Mulan (2020)

Since Disney seems to be on this binge of making their movies into real life, this is the live-action version of one of my all-time favorite Disney movies, Mulan

Summary

-To save her father from death in military service, a young Chinese maiden goes undercover as a male soldier and thus, manages to save China from an impending attack from enemy forces

Cast

-Liu Yifei: Mulan

-Donnie Yen: Commander Tung

-Gong Li: Xianniang

-Jet Li: Emperor

-Jason Scott Lee: Bori Khan

-Yoson An: Honghui

-Tzi Ma: Zhou

-Rosalind Chao: Li

-Pei-Pei Cheng: Matchmaker

-Xana Tang: Xiu

-Ron Yuan: Sergeant Qiang

-Jun Yu: Cricket

-Chen Tang: Yao

-Doug Moua: Po

-Jimmy Wong: Ling

Did You Know?

-In the original 1998 Disney film, Mulan cuts off most of her waist-length hair to complete her disguise. This scene was not added into the live action version because it was considered unnecessary. In imperial China, long hair on men was common, so Mulan with long hair in the military camp would not have aroused any suspicion

-One of her soldiers is nicknamed Cricket, a nod to the lucky Cri-Kee from the original Disney film

-Martial artist/actor Jet Li initially refused the offer to play the Emperor because of pay and script. His daughters, however, reminded him that it's important to shed light on Chinese culture, so he changed his mind and accepted the role

-The film was made more historically accurate by making the enemy forces the Rouran, who lived at the same time and place of the original story, not the Huns

-When the film was released in China, Liu Yifei, Jet Li and Gong Li did Mandarin language overdubs

-The musical numbers from the original Disney film are not featured as prominently here. An instrumental of "Reflection" is played throughout the movie. An instrumental of "Honor to Us All" is heard playing when Mulan applies her makeup. Her commanding officer, Commander Tung, speaks some of the lyrics to "I'll Make a Man Out of You". When the soldiers talk about their dream girl, they speak some of the lyrics to "A Girl Worth Fighting For"

-More than 1,000 actresses auditioned for the role of Mulan. Casting directors were looking for specific things in the actress who play the famed Chinese legend. Skills in martial arts, ability to speak English and potential to be an international star were among the traits being searched for

-Gong Li, who plays the character Xianniang, was the real-life model for the animated title character's likeness in the 1998 film

-This is the first Disney live-action film to get a PG-13 rating. There only brief shots of corpses and scenes implying death and a few brief shots of blood drops

-In this film, Mulan is given a sister, Hua Xiu to make Mulan's decision to do what she does more impactful. In certain versions of the story of Mulan, she has siblings, such as a younger brother and sister

-When Liu Yifei showed up to auditions, she was suffering from jet lag, from her 14-hour flight from Beijing to Los Angeles. She overcame jet lag by completing four scenes for her audition, one of which lasted five pages and completed 90 minutes of weight training and her two-hour audition

-Mushu from the original 1998 film did not make an appearance here. Disney chose to keep this film as true and close to Chinese culture and traditions as possible. To keep that respect going, a phoenix was chosen. In Chinese culture, a phoenix represents peace and prosperity

-When Tony Bancroft, one of the directors of the original Disney film, heard there was going to be a live-action remake, he was overjoyed when he heard it was not going to be a carbon copy of the original

-This is the third Disney film for Jason Scott Lee. Prior to this, he played Mowgli in The Jungle Book (1994) and voiced David Kawena in Lilo & Stitch (2002) and Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005)

-Originally, Ang Lee was chosen to direct this, but he couldn't because he was busy promoting Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)

-Four of the cast members - Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Roger Yuan - were all part of the cast of Netflix's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)

-This is the second film where Liu Yifei and Jet Li worked together. The first film was 2008's The Forbidden Kingdom

-Tzi Ma and Ron Yuan provided their voices for the 2012 video game Sleeping Dogs

-Ming-na Wen, who voiced Mulan in the original Disney film, expressed interest in playing Mulan's mother, but her work schedule didn't allow it. Instead, she plays a guest who introduces Mulan to the Emperor

-There is a scene where Mulan is the only one carrying full pails of water up the mountain. This mirrors a scene from the original where she was the only one to figure out how to use the heavy medallions to get up the pole to get the arrow

-Rosalind Chao, who plays Mulan's mother, and Ming-na Wen, who played Mulan in the original, make brief appearances here. They both also starred in the film adaptation of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, both as daughters Rose and June

Rosalind Chao as Mulan's mother in 1998

Rosalind Chao as Li (2020)

Ming-na Wen as Mulan (1998)

Ming-na Wen in Mulan (2020)