Power of The Princesses: Mulan

Hello  &    welcome   back  to  A Look at  Disney  and after a long  hiatus,   Power of The Princesses is back.  Now  alas,   I had to go solo  because  of  scheduling  conflicts with my partner  for Mulan. Anyways,   just  as  a reminder,  here is what, we will  be looking  at.  Original   Voice Actress,   First  Appearance, Personality,   Favorite Moment,  Later Appearances and again, both Kingdom  Hearts  and Once  Upon A Time will get  their  own section, and finally , Is  Mulan A Good  Character?  We've got a lot of ground  to cover,  so  let's get down to business.


Original   Voice  Actress



Ming-Na  Wen

Ming-Na   does     a great  ob  of portraying   Mulan,   especially  during her transition  from  a young  girl  that  is unsure  of herself to a brave   and noble  warrior  bound  to protect  China  and honor  her father.  When   you  think about,  Ming-Na   actually  had two  different  characters to play  as she  had to change her a voice  a little for Ping.  Not too much but  just enough  Now,  Ming-Na   still  has a working  relationship with Disney  as   not  only  has she voiced Mulan  in all  of her  appearances  after the movie  but she  also  has  a role  on Marvel's  Agents   of Shield  and  also  on Phineas  and Ferb. 

I   don't   know   much  about  her   character   on Shield  as I couldn't   get   into  that show but I thought   it was worth  bringing up.  Now  like  Jasmine  and Pocahontas  before  her, Mulan  also  had  a different  singing   voice  actress,  who  just happened  to be  Lea Salonga,  the singing  voice of  Jasmine  and quite honestly,   while  you can hear  some similarities   between  how   Salonga  sings  for both Mulan and Jasmine, it's never distracting.   The  singing  for Mulan  is  distinct  enough to make  her singing  voice,  unique  and her own, when compared to Jasmine. 

First  Appearance


We  first see Mulan  as  she  is getting ready  for the  matchmaker.  Which  includes  a funny  bit,  where  we see she  had written  notes   on her arm for this  event. 

And  this   is also ,where  we get  our first song  of the film,  Honor  To  Us  All,  which  isn't   a bad  song  and   gives  the audience  the first inkling that Mulan is not  like  the other  girls  in  her village.

  







Also  I just  realized the irony  of the song title,   Mulan  is told that she'll  never bring honor to her family, yet she does just that by  posing  as  Ping in the Chinese Army  and helping  to protect   China  from  The Huns.   


Personality


Mulan  unlike  the  other  girls  is  a bit out of place  in her village. The Disney Wiki  describes  her as being  clumsy  but  also  self-reliant,  brave,   courageous  and outgoing.  She  is also  a very  kind  and warm-hearted young  lady and you can kinda  see her personality clash with the army  and get her in trouble before she  ultimately learns how to be a brave and noble warrior and this is perhaps best depicted in I'll Make A Man Out of You.   It's almost impossible to talk about this movie without talking about this song.   

Man,  that  is  such an awesome song.



Favorite Moments

I've  decided  to go ahead  and talk about two  of my  favorite  moments  from the film. For my first Favorite Moment,  this was  quite easy to choose,  I decided to  go with  Reflection.

Sure,  Mulan  has  a  lot  of  great  moments  later  on in the film but  this number is  one that  I think  can resonate with a lot  of people  because  Mulan  here feels lost  and  who  we  are  and  don't  where we belong  in life  and that everywhere, we turn,  we  will dishonor  our  family.   Interesting  side note:  this song was cut  down  to fit the movie but you can find  the extended version on YouTube.  Here's  a link to it.    And  personally,  I think that I like the full version  better  as  those   missing  verses   give you more insight  into  who  Mulan,  really  is.  Okay,  there  is one  other scene that is really  good  for Mulan  and also  a great  contender for Favorite Moment.   That being Mulan cutting her hair.  

Just  how intense this scene  is enough  to warrant a mention as you see Mulan  make the decision to protect her father  and  put her life on the line and the way, the film plays,  just WOW.   This is something that you guys need to witness for  yourselves.  Here ya  go.   This scene  right  here  shows  what lengths, Mulan  is willing to go to honor her family  and protect her father from going  into battle.  That is pretty dang awesome, if you ask me.


Later  Appearances 


Now  per usual,  we have a lot  of  later  appearances   and  per usual,    Mulan's  appearances  on Kingdom Hearts  and Once Upon A Time will be broken down into their  own categories.   With that  out  of the way,  let's  begin.  Now  like   most  of the other  ladies ,  we've  talked about throughout this retrospective,  Mulan did make a few  appearances  on House of Mouse  and   she  also fell victim  to the cheapquels.  

Now,  I've never  seen  Mulan II all the way through  but  from what  I've seen of it,  it's your typical  Disney cheapquel,  just without Eddie Murphy as Mushu.  Mulan  will also be appearing  on Sofia The First,   in the season 2 special,  Princesses To The Rescue. The book for this episode has already been released and it has been confirmed that Mulan and Sofia will have a song together in this episode.  

You  can also  find  Mulan  at  most  of the parks.  I mostly remember her at  Reflections  of  China in EPCOT.  

Now  let's  move  onto  Mulan on Once Upon A Time.


Mulan  On Once  Upon A Time


Mulan  debuted on the second  season premiere of  Once, traveling  with Prince Phillip to  rescue  Aurora and he sacrifices himself  to save the ladies and  throughout the first  half  of the season,  we  saw Mulan  and Aurora    travel  with   Emma  and Mary  Margaret throughout The Enchanted Forest and I gotta  be honest and say I hated Once's  Mulan at first  as  they made  her so much of a warrior that nothing else  came  from  her.   Thankfully,   in the third season,  they lightened  her up and   there is one  particular scene  that we need to talk about regarding Mulan.   You  see  in one particular  episode,  Mulan reveals  for love...  Aurora. Well, at least tries  to but Aurora  is in love with Phillip  and with child.  She is convinced to do this tanks in part to Robin Hood  but seeing as it doesn't  work,  she joins  Robin's  Merry Men.

   














Now  here  is DisneyOtoko Mulan's  Kingdom  Hearts  Appearances.


Mulan  In Kingdom Hearts


DO: Unlike the other princesses that have appeared in multiple games in the series Mulan has only appeared in one Kingdom Hearts game and that was Kingdom Hearts 2 released for the Playstation 2 in 2006 and will soon be re released this Christmas as part of the second HD Collection for the entire series! 
Mulan is a resident of the the world the Land of Dragons that was destroyed by the Heartless before the events of Kingdom Hearts 1. The only "survivor" was Mushu who's body died inb the chaos, but his heart was strong enough to become a summon gem and was freed by Sora and the Fairy Godmother and he assisted the group in the first game. In Kingdom Hearts 2 the worlds have been restored and the first Disney  world the group visits (according to canon and battle level) is the Land of Dragons where they come across Mushu using his fire and shadow effects to make himself bigger than he is to give Mulan a confidence boost beofre she goes to join the Imperial Army under the alias of Ping. Donald and Sora think Mushu is a Heartless and they try to attack, but Goofy in his genuine wisdom says that's not a good idea and actually recognizes Mushu and we get a reunion between Mushu and the trio and introductions are made with Mushu explaining he's a guardian and that his charge is named Ping. 

DO: Goofy  then figures out that Ping is a woman which stuns Sora and Donald. The group agrees to keep 
Mulan's secret and they head for the camp. Mushui tricks the party into following by saying that Sora and company owe Ping for his services in the first game. After getting off on the wrong foot with Captain Shang and the troops Heartless show up and Ping gets her first real battle. After seeing Sora, Donald and Goofy's combat skills he lets them join the army while telling Ping "he" should return home. Sora convinces Shang to give Ping another chance and that "he" be assigned missions with Sora and company as support (gameplay it's you doing all the work of course). This is a good time to talk about Ping's combat skills. 
For clarification the game pretty much counts Mulan and Ping as two different characters. Ping's combat SUCKS!!!!!!!! Ping has no special hard hitting abilities and basic abilities that don't effect his performance. Also his standard attacks will miss most of the time and he'll fall flat on his face! 

DO: After a story event Ping sheds her disguise and Mulan joins the party officially and man do things improve! Mulan is much more skilled with her sword even having her attack stance be the refreshing and badass backhand a style shared with another character in the series. Her attacks are fast and agile and always connect. Also with Mushu tagging along Mushu is even more deadly with her being able to cast fire and have fire based rush attacks. The ultimate prize though is Mulan's Limit Break! Mulan's Limit Break Dragon Blaze where Mulan's combat abilities and Mushu's fire culminates where Muln and Sora fly around  the battlefield and wrap themselves in Mushu's fire and after even more acrobatic maneuvers Mushu unleashes a volley of fireballs that rain down on the opponent/s. This technique is powerful and very useful against Shan Yu. 

DO: The Land of Dragons unfortunately isn't a very thematically relevant world like most of the others are, but it is still wonderful to see Mulan's journey in a new way and to fight alongside China's bravest woman with fun combat abilities.



Second Visit to the Land of Dragons

DO: Sora and company return to the Land of Dragons around the halfway point of the game. Mulan has stuck around the imperial city and heard rumors of a mysterious and possibly threatening man in black and she tails him up to the mountain. Sora and company join Mulan in her search thinking it's an Organization member. After a brief skirmish at the summit the man in black flees. On the way down a dragon awakens and heads for the Imperial City. On the way to checking in with the emperor the group encounters a different man in black and he is revealed to be Xigbar Organization XIII's number 2 and his work is done and he sicks his Nobodies on you as he escapes. After seeing that the Emperor is okay the group heads outside to confront the Stormrider dragon and after the battle the emperor is greatful and is willing to answer the group's questions. The first man in black is revealed to have been Riku who was investigating Xigbar's activity in the mountains and went to the imperial city to warn the emperor of the danger and to prepare the city and that Sora and company would handle things. It is also revealed that Xigbar turned the once peaceful dragon into a Heartless. The emperor being grateful to Mulan for saving China again asks if she has a request for him and she humbly asks that Shang has a day off from guarding the emperor and the emperor laughs and with a heavy heart refuses her request, but he asks her if she would like to stay and protect the emperor by Shang's side. So basically Mulan takes Chi Fu's job as well as a combat position!


DO: In the credits we see Mulan and Shang having a private moment only to be ruined by Yao, Ling and Chien Po spying on them and their cover being blown. Mulan was well handled in the game with a really good performance by her original actress Ming Na.





Now,  it's  time  to answer  the question...


Is Mulan A Good Character?

Yes,  she is.   Mulan  continues the tradition set forth by Ariel  and Belle of being a strong well rounded  female character that can fight for herself and goes through one  of the best character  growths  throughout   any  of the characters, we have  touched upon during this event.  Mulan  is  a strong  character  that seems to be thrown  by the wayside because  people  don't  seem  to talk about her anymore.    Which is a shame because she is a really good  character.