That the cast includes martial arts film luminaries Jet Li (the Emperor), Donnie Yen (Commander Tung), and Yifei Liu, who stars as Mulan, shows a clear consciousness of the creative team that they were investing in making their film as much a martial arts epic as a remake of an animated classic. The fight choreography (credited to Nuo Sun, Shane Yan, and Heidi Moneymaker) uses martial arts acrobatics that nod to House of Flying Daggers and Hero more than any Western film. While none of the writers or director are of Chinese descent, they lean heavily on martial arts epics, especially those in the wire-fu tradition, which allows their actors to fly (or something close to it). Rather than keeping the film as close to the original as possible, the creative team seems to have asked what would happen if the original Mulan had come to theaters after audiences were already familiar with the conceits of the wuxia film genre.

While both added complexities to the characters and subplots, which helped to justify their slightly-long runtimes (and got rid of some of the handwavium that viewers accept in animated features), the resulting features felt very much like the classic animated film.Р вЂќР’ВisneyР Р†Р вЂљРІвЂћСћs Mulan 2020 heads in the opposite direction. In the previous Disney live-action remakes I have seen ( Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin), the film stuck closely to the original animated feature.

Here are all of the differences and similarities between the 1998 animated Disney Mulan and the 2020 live-action adaptation. DisneyР Р†Р вЂљРІвЂћСћs 2020 live-action film continues in the tradition of its other live-action remakes, but also leans into the legend behind the original animated feature-and draws on Chinese filmmaking to create something that honors the cartoon while standing solidly on its own. The animated feature takes its inspiration from a Chinese legend, but the film fits more into the traditional animated Disney Princess mold-and, with Eddie Murphy playing MulanР Р†Р вЂљРІвЂћСћs sidekick Mushu, the resulting film felt very American, despite its Chinese setting.

When DisneyР Р†Р вЂљРІвЂћСћs Mulan came out in 1998, American viewers had not yet seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which was the first big wuxia hit film for American audiences. You can read our spoiler-free review of the film here. Unfortunately, they provide the bulk of the album and the overall result is a pleasant, forgettable listen - and that's a disappointment, but it's not surprising considering that Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame suffered from the same flaw.This article contains spoilers for DisneyР Р†Р вЂљРІвЂћСћs MULAN. Jerry Goldsmith's score is fine and occasionally moving, but Matthew Wilder and David Zippel's full-fledged songs are flat and unmemorable. While the music for Mulan is far from terrible, it isn't particularly inspired. Too bad that didn't extend to the music, as well. The films were all high-quality, but a little homogenous, and by the time they got to Mulan - the story of a Chinese princess - they knew it was time for a change, investing the film with an original look and story. Shortly after Beauty & the Beast's massive success, the studio set up a succession of 'classy' animated films, spending tons of money to get admittedly gorgeous pictures, star voices and big-name music composers. From Snow White & the Seven Dwarves to Beauty & the Beast, the songs were as enchanting as the animation itself, adding to the magic of the film itself.

Music is an integral part to any animated Disney film.

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