June 4th, 2018 
Michael Lyons 
In Disney’s 36th animated feature Mulan the title character arrives quietly in the story, taking everyone by surprise, at a time when no one expects it.
The film Mulan did the same thing.
Following on the heels of Disney’s “event” films, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules, Mulan was a complete original in story, tone, look and theme. It came along, low-key as one of 1998’s summer movies and quickly won over audiences.
Based on an ancient and popular Chinese folk tale, “Mulan” tells the story of the title character, young Fa Mulan, who, in an effort to save and bring honor to her father and her family during a time of war, dons the disguise of a male Chinese soldier, and runs away to join the army.
It was quite the thematic leap for the house that Walt built, during a period of re-birth and renaissance at the Studio that has given way to the wealth of riches animation fans still enjoy today.
With this month marking the 20th anniversary of Mulan, it’s the perfect time to look back on the movie that did indeed “bring honor” to Disney animation.
Just several months prior to “Mulan’s” release in 1998, a number of the talented artists who created the film took time to discuss their work. What follows are some of their “reflections” from those interviews:
Co-director Tony Bancroft remembered that the guidepost for this most unexpected animated film was the main character of Mulan herself. “She discovers that she’s not this person she thought that she was – this perfect Chinese maiden, this bride – that they want her to be,” said Bancroft. “When she discovers that is when her father is called off to war and she goes on her journey to save her father’s life. It’s through that journey that she really changes. What I think is so great about this film is that she changes how society views a woman. She doesn’t change who she is at all, she remains consistent throughout the story. It’s the characters that she comes up against who change, to see things her way.”
Legendary animator Mark Henn, who served as supervising animator for the title character said, “We had to create Mulan as a believable character as herself and then create her trying to be a believable character as Ping, when she joins the army and disguises as a man. The acting challenge of that was very exciting.” Henn also added, “The first thing that I usually do is put myself in whatever the character’s situation is. I’m just trying to figure out how I might feel or react in a particular situation.”
“Mulan” featured a talented cast of voice actors including Ming-Na Wen as Mulan, Miguel Ferrar as the villain Shan-Yu, Pat Morita as the Emperor, George Takei as the First Ancestor, veteran June Foray as Grandmother and none other than Harvey Fierstein as the tough solider Yao.
The one voice (and character) that took many by surprise was Eddie Murphy as the “travel size” dragon Mushu, Mulan’s guardian who joins her on the adventure. Tom Bancroft, the twin brother of the film’s co-director Tony, was supervising animator for Mushu. With Murphy’s fast paced dialogue, Tom actually found inspiration in the most unlikely of places.
“I looked at Mushu’s animation as similar to Brer Fox in ‘Song of the South,‘ who just talked extremely fast,” noted Tom. “So, we had a lot of scenes with Mushu’s dialogue, where we would have to recite to a mirror really quick. Because if you overpronunciated it, you really slowed it down.”
In addition to such irreverent touches as Mushu, “Mulan” is also a very traditional film, finding influence in Chinese culture and art. Adding to the film’s unique look was the work of Disney artist Chen-Yi Chang, who designed characters and costumes for the film. Chang’s look created a very specific character design, and art director Ric Sluiter noted that bringing this look to the screen was a challenge. “[Chen-Yi] comes from a background of Chinese brush work, real simple ‘S’-shapes, one line leading into another, simple, graphic, elegant shapes and so to get that, you have to design each character with a lot of rules. It’s like a schematic formula that has to be laid out and embedded into each artist. Chen-Yi is a designer, not an animator, so the artists had to take his shapes and make them animatable.”
The artists did that and so much more, making “Mulan” one of the Disney Studio’s most unique and memorable films (so much so that a live-action remake is currently in the works). Released on June 19, 1998, “Mulan” was another jewel in Disney’s 90’s animation renaissance crown.
What also sets “Mulan” apart is the fact that it’s one of a handful of films that was created at Disney’s Feature Animation Studio in Florida, a bustling, busy studio that was once nestled inside the, then, Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park.
Mulan’s” co-director Barry Cook was one of the first artists working at the studio and remembered: “For a while our attitude was just the thought that even if it’s just a tourist attraction forever, then that’s fine. It will still make money, people can still draw and it will still work out. If something else happens, then let it. But, I don’t think that they were ever banking on the fact that we’d be able to make features here.”
Sadly, the animation studio closed in 2004, but while it was open, the Florida facility contributed greatly to the Second Golden Age. As an attraction, where tourists could walk by windows and watch the animators work, it also contributed a lot of anecdotes. “Certainly in the beginning it was fun and a little freaky, you felt like you were in a little caged zoo.,” remembered Cook. “We used to play pranks in the beginning and sometimes it was more fun for us to watch the people go by. We saw one lady with a beehive hairdo. If you stretched your arms as high as you can, you couldn’t have touched it. That inspired a lot of gag drawings.”
In between these playful times, these artists created a strong story in “Mulan,” which allows the film to continue to endure. Chris Sanders, who would go on to co-direct “Lilo & Stitch” at Disney and “How to Train Your Dragon” at DreamWorks, was Head of Story on they film and reflected back on the challenges of bringing “Mulan” to life. “There are tough things that are intrinsic in this story and it would have been easy to avoid them,” said Sanders. “Whenever a tough issue came up we dove into it straight on and I think the reward that we got is a film that has a lot of power.”
Powerful indeed and like all of Disney’s greatest films, “Mulan” also leaves the audience with a moving and powerful message. “The overriding theme, as Shakespeare would put it, is be true to yourself.” said producer Pam Coats. “You succeed in life by figuring out who you are and being true to that and not being true to what someone expects from you or tells you to do.”
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