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Mulan directed by Tony Bancroft is a Walt Disney productions’ animated feature film. The week in which it was released the film was declared as the second highest grosser just behind The X – Files. It was awarded a number of prizes including the Golden Globe Award for the Best Original Score.

The story revolves around Mulan, the only child of a Chinese respectable family. When the Huns invaded China, there was a call for one male member from each family to join the war. Mulan’s father, weak and old, decides to enlist to protect the honor of his family though it was very clear that he would not last the onslaught. Mulan, whose own life was going nowhere, decides to go to war instead of her old father. She left with the family horse and dressed up as a man. Mulan’s father prays to the ancestors for protecting his daughter on her quest.

Mushu, a dragon, was sent by Mulan’s ancestors to assist her in the quest. She underwent a tough training but emerged successful. She was now on her way up the hills to confront the Huns. During the course of the war Mulan’s secret identity gets exposed and everyone realized she is ‘just’ a girl. But Mulan is strong-minded and fights on to protect China.

The film has some really nice voices going for but it fails to connect with the audiences. Eddie Murphy as Mushu is probably the only saving grace in the film. The character of Mulan sometimes gets overshadowed by some unnecessary sequences or characters which could have been dispensed with. Though Eddie Murphy does well in the voice of Mushu, one just feels that perhaps this character is the worst sidekick in a Disney animation film. It is a dismal film and is not worthy of a fair run at the box office.

Mulan is an adaptation of the Chinese legend and is more or less similar to Pocahontas. One question that needs to be answered is – why have American actors as the voices of the characters when you have enough Asians in Hollywood? A minor glitch but should have been avoided.

Though the film falls below expectations yet there is one area where it scores good brownie points and that is – design. There is a large influence of traditional Chinese art in the movie and is evident in almost every frame. The colors are used intelligently in the film and never does it feel that it is either too strong or too subtle. In fact, the horses in the film look brilliant and life-like. Good work really!

He film has won rave reviews as it has been termed to be a reformist film. The gender equality issues have been cleverly dealt with in this animation. Though cross dressing as a concept might be alien to the children, the film overall should be appropriate for the kids. They can easily get the DVDs’ or watch Mulan online free. The film has been well received worldwide including China but in the end it can be said that the film is good but could have been better.

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