Thrashbrowns v. Mouse House, Round 1

MULAN (1998)

The Story: 

The Huns are invading and the Chinese army is recruiting men to kick the Huns out and save the country. Mulan, a young Chinese woman, poses as a dude named Ping to take her father's place in the army. She may not be good wife material, but she might just have the potential to be a national hero. 

Has Thrashbrowns seen it? Why or why not?:

I haven't seen it, though I've seen bits and pieces here and there. And I've heard Clifton sing along with "I'll Make a Man Out of You" at least a half-dozen times. As for why... It just wasn't one I've ever been interested in. Back when it came out, I was too excited about the forthcoming release of The Phantom Menace to care too much about anything else. Since then, still haven't been interested, although if I'm gonna review the live-action remake that's coming next year, I probably need to see the original. Therefore...

The Good:

First off, I really appreciate that Mulan isn't a lame romance about horny teenagers, like waaay too many of the Disney flicks from the 90s are. I appreciated that. The art style is very pretty, drawing in some elements of Asian art and rendering it in a way that's colorful but not too distracting. Eddie Murphy's dragon sidekick character, Mushu, got a few laughs out of me. Donny Osmond's singing voice is like butter. And I love me some Ming-Na Wen and it doesn't really matter what she's doing.

The Bad:

The bad guys aren't really established very well, as we don't get to see them in action enough to really see what they can do. We see the aftermath of a battle but that's not nearly as effective. Other than that, I didn't find much to complain about.

Most Annoying Disney-ism:

The goofy side characters that Mulan meets in the army. Except for the big fat guy. He's my spirit animal.

Does Thrashbrowns get why people love this?:

I think so. It's a pretty inspiring story, and it puts forth the idea that you don't have to live according to other peoples' expectations. That's a theme that I always love to see in movies. Plus it's pretty to look at and the songs are pretty good. Though you'll never catch me singing along. At least not until Babymetal does some cover versions.

Did Thrashbrowns like it?

I did, actually. I'm not a girl, but I think anyone can relate to being forced in a life direction that you don't wanna go in, be it being married off to someone you didn't choose or being forced to live according to a religious belief system you can't buy into. That's powerfully resonant stuff. I approve.

Up next:

It's probably time I watched Tangled all the way through. So, yeah. Tangled is on deck. See you next Sunday.