Taglines: The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.
Mulan movie storyline. This retelling of the old Chinese folktale is about the story of a young Chinese maiden who learns that her weakened and lame father is to be called up into the army in order to fight the invading Huns. Knowing that he would never survive the rigours of war in his state, she decides to disguise herself and join in his place. Unknown to her, her ancestors are aware of this and to prevent it, they order a tiny disgraced dragon, Mushu to join her in order to force her to abandon her plan. He agrees, but when he meets Mulan, he learns that she cannot be dissuaded and so decides to help her in the perilous times ahead.
Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical action comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, and was Disney’s 36th animated feature. It was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with story by Robert D. San Souci and screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer.
Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Jackie Khan, Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, Freda Foh Shen, June Foray, Miriam Margolyes ard Pat Morita star in the English version, while Jackie Chan provided the voice of Captain Li Shang for the Chinese dubs of the film. The film’s plot takes place during the Han dynasty, where Fa Mulan, daughter of aged warrior Fa Zhou, impersonates a man to take her father’s place during a general conscription to counter a Hun invasion.
Released during the Disney Renaissance, Mulan was the first of three features produced primarily at the Disney animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. Development for the film began in 1994, when a number of artistic supervisors were sent to China to receive artistic and cultural inspiration.
Mulan was well received by critics and the public, grossing $304 million, earning Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, and winning several Annie Awards including Best Animated Feature. A 2004 direct-to-video sequel, Mulan II, followed. A live-action adaptation of the film directed by Niki Caro was originally scheduled for November 2, 2018, but was later pushed into a 2019 release in North America.
Mulan’s opening weekend box office gross revenues were $22.8 million, making it the second-highest grossing movie that week, behind only The X-Files. It went on to gross $120 million in the U.S. and Canada combined, and $304 million worldwide, making it the second-highest grossing family film of the year, behind A Bug’s Life, and the seventh-highest grossing film of the year overall.
While Mulan domestically outgrossed the two Disney films which had preceded it, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules, its box office returns failed to match those of the Disney films of the early 1990s such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. Internationally, its highest grossing releases included those in the United Kingdom ($14.6 million) and France ($10.2 million).
Release Problems in China
Disney was keen to promote Mulan to the Chinese, hoping to replicate their success with the 1994 film The Lion King, which was one of the country’s highest-grossing Western films at that time. Disney also hoped it might smooth over relations with the Chinese government which had soured after the release of Kundun, a Disney-funded biography of the Dalai Lama that the Chinese government considered politically provocative. China had threatened to curtail business negotiations with Disney over that film and, as the government only accepts ten Western films per year to be shown in their country, Mulan’s chances of being accepted were low.
Finally, after a year’s delay, the Chinese government did allow the film a limited Chinese release, but only after the Chinese New Year, so as to ensure that local films dominated the more lucrative holiday market.] Box office income was low, due to both the unfavorable release date and rampant piracy. Chinese people also complained about Mulan’s depiction as too foreign-looking and the story as too different from the myths.
Mulan (1998)
Directed by: Barry Cook, Tony Bancroft
Starring: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Jackie Khan, Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, Freda Foh Shen, June Foray, Miriam Margolyes, Pat Morita
Screenplay by: Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, Raymond Singer
Production Design by: Hans Bacher
Film Editing by: Michael Kelly
Art Direction by: Ric Sluiter
Music by: Jerry Goldsmith, Matthew Wilder
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: June 19, 1998
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