DATE OF RELEASE: September 1998
RATING (AUS): G
TYPE: Animation
PLOT: "Mulan", Walt Disney Pictures' 36th full-length animated feature, is the story of a young, high-spirited girl who tries hard to please her parents and be the perfect daughter but feels like she's always disappointing them. In 5th century China, the Emperor is calling upon villagers to fight Hun invaders. When her aged father is called to certain death in war, Mulan's bold spirit compels her to save his life by disguising herself as a man and joining the Chinese army in his place. Brought to life by Mulan's extraordinary actions, a feistly, "guardian" dragon named Mushu joins the heroine's quest and leads her into a series of comic misadventures. At the height of their success, their masquerade unravels, and they are banished far, far away from home. When all seems lost, Mulan's irrepressible spirit spurs her once again to courageously fight against all odds, defeat the terrible Hun invaders, and save the Emperor, bringing great honor to her beloved parents. Mulan is the first feature to be primarily produced at Disney's Feature Animation Florida facility.
COMMENTS: Mulan is one of Disney's better films in recent years, and has a lot more depth that the slapstick 'comedy' hercules. The story is moving and tragic, however the wonderful animation and the laugh-a-minute humour balances this out to create a great overall movie. From the factual point of view, The Huns look a lot more like monsters that actual people, and It is doubtful that Mulan would have escaped the death penalty even taking into account the circumstances. However, these things all come under the 'Disney license', and no other studio could have produced such a creative movie from the original story.
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