Date: Fri 17-Jul-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Mulan-Playing-Disney-Trey

Full Text:

NOW PLAYING: Disney's "Mulan" Has Something For Everyone In Its Formula

By Trey Paul Alexander III

Just one step further. That's all I ask. One baby step forward and Mulan ,

Disney's latest animated feature (number 36, but who's counting?), would have

been an instant, Hall of Fame-caliber classic.

The missing ingredient? Actually, it's what's already in the recipe: catchy,

hummable tunes, of which Mulan has none (save for one effective number, "I'll

Make a Man Out of You," sung by Donny Osmond!). It would have been addition by

subtraction if the makers of Mulan had confidence enough to tell this story

without any musical numbers. But alas, we end up getting saddled with one of

the weakest collections of songs from Disney's recent animated canon (though

the score, by veteran Jerry Goldsmith -- L.A. Confidential , Air Force One ,

and Star Trek: First Contact , to name some of his recent few -- is

impressive).

Yet this gripe is my sole complaint about an otherwise sparkling film that is

charming, immensely engrossing, stylishly drawn and emotionally involving.

Despite the producers' slavish devotion to pale musical numbers, Mulan is a

definite keeper that varies enough from "the formula" that it secures a place

as one of the best offerings in the last ten years to come from the house that

Walt built.

Mulan , based on an ancient Chinese legend, tells about a girl who fails to

fit the mold of her society's ideal of the blushing, demure and silent bride.

Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) is anything but silent, yet she's not insolent

or brash. She's just different... and somewhat clumsy. She's not a conformist

either, but she loves her family and loathes the thought of bringing dishonor

upon them by failing to bring home a mate. But a disastrous meeting with the

community's matchmaker appears to cement her fears and leaves her family

praying to their ancestors about Mulan's future.

Meanwhile, China is under attack by the Huns, led by a towering villain named

Shan-Yu (voiced by Miguel Ferrer), and their steady advance leads the emperor

to draft reinforcements to his army. Thus, he calls upon each family to send

one male from their ranks to serve in the battle. For Mulan's family, that

means her aging father, Fa Zhou, must enlist, despite prior service and an

ailing leg. Mulan protests, but her noble father will hear none of it.

Knowing that this military term is sure to be a death sentence for her father,

Mulan gathers her courage and, under cover of darkness, cuts her hair, seizes

her father's conscription notice, steals his armor and rides into the night as

a male warrior ready to take her father's place in the Chinese army. Though it

flies in the face of all her society's traditions, Mulan sees this as her one

opportunity to bring honor to her family.

Mulan is surprisingly rich in its colorful palette of characters and in the

varied tone of its moments. For the kiddies, there is the slapstick,

high-energy antics of Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy, using some hilarious,

anachronistic humor a la Robin Williams in Aladdin ), a tiny dragon out to

help Mulan in her quest. For adults, there is some sly humor in Mulan's

attempts to keep her femininity hidden, as well as some surprisingly potent

sequences, particularly some quiet, heartfelt moments between Mulan and her

father, that ring emotionally true. Lastly, for teens, there are

eye-catchingly rendered battle scenes and flashes of thrilling action,

including hand-to-hand combat that could rival Steven Seagal.

In short, Mulan , rated G, has something for just about everyone, yet doesn't

pander to any one audience or seem like a discordant mish-mash of disparate

elements. It is precisely because of all these strengths that the film could

have played without the short-hand of the musical numbers, but then, no film

is perfect.