#original mulan

[artist-issues]

Why can’t I find any good meta posts or analyses on what made the original Mulan great??

[maedesculpaeusoubi]

you have no idea how OBSESSED i am with li shang singing i’ll make a man out of you and it makes me mad that donny osmond is not as hot as he sounds in that song

[patrixai]

the flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.

[camilishpilish]

So call me crazy, but I was always a whiny baby as a child and was too scared of villains to actually watch any Disney films from start to finish, which leads to today, in the middle of my teens, being the first time that I saw the original Mulan from start to finish.

I just wanna say

ITS NOT RECOGNIZED ENOUGH FOR THE GREAT SLOW BURN ROMANCE WRITING AND THE ABILITY TO MAKE SUCH A GREAT SLOWBURN A SECONDARY PLOT

Also, Shang is such a great character? Like, on his introduction scene you can hear his excitement at being made captain, and the love he has for his father is so genuine that it really comes to punch you in the gut when he dies, and his exhasperation at the guys at the beginning felt so real- I would react the exact same way if I was out in his place! And his awkwardness at interacting with Mulan in the final act is just,, how all attraction should be written. They really did a such a good job constructing a three-dimensional character with him!

And Mushu! I absolutely loved the comic relief that he brought, but they actually made him really useful and pivotal to the plot, which is something often lacking in the lovable comic relief companion isn’t it? A+ voice acting as well.

And Mulan! I felt they made her reactions very genuine, I could easily slip into her shoes and empathize with her! Much like Shang, they made her reactions full of personality and she has just this chaotic energy around her at all times, which is honestly life goals. She reacted to the dudes like you would imagine a woman who’s never really had to interact with many men (a blessing) would. (Men can be really gross!) She uses logic and out-of-the-box thinking to compensate for her lack of physical experience, she isn’t just a natural at combat, she has to work to get there! She puts herself in mortal danger to protect the millions of innocents she realized were at stake during the “girl worth fighting for” sequence, and even when she is shamed, betrayed, almost killed and abandoned by her friends, she still goes back and warns them because it’s the right thing to do. Mulan is the definition of a good rolemodel. And more importantly, she isn’t perfect at all! She’s strong, smart and determined, but she’s also clumsy, socially awkward and pretty impulsive. And you can really feel how much she cares about her family. She starts the movie by trying to do what is expected of her because it will bring her family honor, even when she feels like she’s not cut out for that, and when that doesn’t work, and her father is out in danger, she decides to run off and protect him, not even mainly to restore the honor she lost, but to save his life.

And also

Granny Fa is our spirit animal.

And the emperor is definitely just Asian dumbledore