MULAN (1998)

The recent crop of Live-Action (or Life-like) remakes of ‘classic’ Disney animated films can’t win for trying.  From CINDERELLA/’15 to DUMBO/’19, they’re either too close to the original (what’s the point?) or not close enough (what’s the point?).  On the other hand, they also can’t lose since non-partisans couldn’t care less, the title is pre-sold and the films usually make gobs of money.  (Heck, even PETE’S DRAGON/’16 and DUMBO will probably earn out.)  Now, it’s MULAN, a very pricey 2020 proposition getting dissed by fans of the animated version.  (5.4 to 7.6 on IMDb.)  The 1998 version, a late entry in the post-BEAUTY AND THE BEAST hand-drawn Disney animation renaissance*, umpteenth telling of a Chinese cross-dressing fable (girl in the family goes to war for her ailing father disguised as a young man), is simply spectacular to look at, often thrillingly respectful of traditional Asian land & seascape art.  The story, with East-is-East restraint, beauty & æsthetics (plus grab-bag jokes for the kids), opens with Mulan, the rare animated Disney child with two living parents, proving just how ill-suited she is for the happy homemaker life her family has mapped out for her.  But after two reels, there’s an abrupt shift (too much Disney story development?) that sees Mulan visiting the family ancestral monuments to find ancient spirits rising out of stone memorials . . . and seeming to turn into Jewish aunts & uncles kvetching at Sabbath Seder.  (Chinese Take-Out tonight?)  Eddie Murphy also shows as a sassy mini-dragon mentor for Mulan (joining a lucky cricket).  He’s funny, but mostly there for that Robin Williams/ALADDIN vibe.  Then it’s off for comic  Military Training tropes; mediocre work-out songs (one a near cousin to SOUTH PACIFIC’s ‘Nothing Like A Dame’); a little hide-the-bosom cosplay; and finally war maneuvers against a stunningly conceived Hun Army.  Brilliantly executed design, with visual character development equal to the spectacular backgrounds & action set pieces.  But the specific Middle Kingdom tone promised in the early scenes has slipped away.  Still, enough left to see where the fierce fan loyalty comes from.

DOUBLE-BILL: *Disney had one more hand-drawn animated winner in LILO AND STITCH/’02, also with a largely non-Caucasian cast of characters.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Last feature film credit for voice-double champ Marni Nixon, doing the singing for June Foray’s Grandma as she’d previously done for Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood, Audrey Hepburn and even Marilyn Monroe on high notes.