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The launch of Disney’s new “Mulan” was scheduled for March, but the pandemic prevented it.
Disney’s live-action film “Mulan,” marked a historic milestone this week by becoming Hollywood’s first mega-budget film production to be released directly on television without ever having gone through theaters.
The global covid-19 outbreak affected the US $ 200 million feature film’s release plan, which had been scheduled for March, pushed back to July and then August, until Disney pulled it off its release schedule, despite having invested. in promoting the film.
It finally emerged that “Mulan” would be an on-demand title costing US $ 29.99 per rental in countries where Disney + is operating, a sign of the effort to find alternative distribution schemes for the most lucrative Hollywood productions at a time when the Most cinemas in the United States and in China, the world’s second-largest movie market, remain closed due to the pandemic.
The production is a remake of Disney’s animated feature film “Mulan” from 1998, an adaptation of a Chinese legend about the struggle of a girl who overcomes various challenges and proves her worth, not only to save the Chinese empire and honor her family, but also to secure a love interest and, therefore, a promising future marriage.
While the animated film helped popularize “Mulan” with a global audience, the legend already had a long history of transformation and adaptation in China and elsewhere before 1998 and after.
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What is the “real” story of Mulan in Chinese culture?
In China and the Chinese-speaking regions, Mulan is practically synonymous with “heroin”; in the United States, her name is practically equivalent to “the warrior woman.” With such popularity spreading across different cultures, as well as varied opinions and debates about authenticity, many wonder what the real story is.
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Mulan is a legendary character from ancient China who takes her aging father’s place in the military and fights for 12 years, earning great merit while rejecting any reward. Here she is pictured in a late 19th century hand painting on silk.
The earliest written text in Mulan’s history is a folk ballad dating back to the Northern dynasties in China (386-581 AD).
In just over 300 words, the Ballad of Mulan tells the story of a girl who dresses as a man and joins the army, taking her father’s place because she does not have an older brother to fulfill that role.
After years of military campaign and service to his country, he returns with the honor and gifts of the emperor.
His parents, his sister and his younger brother prepare a banquet to welcome him home. Mulan changes his clothes, fixes his hair and makes up his face, and greets his fellow soldiers who are in. shock. Fighting side by side for years they did not know that Mulan was actually a woman.
Like other tales that have enjoyed enduring popularity and numerous variations, the legend of Mulan includes some of the common elements: the main character leaves home, goes on adventures, and successfully completes something extraordinary.
Stories like yours tend to be stretchy, allowing for additional detail and varied adaptations.
The underlying message of his story is worth noting: Mulan’s transgression (to pretend to be a man) is justified (he does it to save his father and serve his country), reclaimed (for achieving success in military service) and mitigated in the end (Well, go home and resume her life as a woman). Thus, it’s extraordinary but not threatening for the social structure.
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The story of Mulan has been the subject of plays, ballets, series and films and adapted according to the time. This version is from the State Circus of China, 2009.
Since the ballad, Mulan’s name and story have been adapted, retold, and alluded to in different genres through various imperial dynasties in China.
Numerous Chinese writers have praised Mulan and her extraordinary feats, highlighting her filial piety, loyalty, virtue, martial skills, or military achievements, while adding new interpretations and colorful details.
These accounts often reflect the social and historical context of the time.
For example, a 16th-century play called “Mulan Woman Joins the Army in Her Father’s Place,” depicts Mulan as a warrior maiden with bandaged feet.
It includes dramatic moments in which the main character unties his feet to slip into a pair of men’s shoes before joining the military and ties them back up after his return, placing his character within the practice of bandaging the feet of women at that time.
The play concludes the story with Mulan’s wedding to a husband her parents have chosen for her, highlighting the return of the main character to the “rightful place” for young women.
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Here it is in the version of the Hong Kong Dance Company, in 2015.
In the chapters of a 17th century novel, “The Historical Romance of the Sui and Tan Dynasties”, Mulan commits suicide after returning home.
She also reveals her gender identity so she can preserve her purity without challenging an imperial order that summons her to become a palace consort. Such a plot element reflects the social norm of prioritizing a woman’s sexual purity and fidelity above all else at that time.
New versions continue to develop in modern and contemporary times.
Some adaptations made in the 1930s feature Mulan as a national heroine and an iconic symbol to boost the spirit of the people in the fight against the Japanese invasion.
Later, her character played an important role in the political ideology of the Communist Party promoting gender equality in China.
The 1998 television series “Hua Mulan” directed by Shui-Ching Lai and Raymond Lee, and the 2009 live-action feature film of the same name directed by Jingle Ma and Wei Dong, are two notable examples of reinventing the Mulan’s character and story in the media.
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Is Mulan a real historical figure in China?
The short answer is no. We have no existing evidence to show that Mulan is a historical figure who lived during a particular time.
The original ballad doesn’t say where it was from, but it does give some clues.
However, things are complicated, especially when we consider the probable oral origin of the folk ballad (the first document written about it) and how its history has evolved in China (beginning in the 4th to 6th centuries and still today).
What do all the surviving documents tell us? It is certainly possible that actual people and events served as the inspiration for the ballad.
We can, for example, look for evidence of Mulan’s provenance.
Although the early versions of his story come from poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and notes, his name made its way into local stories in the 19th century, such as “The Grand Qing Gazettes” (Gazetteers often collect events and prominent people, anecdotes, local traditions and other documents, and at best they are semi-historical).
And even though the aforementioned Mulan ballad lacks specific information on where Mulan is from, it does mention places like the Yellow River and Yan Mountain, data that people later used to interpret or imagine their hometown.
In addition to the gazette entries, there are tablet inscriptions, tombs, memorial shrines, and statues dedicated to her.
What was the “real Mulan” like?
The original ballad does not include any details of Mulan’s appearance, although it does mention that Mulan changes into women’s clothing and does her hair and makeup after returning home.
It was later that drawings of her began to appear in books about beautiful women or as accompanying illustrations in some of the stories.
Pictorial representations of Mulan appeared after the ballad.
Although these materials are not evidence to show that Mulan is a historical figure, they do add additional layers to her story, turning it into a palimpsest over time. In other words, long before Mulan was converted she was introduced to the outside world, her story already undergone major transformations and inspired numerous accounts in China.
How did Mulan become popular with the English-speaking public?
Although it is difficult to pin down the exact date of Mulan’s first appearance in the English language, translations of the Ballad of Mulan begin to appear no later than the 19th century.
It was not until the 20th century, through Maxine Hong Kingston’s “The Woman Warrior. Memoirs of a Teenage Girl Among Ghosts” (1976), that Mulan was introduced to a wide range of readers in the United States. Kingston’s book also brought her fame to many other countries through translated editions.
BBC
He said that I would become a wife or a slave, but he taught me the song of the warrior woman, Fa Mu Lan. I was to become a warrior woman “
An undisputed landmark in American literature in general, and in Asian-American literature in particular, “The Woman Warrior” received many awards and honors, has been widely taught in college and university classrooms, and sparked lively debate among academics. and students. Also, it won the hearts of readers in general.
The 1998 Disney animated film, along with its sequel Mulan II (a direct-to-video production released in 2005) and accompanying commercial products, have helped Mulan become a global phenomenon.
While there are a number of film adaptations of Mulan’s story available in Chinese and English, live-action and animated, none have received as much attention from viewers and critics as the 1998 Disney film.
Some critics praise Disney’s first Chinese main character as a role model; others criticize the racial caricature and cultural appropriation of the film.
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Mushu the dragon from the cartoon adaptation of Disney’s Mulan, here on Disney on Ice.
Regardless, Disney’s animated version was released in more than 30 dubbed versions and achieved overwhelming popularity and worldwide box office success, thus introducing Mulan to a global audience.
The new live-action feature film, directed by Niki Caro and featuring an Asian cast, reflects the financial success and enduring cultural influence of its animated predecessor, and further speaks to Mulan’s continued popularity with children and adults alike.
* Lan Dong is the author of “The legend and legacy of Mulanin China and the United States“. She is Professor Louise Hartman Schewe and Karl Schewe in the Department of English at the University of Illinois Springfield..
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