Who can keep themselves from giggling when someone references bringing “dishonor on your cow?”
Would we have gottenMoanawithout Mulan?
Would we celebratingAnna swinging a swordinFrozen 2if Mulan hadn’t done it first?
Here are just a few of the waysMulanchanged Disney forever.
Our girl did all that and more but her origin is strikingly different those ofher sisters in Princessdom.
Nothing else quite compares in the Disney canon, even today.
In the post-Mulanworld, happily-ever-after is largely something a girl builds for herself.
The “Disney Renaissance,” kicked off by1989’sThe Little Mermaid, established a firm break with this tradition.
Ariel, Jasmine, and Bellewantmorethan their lives currently offer them, and their signature songs are all about.
Belle, for instance,singsabout “adventure in the great wide somewhere.”
It’s pretty vague beyond that, though, and their lives are often tied up in theirloveinterests.
But Mulan is different, as she hasa specific goaland she achieves it.
She saves her dad, her unit, andher countryand then goes home as anational hero.
Mulanlooked just as good, inventive, and, simply, magical.
It doesn’t just make these movies more accurate it makes them utterly unforgettable.
Sometimes it was more symbolic Aurora’s parents are alive, butlostto her but usually it wasliteral.
This loss symbolized their rootlessness in the world and fueled their desire to find a love interest.
Who needs a wicked stepmother when you’re able to move into the castle?
Mulan, in contrast, has a family thatshe seeks to protectand return to.
She is anchored in her own life and doesn’t need another to abandon herself to.
The men are the cast-aside orphans now, looking to heroines for guidance and stability.
It is wonderfully animated, is the crux of the first act, and, notably, is silent.
Mulan makes her pivotal choice in the dead of night, without a word to anyone.
WouldWALL-Ehave opened withits famously silent first actifMulanhadn’t done it first?
WithoutMulan, these crucial moments might have been cluttered with dialogue that simply was not needed.
On the one hand, culture-conquering behemoths likeBeauty and the Beasttook the company to grand new heights.
On the other, ambitious projects likePocahontasunderperformed.
Years later, there are still newPiratesmovies being made, and we haveMulanto thank.
A fabulousballgownoften makes an appearance.
Flowers are always there to bepluckedby their delicate fingers.
Mulan charged into all this loveliness like a cannonball.
Audience fatigue set in.
And then, out of nowhere, came Eddie Murphy’s Mushu.
