HUA MULAN is an honored war hero who appears in a Chinese folktale from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period (386-589). Disguised as a man, Mulan joins the imperial army in her father’s stead and trains to become a warrior to protect China from the Northern invaders. The ancient legend has been rewritten many times; the most well-known version is perhaps Disney’s 1998 adaptation, and the story was reinterpreted again in the live-action Mulan released this year. Although the 2020 version tries to keep its ties with both the ancient folktale and the animated film, some important values seem to be missing in the remake.

1998 vs. 2020

   When watching the 2020 version, fans of the animated film will immediately notice the omission of several important characters—in particular, Mulan’s love interest, Captain Li Shang. In an interview with Collider, producer Jason Reed mentioned that Li Shang did not show up in the 2020 remake because viewers might find the inclusion of a love story in the epic of self-discovery “uncomfortable.” He implied that it was a purposeful choice since the film was released “in the time of the #MeToo movement.” Li Shang’s role was instead divided into two characters: Commander Tung and Mulan’s comrade Chen Honghui. Mulan and Honghui’s friendship was more of a platonic connection between fellow soldiers—his presence was just enough to fill the storytelling gap left by Li Shang’s absence.

   Yet, Mulan’s lucky cricket and talking dragon Mushu were missed by many. Reed explained that using a miniature dragon “as a silly sidekick didn’t play very well with the traditional Chinese audience.” A phoenix becomes Mulan’s new confidante that guides her journey, but unlike Mushu, the guardian spirit phoenix only makes a few appearances and remains quiet.

   As seen in the decision to axe the comedic, “lizard-looking” dragon character, the legend of Hua Mulan is told in a more serious tone in the remake. The live-action film is nowhere close to live-action Aladdin (2019); there are no musical numbers inserted in between the scenes, and theme songs such as “Reflection” and “Honor to Us All” are only shortly referenced in the background. The directors tried to take a more realistic approach when reinterpreting the wartime drama. Reed and costume designer Bina Daigeler said that the iconic scene where Mulan cuts her hair with her father’s sword was taken out because men and women at the time both wore their hair long. The Huns, villains in the animated film, were corrected as the Rourans (led by the main antagonist Bori Khan) since the Huns were more concerned with their expansion into Europe during the time the legend was first told*.

Failed attempts

   Despite the attempts at a realistic portrayal, viewers should not perceive the remake as completely historically accurate. The film starts with a scene where Mulan rides on a horse in the countryside. She then returns home and not long into the film, viewers are already confused because of Mulan’s new house—the Tulou, a round, fortified earth building. Tulou are indeed culturally significant Chinese rural dwellings; however, these communal houses are unique to the Hakka villages in the Fujian province. Considering that the original legend Mu-lan-ci (The Ballad of Mulan) was created during the Northern Wei Dynasty**, it is geographically incorrect to incorporate houses of Hakka people living in Southeastern China in Mulan’s story. Grant Major, the film’s production designer, mentioned that Mulan was “not supposed to be specific about the time frame or the cities where it takes place,” since it is a Disney movie after all, where “everything should look romanticized***.” Nevertheless, the Chinese audience still disapproved of the production board’s decision and scoffed at how Mulan would have to travel more than 1,000 years into the future to live in a Fujian Tulou, as they were built between the 15th and 20th centuries****. Critics have noted that this depiction is not something that can be justified as a cinematic choice, as the issue is a rather sensitive subject that could lead to discussions on preserving the culture of ethnic minorities and subgroups in China.

   Unfortunately, historical inaccuracies shown throughout the film have led viewers to blame the predominantly “white” production team—consisting of a New Zealand-based director and four American screenwriters—for its Western interpretation of Chinese culture and history. For example, when describing Xian Lang, a new villain that only appears in the live-action version, she is labeled as a “witch.” Her character implies that the practice of witch hunts also existed in ancient China, which is misleading and historically inaccurate. On set, there was no Rita Hsiao, the Chinese American screenwriter who took part in the making of Disney’s first version of Mulan, or her equivalent to cross-check their screenplay this time. In fact, the idea of Mulan and Xian Lang being scorned for their power of “qi”—or witchlike powers, as the film likes to call it—fails to address the issue of gender roles and the pervasive discrimination against women at the time. While the addition of a shapeshifting female villain did make the plot less predictable, having Mulan try to overcome the scarlet letter for being a “witch” was a gross simplification of the original message. As a result, the build-up was not as empowering as the 1998 version, where Mulan breaks expectations the Chinese society had for “women” to become a female warrior.

Worst of both worlds

   Overall, the film gives the impression that it is somewhere in between the original ballad Mu-lan-ci and Disney’s animated version. The live-action Mulan is ostensibly Disney’s more real and “historically accurate” version. At first sight, it may seem like the directors have received feedback and made changes accordingly. They also added new sequences that paid homage to the original ballad. However, little details in the film that are represented as “historically true” are, in fact, false. The production team’s “Western” understanding has led scriptwriters to describe the phoenix as a legendary creature that will “emerge again” after being consumed by flames. A phoenix rising from the ashes is a common concept in Western mythology, but the Chinese phoenix does not resurrect itself. For that reason, the deus ex machina***** scene where the phoenix rises from behind Mulan to protect her from the evil Bori Khan appeared confusing to the audience who knew of the Chinese phoenix.

   The movie has failed to convince the viewers in many aspects. Neither a dragon nor a phoenix appears in the original ballad, and therefore it is odd for the directors to assume that one of them is suitable for the plot while the other is not. The movie ends leaving the viewers questioning how “acceptable” the historical inaccuracies are. To make matters worse, the ending credits show Disney thanking government entities in Xinjiang, where Uighur internment camps are located. The fact that the live-action Mulan was filmed in a region accused of human rights violations indicates a lack of political and social awareness Disney and its producers have in their pursuit of a “Mulan” that is viewed through a pair of Western lens.

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   Many fans of Disney’s animated Mulan, including myself, were let down after watching the much-anticipated remake. There were those who argued that Disney’s moviemakers should have the freedom to give full scope to their imaginations when reinterpreting the age-old legend. However, creative freedom becomes questionable when certain cultural aspects are disregarded for cinematic purposes. Chinese fans were especially offended with Disney’s take on Mu-lan-ci after witnessing that the line between appreciation and appropriation drew thin in the film.

*Seoul Economic Daily

**Northern Wei Dynasty: Occupied majority of North China during the period 386 to 535

***Architectural Digest

****UNESCO

*****Deus ex machina: Latin term describing god’s intervention towards the end of a play