'Mulan' movie is a darker, more violent account of the original Chinese folk story. Hence the crew behind the movie had to remove and change many of the elements that were loved in the 1998 Disney classic. It's also deemed the first-ever live-action adaptation of a Disney property to earn a PG-13 rating.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 111 'Mulan' facts you should know to understand the movie better, then why not take a look at 'Moana' facts or 'Lilo and Stitch' facts.