Mulan

[osprey_archer]

I am not in any cdrama fandoms, but a certain amount of cdrama material crosses my dash on Tumblr, and I have been led (perhaps erroneously?) to believe that in Ye Olden Days in China, it was a Thing for men to fall in love with slightly effeminate younger men.

This would make Shang’s crush on Ping in Mulan totally socially acceptable, and I kind of love the idea that Shang is actually quite pleased with himself! because he has managed to acquire a socially acceptable crush! (obviously he has a history of unacceptable crushes) and then it turns out that in fact Ping is a crossdressing girl and thus just as socially unacceptable as all his other crushes and Shang is like GODDAMMIT, NOT AGAIN.

Uh, anyway, we just watched Mulan, which is one of my favorite Disney movies from my childhood. It might in fact have been my VERY favorite Disney movie from my childhood, except for Mushu, who I have loathed since his very first appearance in front of my youthful eyeballs in 1998. There’s that wonderful sequence where Mulan cuts off her hair WITH A SWORD, which is probably the worst hair-cutting implement but THE AESTHETIC, and she puts on the armor and rides off in the rain and it’s so serious and dramatic and amazing.

And then in the very next scene FUCKING MUSHU shows up and sucks the gravitas out of everything. I realize that this is the point; he’s supposed to be a comic relief character who appeals to children, but let me tell you, nine-year-old me was Not Having It. If anything my feelings have moderated over the years, and I still think Mushu is one of the most annoying Disney sidekicks ever. The cricket was already a perfectly good comic relief sidekick and the movie should have stuck with him.

(I also felt this way in Moana when the movie teased us with an adorable pig sidekick and instead saddled Moana with an annoying chicken, but at least the annoying chicken did not talk.)

I love almost everything else in the movie, though. Mulan is delightful. Her grandmother is amazing (I really think Disney doesn’t get enough credit for its feisty old lady characters). I love Mulan’s relationship with her father; the tactful way he tries to cheer her up after her journey to the matchmaker goes all wrong… And the songs are so catchy; I particularly like “Be a Man” (“mysterious as the dark side of the moooooooon”) and “A Girl Worth Fighting For.”

The part at the end where the only way for Mulan and her soldier friends to save China is to dress up as women feels in some way Peak Nineties as a commentary on gender, but after all it was the nineties, so what do you expect? And possibly I’m just a little salty that we didn’t get to see cross-dressed Shang, too. Come on! That would have been fun!

Comments

[evelyn_b]

I love that chicken, though! <3 The chicken sidekick benefits from no power of speech.

I was a little too old and too young to appreciate Mulan properly when it came out, I think.

[osprey_archer]

Many Disney animal sidekicks would benefit from the power of not speaking (except Jacques and Gus Gus in Cinderella; they're okay) and Disney ought to think about that more in the future.

Maybe if I had been younger, I would have liked Mushu? Or maybe I was just destined to hate Mushu at any age.

[genarti]

"A little too old and too young" is a great way to describe it! I was too -- old enough to spot some of the flaws and awkwardness, young enough to be pedantically crotchety about it instead of accepting the price of admission of a Disney movie. I've rewatched and enjoyed Mulan since then, but I never quite imprinted on it the way many of my slightly younger friends did.

Also I've never liked Mushu, for exactly the reasons osprey_archer lays out. Sigh. Oh well!

[osprey_archer]

We could have had it alllllll and instead they decided we had to have Mushu. WHY.

[thawrecka]

That moment with Mulan cutting her hair with the sword is so cool! It's one of those historical inaccuracies I can happily enjoy (men also had long hair in ye olde historical China), because it's just so fun to watch! And given the cultural context the 90s movie came out of, it feels like a satisfying gender moment within that context.

[osprey_archer]

That is a moment that is entirely based on #aesthetic and makes no sense culturally or in terms of actual hair-cutting technique... but the aesthetic is SO spot on.

[skygiants]

Mulan! my absolute favorite Disney film! one can hold conflicting beliefs in one's heart, and one belief is that this film has many flaws (Shang SHOULD have cross-dressed, damn it!) and the other belief is that it is in fact flawless.

[osprey_archer]

I can only assume the animators thought Shang would no longer be a viable romantic interest if he cross-dressed, but they were WRONG. Shang would have only become a MORE viable romantic interest if he had cross-dressed to join Mulan's plan!

The movie does have flaws, but the good parts are so good that in a way none of the flaws matter.

[potofsoup]

ah, I have such a love/hate relationship with Mulan. On the one hand, some great Mulan moments, and the artwork is exquisite -- the horses look like Tang sancai! They did the cloud thing right! The flatness of the art is great!

On the other hand, so many gender cringe moments (Mushu teaching Mulan how to "be a man" at the army camp, the lake bath scene, the whole girl worth fighting for song, etc etc). And so many little historical frustrations (the forbidden city wasn't built yet! why are there only 10 people in the army? why is she supplying her own armor and horse?)

But also yes I just want Shang to be hella bi and being like Ping is cute (*__*)

[osprey_archer]

Mushu's "be a man" advice (like almost all his advice!) is terrible and ends up getting Mulan into an all-out brawl that alienates all the other soldiers. I think this is on purpose and we're meant to realize his advice is bad and based on stereotypes, but it is perhaps too subtly done, because that didn't occur to me till this rewatch.

God though! When the movie hits the emotional beats, it knocks them into outer space. It makes even Mushu worth it.

[asakiyume]

Mulan was one of my favorites--so many scenes I loved! And I love the "Be a Man" song so much that I bought it. SO fun to sing along with.

I agree with you about Disney and grannies--thinking of the granny in Moana, too.

Re: hair, Claire Cooney (CSE Cooney) recently made a video of her husband cutting her hair with a cleaver. She reported that it's very **noisy**. Scissors are such a useful invention!

[osprey_archer]

"You must be swift as a coursing river, with all the strength of a great typhoon..."

This song is definitely in the same category as Rudyard Kipling's "If" in that if you think about it too hard it's like... if these are the requirements, how many men are there in the world? Five? But like the poem, it's sooooo catchy.

Yeah! The granny in Moana is another great granny! (Now I'm feeling a little sad that we're so far from Moana, but if we keep watching movies at this rate it really won't take us that long to get there.) Or the housekeeper in 101 Dalmatians - not technically a granny, but an older woman who does her darndest against the puppynappers.

[silverusagi]

I like Mushu, but I have long wondered why Disney always HAS to have a sidekick of some sort. It seems like they're shoehorned in sometimes, and can't we just have a magical princess or adventurer having adventures without a talking buddy of some sort? I feel like the kids wouldn't miss them if the movie was enjoyable. Princess marketing is where all the toys are at anyway.

Mulan is definitely one of my favorite Disney movies, though.

[osprey_archer]

I think at this point Disney sees the sidekick as an integral part of the Disney animation brand (although IIRC sometimes the sidekick doesn't talk - like Moana's chicken) and also a good opportunity to sell extra toys. Sure, there's plenty of money in princess merch, but why pass up the opportunity for... even more money!

[silverusagi]

I do wonder if this is why Pixar movies have a broader appeal. There's no annoying sidekick because the movies aren't structured that way. Toy Story has the advantage of merchandising that everyone is already toys!

I've thought this way about other kids movies like Shrek, though Donkey is arguably a sidekick. But it's more like everyone is part of a band of misfits than that the secondary characters are an extension of the main character, if that makes any sense. It makes the movie more enjoyable to more ages, IMO.

[osprey_archer]

Donkey is a good point of comparison, because like Mushu he's played by Eddie Murphy, but Donkey is annoying in a lovable way rather than a GET OFF MY SCREEN way. And the movie wouldn't really work without him: it's hard to imagine Shrek being able to bond with Fiona if he didn't get practice "how to interact with another intelligent being" with Donkey first.

[littlerhymes]

The sidekick thing annoys me - there's this feeling I get from Disney movies that they feel a bit scared to let the audience feel the emotion - they always have to undercut with humour in case we get bored or cringe. Contrast to say a Ghibli movie where they pick an emotion and just sit with it for that moment.

[osprey_archer]

This is something I particularly feel in Mulan because Mushu appears RIGHT after a very intense, emotional scene. Oh my God, Disney! Just let us feel the emotion!

Other Disney movies often introduce the sidekicks less jarringly, but they tend to have the same general effect.

[lokifan]

This would make Shang’s crush on Ping in Mulan totally socially acceptable, and I kind of love the idea that Shang is actually quite pleased with himself! because he has managed to acquire a socially acceptable crush! (obviously he has a history of unacceptable crushes) and then it turns out that in fact Ping is a crossdressing girl and thus just as socially unacceptable as all his other crushes and Shang is like GODDAMMIT, NOT AGAIN.

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I love this!!!

I really think Disney doesn’t get enough credit for its feisty old lady characters

actually such a good point and I never thought about it before!

I like Mushu, but I do think the abrupt change of tone from that incredible, dramatic sequence as she prepares to leave is... a lot. A la the gargoyles in Hunchback who I HATE.

[osprey_archer]

When people write about Shang's crush on Ping there tends to be an assumption that Shang would be confused/alarmed and I just love the idea that maybe he is neither. Maybe he is thrilled! He thinks he's living the real life story of a ballad.

I suspect that if I had seen Hunchback at a more susceptible age, I would have hated the gargoyles too, for exactly the same reason I hate Mushu. As it is I just feel ho-hum about them. Eh, gargoyles, Disney's gotta have its sidekicks I guess.